POST OCCUPANCY EVALUATION (POE): A TOOL TO INVESTIGATE THE RESIDENTS’ SATISFACTION AND PERFORMANCE OF HOUSING PROJECT, CASE STUDY – KANHAPUR, INDIA

In developing countries like India, very less research has been conducted on the Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) of rural housing projects. This research aims to investigate the performance of an Eco-Village at Kanhapur, India which was designed by the Centre of Science for Villages. Research investigation was based on the occupants’ views on the physical condition of their housing units and neighborhood spaces. The study aided to determine the occupants’ housing satisfaction and thus evaluate the housing quality in the rural housing projects. The results revealed that, CSV, failed in achieving the residential satisfaction and the model of Eco-village collapsed. The housing project could offer them the shelter, but not the livable conditions on account of multiple reasons discussed in the paper. CSV never came back to the community to take the feedback on their living conditions and problems even after 10 years of occupancy. The study of this eco village led to the conclusion that POE can be utilized as a powerful tool to diagnose the residential satisfaction and thereby investigate the loopholes in the performance of housing projects.

Eco Valley or New Vraja Dham? Competing Emic Interpretations of the Hungarian Krishna Valley

One of the reasons for the spread of the Western Hare Krishna movement is that it offers several alternatives for the practice of religion: devotees can be full-fledged members of the church in congregations located in complex urban or in simple rural contexts. An example of the latter is Krishna Valley, where approximately 130 Krishna-devotees live austere lives. My paper presents the interpretations of this settlement concentrating on (multiple) internal (emic) views: On the one hand, I will show how the leadership of the church contextualizes and interprets Krishna Valley and how they wish the inhabitants to conceptualize it. On the other hand, I will also show what Krishna Valley means for its ordinary inhabitants and what interpretations those living there attach to it. When I was gathering material for the current paper, Krishna Valley was in flux. The settlement has always favored following a sustainable lifestyle but—due in part to the strengthening of the Hungarian eco-village movement—it was at this time that the conceptualization of Krishna Valley as an eco-village gained momentum. This was the heyday of the Eco Valley Foundation, which was to strengthen the eco-village aspect of the Valley, and in the communication of Krishna Valley the ecological aspect became paramount, drowning out all other interpretations. Not all inhabitants of the village welcomed this change and in response some began to emphasize the interpretation of Krishna Valley as a sacred place. In the current paper, I will present these two processes and the relationship between them through the lens of the interpretations of the members of the community.

A low energy community? A comparative study of Eco-Villages around the world

This paper investigates what is being done to produce sustainable community developments to minimize ecological footprint. Five international case studies were compared with the Govardhan Eco Village in Maharashtra, India. The study describes each case study and then looks at how various sustainable principles have been integrated into the community. Each case study was compared to an appropriate set of sustainability indicators to see which parameters were addressed. In order to establish the fundamental sustainable design focus of each case study, whether technology or human behaviour, the analysis looked at the types of parameters governing each project. Results showed the parameters incorporated in the case studies did not obviously change with time. Further scrutiny of the parameter matrix for all case studies suggested two distinctly different trends in the 'eastern' and 'western' examples. The Indian example appears to show true sustainable development, relying less on technology and more on human capital.

A low energy community? A comparative study of Eco-Villages around the world

This paper investigates what is being done to produce sustainable community developments to minimize ecological footprint. Five international case studies were compared with the Govardhan Eco Village in Maharashtra, India. The study describes each case study and then looks at how various sustainable principles have been integrated into the community. Each case study was compared to an appropriate set of sustainability indicators to see which parameters were addressed. In order to establish the fundamental sustainable design focus of each case study, whether technology or human behaviour, the analysis looked at the types of parameters governing each project. Results showed the parameters incorporated in the case studies did not obviously change with time. Further scrutiny of the parameter matrix for all case studies suggested two distinctly different trends in the 'eastern' and 'western' examples. The Indian example appears to show true sustainable development, relying less on technology and more on human capital.

Eco-villages as Sustainable Human Habitats

Faced with the effects of global warming, energy resource depletion, and other related social problems which have steadily worsened since the 1980’s, people around the world have sought to create more sustainable, resilient and ‘liveable’ communities. Two approaches have been developed: The first is reformist - developing piecemeal changes in response existing problems -; the second is utopian - creating new environments from scratch. Eco-villages are consciously developed as sustainable communities, and as such, are an example of the utopian approach. This study evaluates the creation of two eco-villages in Turkey facing physical, social, economic, and sustainability issues. Our research starts by discussing two well-known eco-village initiatives, which enables us establish the key features of eco-village initiatives generally. We then analyse these key features in the context of two eco-villages selected in Turkey, using publicly available information from websites, observations from site visits, and details from personal interviews conducted with the founders of each settlement. Our findings, which relate to the physical, social, economic, and sustainable aspects of the eco- villages, are subsequently tabulated and compared with the original two eco-village initiatives discussed. In closing, several recommendations are made for the ongoing success of the initiatives in Turkey.

