Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
The plan to create a fully sustainable eco-village on campus has stalled because of class sign-up confusion. The project, previously slated to be finished in 2010, is now on hold for at least a semester.
“Nobody is to blame,” said Emily Markides, the professor of the Peace Studies class that proposed the idea of an eco-village in York Village.
“My pace is not on par with the university. You have to go through the hierarchy. A huge network is involved in a project like this and two very different paradigms clashed,” she said.
Before the beginning of the semester students signed up for PAX 370 (Building Sustainable Communities), taught by Markides, believing it to be the class that would work on the York project. This left the real York Village class empty. Since less than 12 students signed up for the class, the administration cancelled it.
“I found it a little strange that no one registered when over 100 students were at the eco-charrette last year,” said Markides.
When the semester began students realized the confusion and some worked to try and reinstate the class. Michelle Martin, a fourth-year Anthropology major, sent e-mails with the subject, “York Village needs you!” and spoke to students to garner support.
“We had a large group of people interested. Emily tried but they couldn’t reinstate the course. It’s tough when you have unbridled enthusiasm for something and it hits a wall,” Martin said.
The proposed eco-village would have self-sufficient solar and geothermal energy resources, four-season greenhouses for students to grow vegetables, an edible forest corridor with fruit trees running between York Village and Chapel Street gardens and composting toilets, as well as living space for 20 students.
Last April an eco-charrette attended by over 100 students and faculty members convened to formalize the plans for the project. They discussed issues like fundraising, energy management, water management, alternative energy, retrofitting and business, among others.
For now, the next step is to create a formal business plan. Without the plan, funds cannot be raised and without funds, students can’t get involved, Markides said.
The project hit another snag when Markides wanted to involve sustainability experts Charles and Julia Yelton, but funding was not approved. The Yeltons both worked on the Crystal Waters Permaculture village in Australia.
According to Markides there was no clear line of responsibility for the project and that is causing difficulty in planning.
Martin wants clearer and more effective communication with all the parties involved. “[York Village] should have clear principles with concrete things that students can do to help out. To have it done well, it’s going to have to have very deliberate and intentional design. I want to see it done right.”
Although the project has hit a bump in the road, Markides continues to have faith. “It’s like pulling the reins on a horse that is ready to take off. It’s a shame. But I am absolutely certain that York Village will happen. Once a seed is planted it will continue to grow.”
Bangor Daily News