Page 270 [270]
268 JUDIT FARKAS
ecovillage was built on the site of a dying settlement. Krishna Valley, Magfalva and
the ecovillage Galgahévíz were created as greenfield investments. The Natural
Lifestyle Foundations site in Tata-Agostyán, the Ormánság Foundation in Drávafok,
the Gömörszőlős training center and the Biovillage in Máriahalom are not so much
settlements as training centers. The Nagyszekely Community and the Nyim Eco¬
Community were not established as a separate settlement, but as part of an existing
village. The Association of Organic Farms of Szer represents the Hungarian type of
solitary ecofarm.
Figure 5. Krishna Valley, Hungary, 2013. Photo: Judit Farkas
Administratively, one cannot speak of a separate ecovillage in Hungary. Even those
communities that have been created independently, as greenfield projects (Krishna
Valley, Galgaheviz Ecovillage, Magfalva) or on the site of an extinct village
(Gyürüfü), belong administratively to a nearby municipality.
It is also true of the Hungarian ecovillages that some details of the ideal ecovillage
concept have been realized to varying degrees. Here, too, the vision of self¬
sufficiency is one of the main priorities in community building, but it is also well
known that local self-sufficiency is extremely difficult and time-consuming (for
the issue of self-sufficiency and community, see Christian 2004). Among the
Hungarian communities, Krishna Valley and Visnyeszéplak are the closest to full
food and energy self-sufficiency, while the ecovillages in Gyűrűfű and Galgahévíz
are also prominent in energy self-sufficiency. An important element of self¬
sufficiency is local livelihoods, which is the biggest challenge for Hungarian
ecovillages and eco-communities.' At present, relatively few have found a way of
making a living locally, and they mostly make a living from their agricultural
products, tourism and educational activities. Some are making their livelihoods
through grant funding. Those who do not commute every day, but do not rely on
'0 Similarly to the inhabitants in tiny, dead-end settlements.