Eco-villages as Sustainable Human Habitats: Challenges and Conflicts in Turkey

Faced with the effects of global warming, energy resource depletion, and other related social problems which have steadily worsened since the 1980’s, people around the world have sought to create more sustainable, resilient and ‘liveable’ communities. Two approaches have been developed: The first is reformist - developing piecemeal changes in response existing problems -; the second is utopian - creating new environments from scratch. Eco-villages are consciously developed as sustainable communities, and as such, are an example of the utopian approach. This study evaluates the creation of two eco-villages in Turkey facing physical, social, economic, and sustainability issues. Our research starts by discussing two well-known eco-village initiatives, which enables us establish the key features of eco-village initiatives generally. We then analyse these key features in the context of two eco-villages selected in Turkey, using publicly available information from websites, observations from site visits, and details from personal interviews conducted with the founders of each settlement. Our findings, which relate to the physical, social, economic, and sustainable aspects of the eco- villages, are subsequently tabulated and compared with the original two eco-village initiatives discussed. In closing, several recommendations are made for the ongoing success of the initiatives in Turkey.

Ecobrick Method To Reduce Plastic Waste In Tanjung Mekar Village, Karawang Regency

According to a survey by Nova Chemicals, Indonesia is the second largest contributor to sea waste after China, which is 1.29 million metric tons / year. At present there are still many people in Indonesia who throw garbage in any place, and can caused flooding in the river. The river is polluted with a lot of waste, one of which is the Citarum River. Citarum River is a river that is very important for residents of West Java. The condition of the Citarum River which is very alarming is polluted by waste and garbage. In the world's leading survey site, the Citarum River occupies the 4th position for the dirtiest river problem. The rubbish that pollutes the Citarum River is more inorganic or unbiodegradable, for example plastic, bottles or beverage cups, plastic food wrapping, and so on. As we know plastic waste is very difficult to decompose, it takes more than 100 years to decompose the plastic decomposed or decompose completely. Plastic waste is one source of environmental pollution in Indonesia. The benefits of using plastic products must be balanced with the calculation of the negative impact produced. The nature of this plastic material makes it difficult to replace it with other materials for various applications, especially in everyday life ranging from food packaging, household appliances, children's toys, electronics to automotive components. Increased use of plastic materials has resulted in increased production of plastic waste from year to year. The destruction of plastic waste by burning will only worsen the health because of the anti-dioxy substance produced. The most appropriate method used in dealing with waste is to use the Ecobrick method. The team of Pancasila University wanted to socialize how to make an ecobrick, and how strong the compressive on the ecobrick material was made. To overcome waste, especially plastic along the Citarum river. This socialization was held in Tanjung Mekar Village, Karawang Barat sub-district, Karawang Regency. The participants coming from the community of environmentalists (Eco Village). Community of eviromentalists hope will provide direction and socialization to their about the ecobrick method to deal with plastic waste that cannot be recycled. From the results of testing carried out at the Pancasila University concrete laboratory using ecobrick materials is plastic bottles filled with pure plastic, filled with sand, and a mixture of plastic and sand compared to red brick and concrete brick sold in the market, from the compressive strength test results it is known that the material ecobrick which contains of sand shows the greatest compressive strength value is 41.2 Mpa, compared to red brick which is 27 Mpa and concrete brick is 38 Mpa ecobrick has a higher compressive strength than other materials

Exploring Solutions to Improve the Evaluation of Development of Rural Villages: A Case Study of the Application of the Evaluation for the Construction of Beautiful Villages (ECBV) in a Village in South China

Eco-village development has been considered by the Chinese central government as part of its rural revitalisation campaign and it is seen as a crucial/main solution to the increasingly serious rural issues caused by urban–rural inequality. A significant number of eco-villages are being or will be developed with government leadership and support under the guidance of a corresponding assessment. However, the latest Chinese eco-village assessment, the Evaluation for the Construction of Beautiful Villages (ECBV), has been found to have limitations related to the assessment process, method, and indicators, meaning that it cannot be used to perform a balanced evaluation of the social, economic, and environmental aspects of an eco-village. As assessing an eco-village is as essential as building it, it has become necessary to balance the criteria and improve the ECBV assessment so that it can review existing achievements, guide further development, and ensure better outcomes. Thus, this paper aims to: (1) identify the limitations of ECBV through a case study of a carefully selected Chinese eco-village, Zhenghu Village, by repeating the assessment process and analysing the assessment results, and (2) propose three possible solutions to improve the assessment by applying a revised ECBV assessment, the components of which are adopted and revised from an internationally recognised sustainability assessment, the Sustainable Development Indicators (SDIs). The results of the case study confirm the limitations of the ECBV assessment. Besides, the research outcomes of these three possible solutions can improve ECBV assessment and also provide ideas for the improvement of other existing assessment methods. Moreover, other developing countries may apply the research process and method introduced in this paper to formulate or improve their own eco-village assessments.