On September 17, 2011 EcoVillage marked its 20th anniversary with tours, games, food and entertainment. The highlight of the day was the dedication of land for the third neighborhood, TREE, by Mohawk elder Tom Porter. Many people attended this event and it was very well received. You can catch the flavor of activities by going to
On April 7, 2011 the Community Life Committee of EcoVillage inaugrated its monthly birthday celebration after the village meal for all those who had birthdays in April. This celebration consisted of the following:
Eighteen students from Montclair State spent the weekend of March 18th exploring all aspects of sustainable communities through a workshop led by Dick Franke, former head of the Anthropology Department. The students spent time at EcoVillage at Ithaca, and toured a variety of important Ithaca organizations that work on social justice and sustainability concerns. The Montclair State University student newspaper The Montclarion, carried an article with additional information on the tour along with a slide show of photos taken by the students. The article can be accessed at: http://www.themontclarion.org/archives/3737134
The Third Residential EcoVillage Experience (TREE) took a huge step November 16 as the Town Planning Board voted to approve this project along with a new village green connecting all three neighborhoods in EcoVillage. This vote marked the end of a nearly three year long process of conceptualizing, planning, meeting and getting approvals for all aspects of this project. With final approval TREE is now free to go to the next stage: construction, which may begin as early as December. (Click on pictures to enlarge)
Liz Walker (TREE, Organizational Manager) and David Herrick (civil engineer for TREE), field questions from the Town Planning Board during their meeting on November 16th. TREE members visible in the audience include Rick Manning (landscape architect), Sarah Amberge, Arlene Hewitt, Jared Jones, and Bill Goodman (TREE attorney)
On September 13, 2010 Dan Greenberg, Executive Director of Living Routes, gave a slide show in the FROG Common House about his latest travels to ecovillages in India, Europe and the U.K. He tied this together with his work for Living Routes, which partners with UMass-Amherst to offer study abroad programs based in ecovillages worldwide. Dan has come to see the ecovillage movement worldwide not as something to be duplicated but as places that serve as catalysts where people can come to learn and be inspired about sustainability and transfer what they learn to their own communities. He has visited many, many ecovillages around the world and found that each one is unique, but are successful because they meet the needs of the residents. His program was well received by those in attendance.