What is a sustainable material?

Deciding what is and isn’t a ’sustainable material’ isn’t as easy as it sounds. At first glance, the thermal qualities of a material (e.g. insulation value) would be the obvious place to start. However, things become complicated when you also consider the energy used to produce the material (embodied energy), ...

Six seasons of the South West

The Noongar people are the traditional owners of WA’s South West region, which is home to the Witchcliffe Ecovillage. The Noongar calendar has six seasons, which more accurately and holistically describe seasonal changes. The six seasons encompass more than just weather patterns, also taking into account changes occurring to flora, ...

Come fly with me

Andrew Jager, drone photography enthusiast and Sustainable Settlements' accountant, took these images last week of the Ecovillage site. They give a magnificent view of the construction works on the 'stingray' dam, demonstrating how it got its nickname, as well as showing maintenance work on the vineyard and the development of ...

What is an ecovillage?

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22.3″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.22.7″ custom_padding=”||51px|||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.22.7″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.22.7″] This image by @russellordphoto is of Sativa Sanctuary Holiday Home, a solar passive hemp house recently built by Hemp Homes Australia in Witchcliffe. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_margin=”-1px|auto||auto||” admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”3.22.3″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.22.7″ text_font=”||||||||” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”] Ecovillage, sustainable community, co-housing, intentional ...

Profile: Ecovillage calls across the country

Editor’s Note: As avid and longtime followers of the Witchcliffe Ecovillage, we invited Ken and Pam to tell their story to the Village Collective. We look forward to profiling more prospective Ecovillagers in the coming months in an effort to showcase the diversity of people drawn to this unique project ...

Designing landscapes

As Sustainable Settlement’s Landscape Architect, I am leading the charge on all things landscape design. My portfolio influences many areas throughout the Ecovillage, including residential cluster community gardens, streetscapes, plant specification and public open space planning and design. During the last month, I’ve been working largely on the streetscape detail ...

Garden update – May

One of the most important features of the Witchcliffe Ecovillage master plan is the location of large community gardens at the heart of each residential cluster. These gardens will grow the bulk of fresh food for residents in the clusters, which is vital for a community wanting to minimise its ...

From the Editor’s Desk – May 2019

Our place in the world “The future depends on what you do today.”  ― Mahatma Gandhi On writing this column I began to reflect on the broader implications of what we are doing here at the Witchcliffe Ecovillage. For me and my colleagues, this project has always been so much more ...

Stage 1 update

Stage 1 is well underway with the construction of the two new dams nearing completion in readiness for filling by winter rains. This weather will make any further construction impossible until late spring when the ground dries and hardens enough to allow construction of services and roads to commence. Stage ...