Organizing for sustainability at a small scale: A case study of an ecovillage.

When dealing with environmental issues, most reports highlight global-scale solutions. However, as the problem is embedded in all levels of our society, we must also implement solutions on smaller levels. Ecovillages, for example, are intentional communities engaging in initiatives to address sustainability in practical matters. The purpose of my research is to study how EcoVillage at Ithaca, New York, USA, as a small-scale experiment in sustainability, has organized itself. Data collection took place from August 21st to October 6th, 2007 and involved multiple techniques: participant-observation, field notes, documents analysis, and in-depth interviews with 21 key informants. An analytical framework based on organization theory was developed in order to explore the case study. The results suggest that three major tensions are created within EcoVillage at Ithaca's organizational process. The strategies developed to adapt to these tensions are: shared leadership, enhanced communication among members and partnership with the surrounding social environment. --P. ii.