My Action Plan for Building a 

Socially Sustainable Business

Raj Laxmi Tiwari

Roll no: 81

Social Sustainability: It is a Practice to ensure that the cohesion of society and its ability to
work towards common goals are maintained. Individual needs such as those for health and
well-being, nutrition, shelter, education and cultural expression should be met. It is one
aspect of sustainability or sustainable development. In common with environmental
sustainability, social sustainability is the idea that future generations should have the same or
greater access to social resources as the current generation ("inter-generational equity"),
while there should also be equal access to social resources within the current generation
("intra-generational equity"). Social resources include ideas as broad as other cultures and
basic human rights. The different aspects of social sustainability are often considered
in socially responsible investing (SRI). Social sustainability criteria that are commonly used
by SRI funds and indexes to rate publicly-traded companies include: community, diversity,
employee relations, human rights, product safety, reporting, and governance structure.

In helping develop the number and networking connections of ecovillages, and the ecovillage
movement as a whole, the Ecovillage Network of the Americas and the two other Global
Ecovillage Network divisions (GEN Europe/Africa, and GEN Oceania/Asia) have attempted
to define and evolve the definition of ecovillage, since the term first came into use. Robert
and Diane Gilman, in Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities (1991), offered the
following definition, which we use as a starting point:
“A human-scale, full-featured settlement in which human activities are harmlessly
integrated into the natural world in a way that is supportive of healthy human
development and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future.”
Ecovillages typically build on various combinations of three dimensions:
social,ecological, and spiritual. These dimensions also describe the reasons why people
mostoften are attracted to ecovillage living, although one of these dimensions may
predominate more than others in some ecovillage projects and be completely absent in others.
The Community Sustainability Assessment Tool is a self-administered surveycreated by the
Global Ecovillage Network to show the many approaches–including those in the social,
ecological, and spiritual dimensions–that can be taken to make acommunity more
sustainable. 
Identification of social need with business plan:

The rural community has food, shelter, heath, education but the most important need which
should be focused is to preserve the environment.

Eco- Village:-
Ecovillages are intentional communities with the goal of becoming more socially,
economically and ecologically sustainable. Some aim for a population of 50–150 individuals.
Larger ecovillages of up to 2,000 individuals exist as networks of smaller subcommunities to
create an ecovillage model that allows for social networks within a broader foundation of
support. Certain ecovillages have grown by the nearby addition of others, not necessarily
members, settling on the periphery of the ecovillage and effectively participating in the
ecovillage community.
Ecovillage members are united by shared ecological, social-economic and cultural-
spiritual values. An ecovillage is often composed of people who have chosen an alternative to
centralized electrical, water, and sewage systems. Many see the breakdown of traditional
forms of community, wasteful consumerist lifestyles, the destruction of natural habitat, urban
sprawl, factory farming, and over-reliance on fossil fuels, as trends that must be changed to
avert ecological disaster. They see small-scale communities with minimal ecological impact
as an alternative. However, such communities often cooperate with peer villages in networks
of their own (see Global Ecovillage Network for an example). This model of collective
action is similar to that of Ten Thousand Villages, which supports the fair trade of goods
worldwide.
An ambitious project for development of rural areas by introducing an eco-village concept,
which would give incentives to the villages for preserving environment. It would serve both
the purposes - development and preservation of environment of the villages. In the concept,
the rural areas would have a development plan like cities to avoid haphazard constructions in
future. The concept would also ensure the basic minimum facilities for the villages like water
and sanitation, power, schools and markets. "Certain guidelines and rules would be set up for
villages like using bio-gas, preserving forests, maintaining sanitation against which incentives
would be given to them.

Design of Innovative Business Model and critical capital resources:

All homes within The Ecovillage boast huge sustainability credentials including complete
water autonomy and energy self-sufficiency. Smart design and excellent energy ratings assist
the homes to be comfortable all year round with low environmental impact.

The estate incorporates other features including grid-connected solar power, edible
landscapes, vast areas of open space and environmental reserve, permaculture and waste
minimisation and recycling.
Careful building codes ensure homes are energy-efficient. They feature rainwater tanks, solar
power and ‘EcoVision’ – an intelligent monitoring system that allows residents to keep track
of their water, gas and electricity consumption.

