At any site - the first thing we will do is arrange an Eco-Festival to raise seed funds for the community.
A YouTube video is shown below which is the basis for Eco-Villages like our own Tree Ark Project. (It shows a little about The Lammas Project Eco-Village - upon which our own was based.)
N.B. With great thanks to Simon Fairlie & Mark (@Chapter 7/TLIO/Diggers 350) for hosting the gathering at Monkton Wylde. (And to Rosie who allowed us ALL to see her farm. October 2011.)
A YouTube video is shown below which is the basis for Eco-Villages like our own Tree Ark Project. (It shows a little about The Lammas Project Eco-Village - upon which our own was based.)
N.B. With great thanks to Simon Fairlie & Mark (@Chapter 7/TLIO/Diggers 350) for hosting the gathering at Monkton Wylde. (And to Rosie who allowed us ALL to see her farm. October 2011.)
With HUGE thanks to all DreamsTIME.com subscribers & artists - without whom, it would not have been possible to prepare ANY graphical presentations for Ark's Showcase - to be able to 'Show & Tell'.
Photographs from DreamsTIME bought for illustration & education purposes - as shown above and in the film & slideshow below! And listed on /dreamstime-graphics.html
Photographs from DreamsTIME bought for illustration & education purposes - as shown above and in the film & slideshow below! And listed on /dreamstime-graphics.html
The YouTube video below was shared & highlighted @PermaMedia (@Facebook & @Twitter).
Simon Dale's excellent example of low-cost, low-impact (woodland) living is shown below to show how people can build their own Eco-Homes from as little as just £3k - when we FINALLY get the 'community right to build'...!
Simon Dale's excellent example of low-cost, low-impact (woodland) living is shown below to show how people can build their own Eco-Homes from as little as just £3k - when we FINALLY get the 'community right to build'...!
Welcome!
The "Tree Ark Project":
Is an eco-community of friends who formed to live in a sustainable community living project in Norfolk UK, which would be a 'showcase community' & an exemplar of sustainable design which could be used to help other rural people find what they needed to help them achieve their own sustainable rural communities - in readiness for 'the communities right to build'.
Initiated by a client with land who understood the effects of climate change and was hoping to develop their land, Linda Beamish (me), Eco-Architectural Design Consultant & founder of http://www.eco-designs.net - formed this proposed zero carbon Eco-community showcase, based on the guidelines set out by:
In 2003, our lecturer warned us that all the signs showed we were heading into a far worse economic recession that that of the early 1990s.
We were told that we needed to focus on truly affordable, low-impact, low-carbon & sustainable design solutions - especially because the construction industry was one of the worst sectors, in terms of UNsustainability.
As designers, we were shown the Centre for Alternative Technologies (CAT) in Wales - which was hailed an example of sustainable design, which we should follow.
As an environmentalist since the age of eight, I've been writing about the effects of oil & other pollutants ever since - and embraced the opportunity of combining my lifelong passion for the environment, with the opportunities which the renewable & zero-carbon aims allowed us.
Since CAT is a member of the UK Eco-Village Network, we followed suit - in fact, when searching for a similar sustainable community design - both for s green-field site outside the LDF - and in terms of our minute community budget, I ended up showing 'The Principal Planning Officer for Major Projects' (Nick Moys in Breckland's Dereham Office), examples of 'The Lammas Project' (Eco-Village) - and 'The Tree Study Centre' in the New Forest, plus CAT.
As I explained to Nick, these examples met all the criteria their local authority sought for low-impact & 'sustainable' communities. (He agreed - and really liked the concept. The only question he said would be bound to be asked at any meeting, was "why there"?)
I explained that, in order to provide the low-cost housing for the community, they would need to work on the land - benefitting the environment of the site - which was really easy to prove, as the woodland hadn't been managed for over 20 years.
(I'd already spoken to Professor Ben Darville of the University of Sterling - who'd said the connection between the lack of bio-diversity and the demise of bumble bees was 'very clear cut'.)
Also, tree surgeon Neil Pearce explained that he'd never seen so much ivy on the trees - and that when bees took the pollen from the orange flowers on one type of ivy, they made honeycomb which was too hard to eat, and starved to death.
Healthy bee numbers are critical, in terms of a sustainable future for all life - otherwise there will be a total dependence on GM crops - which need no bees to pollenate, as the plants don't seed.
