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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Tifton, Georgia » Crop Protection and Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #114054
Title: ECOLOGICALLY-BASED COMMUNITIES PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER AT THE LOCAL LEVEL

Author
item Lewis, Wallace
item JAY, MARION - GA COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS

Submitted to: Sustainable Agriculture
Publication Type: Monograph
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/1/2000
Publication Date: 12/1/2000
Citation: Lewis, W.J., Jay, M.M. 2000. Ecologically-based communities. In: Putting It All Together at the Local Level. The Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Poteau, OR. p. 1-49.

Interpretive Summary: The USA is the highest producer and consumer of goods, and the largest producer of wastes on earth (President's Council on Sustainable Development, 1996). Solid and lasting ways to manage our economic, social, and natural resources more wisely must be found and rapidly implemented. Our central position is that achievement of true sustainability will require a collective ecologically-based redirection of technology, professional pursuits, and personal/family/neighborhood interactions focused toward fostering local communities. To borrow a quote from Bucky Fuller (1981), "Think globally, act locally." Herein, we offer a foundational map to guide a holistic pursuit of sustainable communities. We examine how technology and reductionist trends are impacting our society and propose conceptual models and guidelines for healty communities drawn from natural ecosystems.

Technical Abstract: Family farms and the general welfare of rural communities are in peril. In this report we maintain that the combinations of compounding environmental, economic, and social problems can be traced to the common denominator of the loss of ecologically sound and sustainable practices at local community levels. We show how all systems including agro-ecosystems, healthcare systems, educational systems, and local communities are accountable to and must follow central ecological principles to be effective. We examine how technology and reductionist trends are impacting our society and propose conceptual models and guidelines for healthy communities drawn from natural ecosystems. Our central position is that achievement of true sustainability will require a collective ecologically- based redirection of technology, professional pursuits, and personal/ family/neighborhood interactions focused toward fostering local communities. A model framework for such a redirection is provided.