Suderbyn is leading a project named “Ecovillages for sustainable rural development”, that is related to the EU’s Baltic Sea Strategy and its Action Plan for environmentally sustainable ways of living.

The project aims at helping our society to get closer to nature again and to develop new ways of living together on the land in a genuinely more sustainable way. This is especially important given the climate crisis and resource shortages that we face. The ecovillage concept is an innovation offering solutions to many resource, climate and social life problems societies of the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) face. Ecovillages are an alternative to the individualistic, consumerist and commodified systems that many cities represent.

The overall objective of this project is to develop more sustainable ways of living in the rural areas of the BSR by offering a toolkit for initiators and developers of eco-villages. We will also develop an effective model for planning and implementation of eco-villages. The purpose is to disseminate knowledge between western and eastern, northern and southern parts of the region.

The project results foster environmental sustainability at EU, national and local levels, for instance, by educating our society to live in an environmentally-friendly way. The results can be transferred to other locations and implemented by other organizations.