We also used examples of other sustainable community living projects - and sustainable schemes which had set planning president across the UK, including:
CAT www.cat.org.uk
Earthship Community Brighton http://www.lowcarbon.co.uk/earthship-brighton
The Eden Project www.edenproject.com
The Findhorn Community www.findhorn.org
The Hockerton Housing Project http://www.hockertonhousingproject.org.uk
The Lammas Project http://www.lammas.org.uk
The Tree Study Centre http://www.cet.org.uk/New_Forest_Treehouse_Study_Centre
In addition, working as an architectural designer meant following the UK Planning Guidelines - which are basically follow a diluted form of United Nations Agenda 21. Other documents were also researched to ensure planning approval, including the research as shown here: /the-research.html - and including the following:
The original site was lost to our community when the original client decided they wanted to sell their land (July 2009), and The Tree Ark Project community has been searching for an alternative site since then.
This website documents our progress as we look for land - and offers to help others in similar circumstances to achieve their own level of self-sustainability, through our eco-design consultants - like the founder of The Tree Ark Project!
I also founded http://www.eco-designs.net to showcase findings for anyone else trying to live in an economical & ecological lifestyle.
For instance, if you'd prefer to live in housing you could afford WITHOUT needing to claim for a benefit (where one IS applicable in the first place), you might like to consider building your own eco-home on an organic farm for £3000, in exchange for:
(plus a range of other eco/ethical site specific employment)
Any of the above in a permutation to suit the needs of any organic farm or small-holder, - or any land-owner who would like to accommodate you on their land in exchange for any of the above, with wages paid paid by the visiting public who care to experience a truly organic & ethical holiday, while they view rare wildlife, or learn about how the food they eat is prepared & grown organically. (More details on this element of the design on
Many people would like a proper country holiday, (home-made, with locally produced specialist pieces of furniture, turned & crafted by hand individually, and would like to know how the actual farm producing their food was producing it) - and the opportunity to learn how to "do it yourself".
Some people prefer to buy everything wrapped in plastic - even though there are 2 vast 'garbage patches' in the ocean, one of which is over 61 foot in depth, and marine life is dying in vast numbers because of it.
(Participatory eco-tourism at the Tree Ark Project, would included such options as beach walks - clearing the coastal debris and seeing the wildlife along the way. For example, we could take one guided 'Eco-Ark' Tour to Poppylands & stay with them in Tipis & yurts while they explored the seal colony along the coastline. Eco-Ark tourists could also view the inland waterways via canoe, kayak or guided tour, monitoring the endangered wildlife which faces high risk of flooding as sea levels rise. (Sea defences are so eroded that they are unable to withstand the rising tides, visiting the North Norfolk coastal areas like this now, may help to document their progress.)
An alternative travel plan for holiday makers to travel between eco-tour resorts will be run - this will provide stopping points for any eco-tourists wanting to horse-ride, cycle, canoe, kayak or walk across the East of England (for example) for their holidays - supporting local eco-resorts throughout the region. (We would try to adapt a mini-bus to run on LPG derived from the anaerobic generators at eco-village resorts along the way.)
This design is replicable throughout the world, and according to planning guidelines, replicable, inclusive and regenerative zero carbon schemes are just what each local authority has been advocating.
(It just needs to be invested in by eco-ethical people - who care & want to make a difference.)
Many more people understand that we need to live sustainably, and would like to find out more about the research findings - they want to know what's going on in the world about them. IT is not always ecological or ethical, and searching through the internet alone - when so many others have already walked ahead, is only possible with the wish or ability to use the internet/IT.
"The internet is like a big brain - except that, like so many of the brains which formed IT, IT has no conscience." - Anon.
"Isn't it time that IT had an NPD? - A green channel, built specifically to float all the great & ethical non-profit organisations around the world - so nobody ever has to beg for support from any more unethical source/s?"
I formed The Ark Directory (NPD = net profits (RE)distributed for all non-profits), and formed Global Ark Projects as a networking hub for everyone looking for humanitarian & environmental solutions & innovations. The people so far forming Global Ark Project's Directory are happy to share some of the net profits earned through the Ark sites to fund eco-resorts - like The Tree Ark Project, which will also distribute their eco-ethical products, services & design innovations (NPD).
