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VillageQuest
The learners in Virtual High played a significant role in presenting the ideas for a sustainable living community to the city of Vancouver between 1994 and 1997. During this time the VillageQuest team presented to the annual BC Architects Connvention, to the City of Vancouver Planning Department, The Planning Commission and the Vancouver City Council. At the end of their lobbying efforts the City Council voted to set aside 47 acres of city owned land in the heart of Vancouver, known as South East False Creek for the development of a sustainable family based community. The following are ideas from their presentations ... VillageQuest Multimedia Overview VillageQuest In the past century this image has probably done more to change how we see ourselves than any other event. On Spaceship Earth we have the challenge and the opportunity to create our economy and global society in harmony with our environment. The City of Vancouver is commited to establishing a sustainable community in South East False Creek. This project can be Canada's showcase of sustainable development to the world. Sustainability is living innovation, a paradigm shift allowing us to do more with less, a technological advantage. Voluntary simplicity fosters a richness of self and community relations. This is our proposal, our VillageQuest to build an integrated sustainable community. 1. Problem - Opportunity: industrial wasteland 150 years ago, the False Creek area of Vancouver was the home of people who lived in harmony with its resources. Today much of this area is an industrial wasteland. Now, through the use of living technology, we have the opportunity to create a human scale community, one that is sustainable and regenerative. Production has brought us significant material wealth, yet has brought us a kind of poverty - personal and interpersonal. The production of houses, cars, roads and industry more determine the design of a city, than do the simple everyday living needs of a family. Unlimited development - one million unknown neighbours. 2. Growth - family and community Biology is a new metaphor for human systems. Growth according to inherent patterns sets a balance and establishes harmony. Ecological balance between living systems is a context for global cooperation. Pre-industrial villages were human scale lifestyles centered around family and children. Human relationships created a center for village. Children learn from modelling, they need meaningful relationships and contexts in which to develop. Learning needs to be re-integrated into the fabric of community, as it was before industrial society. Learning is part of everyday life. "Give me an education, give me a job, if not, give me welfare ..." In an integrated learning community, the industrial model school has given way to a rediscovery of a learning model relevant to the Information Age. Learning is part of VillageQuest life, with every adult a care giver, with learning intrinsic in every work and living experience. 3. Natural global cultures "Small is beautiful." E.F. Schumacher outlined a model for our western economy based on Gandhi's philosophy of living from a sense of personal responsibility. Work is woven into the fabric of daily life in the village and is shared by people of all ages. For 99% of human existence, we have lived in villages of less than 500 people. This scale is vital for healthy relationships, healthy living. In Bali, people invest time and energy to carry and nurture children. In Bali, people CAN invest time and energy in their children because they do not have the financial pressures we have in the western world. The village owns the land, allowing control of development through village councils. They balance work with their commitment to nurture the children. 4. Village features "The number of people in a community is determined by the number of people who know each other intimately ..." Satish Kumar (editor Resurgence magazine England) Studies worldwide continue to point to 500 people as an optimum group for self-management. The City of Vancouver owns 50 acres, in three distinct parcels of land slated for sustainable development. It is proposed that approximately 4,000 people could be housed on this site with a focus on family living. We propose that at least one community be limited to 500 people. The proposed density of 80 people per acre would be equivalent to 1,200 on 15 acres. This would create a residential community where sustainability would be limited to environmental sustainability. A truly sustainable integrated community for 500 people would include commercial, light industry and learning center. The proposed site for VillageQuest is on approximately 15 acres of land on the southeast corner of False Creek, in close proximity to Science World.
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