Want to know what’s so great about growing up in an Ecovillage? Take a tour with some Ecovillage kids around their favourite places. Watch the video: More videos on our Youtube page.
Background on the Project
Get some background on the project with one of our members Donna and then follow around the property with our founder, Lyndall Parris. With around a third of the homes in Stage 1 being built and Stage 2 about to be available, now is a great time to come and take a look if you think living in an ecovillage …
Small and Tiny Equals Affordable Living
How 2 independent ladies found a way to share one housing lot and create affordable living for them both. Jazz’s Yurt with a Difference Jazz Mozzi was the original owner and had long planned to build a yurt on the block. The builders specialising in yurts gradually increased their prices until it was out of Jazz’s reach. Living Green Designer …
2 Couples, 1 Block
Grant & Liz and Bron & Dave joined the village as a joint membership from day one. Liz and Bron are twins. All four of them were early investors and committed to the vision of Narara Ecovillage. They had always intended to build a composite house that would afford each couple their own living area with a shared communal living …
Climate Impacts on Growing Food
Our network of growing friends on the Central Coast and further afield has been very hard hit this summer. As you are all no doubt aware, many local farmers have suffered very long periods of dry weather, followed by the effects of bushfire, followed by the effects of torrential rains. Two of many examples: Little Feet Gourmet, located at Ourimbah …
A New Year at Narara Ecovillage
It seems strange saying Happy New Year to you during these interesting times, but 2020 has started and at Narara Ecovillage, we are excited at the prospect. We have been under threat of fire and still the fire season has a way to go, but throughout this period we have witnessed some very sweet behaviours here, from offers of practical …
2019 Wrap Up
By Lyndall Parris 2019 has come and nearly gone, with a full year of activity behind us. It is time to say Happy Christmas, New Year and Holidays and give you an update on the extraordinary Narara Ecovillage (NEV) people and project. As the fires in our region continue as a threat to Narara Ecovillage, the solidarity within the community grows …
Observations of Wildlife in the Triplespan
By Andrew and Megan Dobson As gardeners, winter is a reliable test for our patience, however when the growing season commences, a different and more immediate form of patience can heap untold rewards on the determined practitioner. At home in Wyoming, aphids bombarded our rose bushes. A preliminary hosing with water cut the infestation in half. Then we waited two …
Disconnection and the Need to Reinvent Community
The climate emergency and its impact on all life on the planet runs parallel with a crisis of disconnection between individuals, families and nations. Ironically the human groups with the greatest control over the resources of the world are also facing the highest levels of loneliness and mental illness, violence and rocketing rates of self-harm. For most of known history, …
Shared House at Narara Ecovillage
There’s movement afoot at Narara Ecovillage for some of Stage 2’s building lots to be co-owned and occupied by groups or collectives of up to 8 individuals. The legal identity of such a structure is yet to be nutted out, not to mention the compatibility of individuals, the building design and a host of other matters. For now, let’s just …
Bush Regeneration
One of the pleasant tasks of life at the ecovillage is maintaining and regenerating the native bushland on the property. The village is situated next to the renowned Strickland State Forest, and forms with it an unbroken corridor of forest on ridge-land and slopes down into the Narara Valley. A volunteer team meets weekly to go into the forest and …
What is Cohousing?
Cohousing is a model of residential light footprint planning that blends private space with shared resources. It originated in Denmark in the 1960’s and was adopted enthusiastically in America and the UK. Interest is now growing in Australia and innovative housing projects in both urban and rural environments, are drawing on the core elements of successful cohousing developments around the …
What is an Ecovillage?
According to the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) website: An ecovillage is an intentional, traditional or urban community that is consciously designed through locally owned, participatory processes in all 4 dimensions of sustainability (social, culture, ecology, economy)into a whole systems design to regenerate its social and natural environment. Ecovillages are living laboratories pioneering beautiful alternatives and innovative solutions. They are rural or urban settlements …
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
We get asked a lot of questions about the way things work at Narara Ecovillage. Here’s a list of out top FAQs and the answers, in case they’re helpful for you too. Please note that you should not rely on these informal answers for any legal or financial matters. The formal legal documents of the Co-operative are the Disclosure Statement, …
Angus and Tino from ABC’s Gardening Australia visit the Ecovillage
What a privilege to have Angus Stewart and Tino Carnevale From ABC’s Gardening Australia visit Narara Ecovillage for our Mad About Dirt event, supported by the Central Coast Council. “Mad About Dirt” was a project of the Narara Eco Living Network Inc. Many thanks to Sam Freeman for making this video. More on the Mad About Dirt Event
Founding a Life and an Ecovillage
It’s taken 20 years to get here, but, as the first houses are being completed, Lyndall Parris’ dream is finally coming to fruition. Lyndall has this month launched her memoirs, which tell the story of her life path leading her to establish the Narara Ecovillage. This Ecovillage, like all projects that seek to step away from the status quo, started as a series …
Reviving the Triplespan Greenhouse
For the last 6 months, a troop of enthusiastic volunteers have been working away at improving the soil in our Triplespan Greenhouse to get the ground prepared for growing food. We chose the greenhouse because of its location down on the floodplain and because the old structure meant we could grow in an area protected from pests. We started by …
Building News (in their own words)
Geoff’s Hempcrete House My owner-build hemp house is ticking along slowly but steadily. After a 5 month wait my double-glazed Murray River red gum windows and doors have been delivered and installed. I think they look brilliant and well worth the wait. My roof is on and we are now all ready for the hempcrete workshop starting on 13 April …
Pathways to Resolution
The aim of Narara Ecovillage is to build a caring, friendly community with social sustainability at its heart. As there will inevitably be differences and conflicts, we need a philosophy and process that sets out pathways to resolution: who to talk to, how to say it, what to do? Social sustainability is based on the safety and wellbeing of everyone …
Are pets allowed at the Ecovillage?
Narara Ecovillage is not a pet-free community but our Community Management Statement includes the aim to minimise the number. We are concerned about the risk to wildlife as we have many lizard, frog and rare bird species on the land we have custodianship for. We take the protection of this diverse ecology very seriously. We are also aware of the …