We were going to have showrooms - showing the work of others, and were going to have designs & renewable technologies available virtually & "off-the-shelf" - alongside architectural plans, help through planning, working drawings, project management & cutting lists.
That was one of our projected income sources.
Effectively, by the time the clients decided not to proceed - I'd already networked with many people who said they'd like to partner with us, and wanted inclusion in our Showrooms.
As we had lost the land - I simply carried on forming the researched links to widen the span of our Eco-Ethical directory.
N.B. The Tree Ark Project eco-community (otherwise known as an 'ecommunity' or 'eco-village' - which would like to be a part of the global eco-village network - as SOON as some of our 150 community members can locate a site in Norfolk, which is within commuting distance for the children of the Tree Ark Project to continue to go to their existing school/s - if they are legally able if out of catchment.)
(Anyone who owns their own home, can simply start to ecologically adapt their home if they want to - but people who can't afford to buy their own home or rent one - or land or even a garden, are often forced to live unsustainably. Anyone trying to form an eco-community if they are an eco-designer themselves without money, is unable to get any funding for their 'social enterprise' unless they have proven figures, but without having a land for a showcase eco-community, there can be no figures to gain the grant... to gain the land to showcase how to live sustainably.)
A brief list is shown under "Planning Guidelines" on this website, on page http://www.thetreearkproject.org/the-research.html
(Linda Beamish is also known as 'AnEarthMother' in blogs such as - http://www.anearthmother.com & http://www.twitter.com/anearthmother )
N.B. The Tree Ark Project is Global Ark Projects' exemplar or 'showcase' community - an Eco-Village.
Global Ark Projects is a net profit distributor (NPD), website: http://www.GlobalArkProjects.com
Please note that since writing this, I've now written so much in regards to the lack of Human Rights for rural & Village People, that Tony Gosling promoted me to 'Moderator' at the UK Eco-Village Network. (All thanks to Tony!!:D)
Is an eco-community of friends who formed to live in a sustainable community living project in Norfolk UK, which would be a 'showcase community' & an exemplar of sustainable design which could be used to help other rural people find what they needed to help them achieve their own sustainable rural communities - in readiness for 'the communities right to build'.
Initiated by a client with land who understood the effects of climate change and was hoping to develop their land, Linda Beamish (me), Eco-Architectural Design Consultant & founder of http://www.eco-designs.net - formed this proposed zero carbon Eco-community showcase, based on the guidelines set out by:
- The UK Eco-Village Network, websites shown at: www.evnuk.org.uk and www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ecovillageuk/
- Chapter 7/TLIO, Diggers & Dreamers - see: www.tlio.org.uk/chapter7/ and www.monktonwyldcourt.co.uk/page47/Welcome.html (N.B. Please also see their partners: http://www.peasantevolution.co.uk/
- DEFRA http://www.defra.gov.uk/crc/
- EEDA http://www.eeda.org.uk/
- Friends of The Earth http://www.foe.co.uk/
- Inspire East http://www.inspire-east.org.uk/home.aspx
- Participatory Eco Tourism (PDFs as shown /eco-resorts.html)
- World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF): http://www.wwoof.org/
In 2003, our lecturer warned us that all the signs showed we were heading into a far worse economic recession that that of the early 1990s.
We were told that we needed to focus on truly affordable, low-impact, low-carbon & sustainable design solutions - especially because the construction industry was one of the worst sectors, in terms of UNsustainability.
As designers, we were shown the Centre for Alternative Technologies (CAT) in Wales - which was hailed an example of sustainable design, which we should follow.
As an environmentalist since the age of eight, I've been writing about the effects of oil & other pollutants ever since - and embraced the opportunity of combining my lifelong passion for the environment, with the opportunities which the renewable & zero-carbon aims allowed us.
Since CAT is a member of the UK Eco-Village Network, we followed suit - in fact, when searching for a similar sustainable community design - both for s green-field site outside the LDF - and in terms of our minute community budget, I ended up showing 'The Principal Planning Officer for Major Projects' (Nick Moys in Breckland's Dereham Office), examples of 'The Lammas Project' (Eco-Village) - and 'The Tree Study Centre' in the New Forest, plus CAT.
As I explained to Nick, these examples met all the criteria their local authority sought for low-impact & 'sustainable' communities. (He agreed - and really liked the concept. The only question he said would be bound to be asked at any meeting, was "why there"?)