The Ecovillage has been recognised locally, nationally and internationally for its world
leading initiatives by taking out over 26 awards.

The concept underpinning the development is not just about environmental sustainability,
says Walton. Social and economic equity are given the same importance as the environment.

In fact it’s the interaction between residents which forms the heart and soul of The Ecovillage
community, he says.

This includes bartering the fruit and vegetables grown on site with fellow residents, car-
pooling to limit the use of motorised vehicles, recycling and creating arts and crafts in the
Village Centre and sharing recreation facilities.

Fibre optic cabling throughout the precincts ensure high speed communications, high quality
television reception and other state of the art functions for business and everyday family use.

Sustainable practices within The Ecovillage are designed to create more affordable housing
by reducing reliance on fossil fuel energy and increasing a reliance on natural renewable
energy sources through innovative practices.

It is the all encompassing approach of considering the environment, social balance and
economy,

Sustainable features

·        Self-sufficiency in energy usage and complete autonomy in water and waste water
recycling

·        80 per cent of the site as open-space, 50 per cent environmental reserve, with the same
yield as standard development

·        High levels of food and production through edible landscaping and streetscaping,
household farming and other productive strategies

·        Preservation of natural landforms and rehabilitation of the degraded site’s

environmental integrity

·        Extensive wildlife corridors, negligible vegetation loss and extensive native plant
regeneration

·        Cultural heritage honoured and integrated

·        Mix of socially-oriented innovative ecological housing

·        On-site work strategies and facilities for village and local community

·        An innovative recycling centre

·        Traffic strategies to reduce vehicle impacts on and off site

·        Well researched administrative framework geared to social equity

·        Continuing education in sustainable living and development practices through the
Interpretive Centre

·        Aims to achieve sustainable economic performance both with the development and the
ongoing community

Critical Capital   Resource  Identification  and  Mobilization Plan

We are targeting middle class 30+ young families, professionals on they way up in their
careers, own at least one car and earn at least 25,000 a months per household. It was also
noted that the family might have more than one breadwinner, and an average of two children
and two adults.
This definition requires a change in our initial category of “Gap Housing” to “Gap+”. The
target house Selling Price range will be app. 11,00,000 to 18,00,000.

A two acre campus located off Sarjapur Road is the first community project of RareEarth in
Bangalore. EcoCommunity houses exclusive 30 independent Villa Row houses with various
sizes yet large enough for a similar community living. These 30 units community are
developed with all amenities and infrastructure built-into. The location and type of
development was identified and conceptualised according to the group’s future living
requirement. 

The project is in the course of being designed and executed for a group of eco-enthusiasts
who wanted to make a living in a Sustainable Green development. This exclusive gated
EcoCommunity project is conceived as a Villa Row house catering to different needs of the
group. 

Green Building design with low energy building materials, complete power, water and waste
management incorporated into the campus and homes. The project is conceived to have
LEED certification/rating with carbon credits traded upon completion. The campus and
homes are designed high on green, aesthetic and material value. 

These villa row houses are low rise (ground + one floor) with exclusive front and back garden
being part of the house. Also, the homes are designed in clusters with each of the house open
to the common garden area. Building material with exposed stone, brick and wood gives a
rustic feel yet not compromising on the quality and luxury. Water made sustainable thru
rainwater, re-cycle and re-use. Drip irrigation and draught resistant gardens for landscape and
ecoscaping. Exclusive LED lightings for homes and common areas, Solar powered lighting
and heating for individual homes. Waste recycled and reused thru treatment plant and
composting. Exclusive stone masonry and exposed hollow and clay brick works with filler
slab roofing and natural stone flooring to keep the home cooler. Reclaimed / Plantation wood
for doors and windows with natural oil finish and polish. 

These are few of the features at the EcoCommunity. You’ll discover more features and values
that will be built into the homes as the design and specifications are firmed. Out of the 30
homes, 15 units are for the initial group and another 15 units are available for members who
are passionate about making a living in a EcoCommunity

Plan to leverage Community Resource:

The plan to leverage the community is that first we have to educate the rural people about the
benefit of this project and then explored them the importance to it and than add value to this
project.