I explained that, in order to provide the low-cost housing for the community, they would need to work on the land - benefitting the environment of the site - which was really easy to prove, as the woodland hadn't been managed for over 20 years.
(I'd already spoken to Professor Ben Darville of the University of Sterling - who'd said the connection between the lack of bio-diversity and the demise of bumble bees was 'very clear cut'.)
Also, tree surgeon Neil Pearce explained that he'd never seen so much ivy on the trees - and that when bees took the pollen from the orange flowers on one type of ivy, they made honeycomb which was too hard to eat, and starved to death.
Healthy bee numbers are critical, in terms of a sustainable future for all life - otherwise there will be a total dependence on GM crops - which need no bees to pollenate, as the plants don't seed.
We also used examples of other sustainable community living projects - and sustainable schemes which had set planning president across the UK, including:
CAT www.cat.org.uk
Earthship Community Brighton http://www.lowcarbon.co.uk/earthship-brighton
The Eden Project www.edenproject.com
The Findhorn Community www.findhorn.org
The Hockerton Housing Project http://www.hockertonhousingproject.org.uk
The Lammas Project http://www.lammas.org.uk
The Tree Study Centre http://www.cet.org.uk/New_Forest_Treehouse_Study_Centre
In addition, working as an architectural designer meant following the UK Planning Guidelines - which are basically follow a diluted form of United Nations Agenda 21. Other documents were also researched to ensure planning approval, including the research as shown here: /the-research.html - and including the following:
- United Nations Agenda 21
- The Brundtland Report
- The Earth Charter
- The Grassroots Organisation
- The Government's Communities website
- The Local Authority's Development Control website/Planning Guidelines
- The Reap Report SEI
- (and many others)
The original site was lost to our community when the original client decided they wanted to sell their land (July 2009), and The Tree Ark Project community has been searching for an alternative site since then.
This website documents our progress as we look for land - and offers to help others in similar circumstances to achieve their own level of self-sustainability, through our eco-design consultants - like the founder of The Tree Ark Project!
I also founded http://www.eco-designs.net to showcase findings for anyone else trying to live in an economical & ecological lifestyle.
For instance, if you'd prefer to live in housing you could afford WITHOUT needing to claim for a benefit (where one IS applicable in the first place), you might like to consider building your own eco-home on an organic farm for £3000, in exchange for:
- working for your food
- helping at an eco-tour resort
- managing the woodland
- helping to manage the reed marshes
- protecting rare species
- cleaning up waterways (inland and offshore)
- mucking out horses
- running canoe & kayak tours
- organising bicycle tours
- driving a mix of oxen & horse driven 'vehicles'
- driving electric or LPG MPV's and chauffeuring eco-tourists
- clearing manure & other organic debris to fuel an anaerobic generator (and getting a free source of electricity, heating & gas in the process - this also provides 'eco-village' or 'eco-community' income through the sale of surplus energy)
- running an eco-ethical trading post +/or an eco design consultancy (an eco-co-op/E-Co-Op - NPD = net profits floating non-profits, run by people who care for people who care)
- caring for the local community elders
- organic catering, running a cafe or restaurant (&/or teaching these skills)
- running the housekeeping of eco-resorts, (tipis, yurts, laundry service, organic gardening)
- teaching:
- organic gardening & farming
- permaculture
- traditional crafts, arts & key skills (with space to show your own work in the gallery on site)
- ecology - through Gia University & all other interested parties
- running an organic hostelry
- running a Fair-Trade shop
- running a Fair-Trade workshop
- eco, natural & sustainable construction courses
- teaching children about their natural environment (faeries, puppeteers & other rural story tellers)
(plus a range of other eco/ethical site specific employment)
Any of the above in a permutation to suit the needs of any organic farm or small-holder, - or any land-owner who would like to accommodate you on their land in exchange for any of the above, with wages paid paid by the visiting public who care to experience a truly organic & ethical holiday, while they view rare wildlife, or learn about how the food they eat is prepared & grown organically. (More details on this element of the design on
Many people would like a proper country holiday, (home-made, with locally produced specialist pieces of furniture, turned & crafted by hand individually, and would like to know how the actual farm producing their food was producing it) - and the opportunity to learn how to "do it yourself".
Some people prefer to buy everything wrapped in plastic - even though there are 2 vast 'garbage patches' in the ocean, one of which is over 61 foot in depth, and marine life is dying in vast numbers because of it.
(Participatory eco-tourism at the Tree Ark Project, would included such options as beach walks - clearing the coastal debris and seeing the wildlife along the way. For example, we could take one guided 'Eco-Ark' Tour to Poppylands & stay with them in Tipis & yurts while they explored the seal colony along the coastline. Eco-Ark tourists could also view the inland waterways via canoe, kayak or guided tour, monitoring the endangered wildlife which faces high risk of flooding as sea levels rise. (Sea defences are so eroded that they are unable to withstand the rising tides, visiting the North Norfolk coastal areas like this now, may help to document their progress.)
An alternative travel plan for holiday makers to travel between eco-tour resorts will be run - this will provide stopping points for any eco-tourists wanting to horse-ride, cycle, canoe, kayak or walk across the East of England (for example) for their holidays - supporting local eco-resorts throughout the region. (We would try to adapt a mini-bus to run on LPG derived from the anaerobic generators at eco-village resorts along the way.)
This design is replicable throughout the world, and according to planning guidelines, replicable, inclusive and regenerative zero carbon schemes are just what each local authority has been advocating.
(It just needs to be invested in by eco-ethical people - who care & want to make a difference.)
Many more people understand that we need to live sustainably, and would like to find out more about the research findings - they want to know what's going on in the world about them. IT is not always ecological or ethical, and searching through the internet alone - when so many others have already walked ahead, is only possible with the wish or ability to use the internet/IT.
"The internet is like a big brain - except that, like so many of the brains which formed IT, IT has no conscience." - Anon.
"Isn't it time that IT had an NPD? - A green channel, built specifically to float all the great & ethical non-profit organisations around the world - so nobody ever has to beg for support from any more unethical source/s?"
I formed The Ark Directory (NPD = net profits (RE)distributed for all non-profits), and formed Global Ark Projects as a networking hub for everyone looking for humanitarian & environmental solutions & innovations. The people so far forming Global Ark Project's Directory are happy to share some of the net profits earned through the Ark sites to fund eco-resorts - like The Tree Ark Project, which will also distribute their eco-ethical products, services & design innovations (NPD).
We were going to have showrooms - showing the work of others, and were going to have designs & renewable technologies available virtually & "off-the-shelf" - alongside architectural plans, help through planning, working drawings, project management & cutting lists.
That was one of our projected income sources.
Effectively, by the time the clients decided not to proceed - I'd already networked with many people who said they'd like to partner with us, and wanted inclusion in our Showrooms.
As we had lost the land - I simply carried on forming the researched links to widen the span of our Eco-Ethical directory.
N.B. The Tree Ark Project eco-community (otherwise known as an 'ecommunity' or 'eco-village' - which would like to be a part of the global eco-village network - as SOON as some of our 150 community members can locate a site in Norfolk, which is within commuting distance for the children of the Tree Ark Project to continue to go to their existing school/s - if they are legally able if out of catchment.)
(Anyone who owns their own home, can simply start to ecologically adapt their home if they want to - but people who can't afford to buy their own home or rent one - or land or even a garden, are often forced to live unsustainably. Anyone trying to form an eco-community if they are an eco-designer themselves without money, is unable to get any funding for their 'social enterprise' unless they have proven figures, but without having a land for a showcase eco-community, there can be no figures to gain the grant... to gain the land to showcase how to live sustainably.)
A brief list is shown under "Planning Guidelines" on this website, on page http://www.thetreearkproject.org/the-research.html
(Linda Beamish is also known as 'AnEarthMother' in blogs such as - http://www.anearthmother.com & http://www.twitter.com/anearthmother )
N.B. The Tree Ark Project is Global Ark Projects' exemplar or 'showcase' community - an Eco-Village.
Global Ark Projects is a net profit distributor (NPD), website: http://www.GlobalArkProjects.com
Please note that since writing this, I've now written so much in regards to the lack of Human Rights for rural & Village People, that Tony Gosling promoted me to 'Moderator' at the UK Eco-Village Network. (All thanks to Tony!!:D)
The eco-centre floor plan above was sketched for our second potential site, we'd use a sign like that above to indicate that this is an E-Co-Op - all the Ecommunity net profits would go to Global Ark Projects, to support other projects across the world providing affordable housing, water/sanitation, food, and education for ALL.
