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History

The Green Village Philadelphia Eco-village began as an idea to develop a green business marketplace in urban Philadelphia, first proposed in January 2005 by Benjamin Bingham, Lindsay Gilmour, Karen Meidlinger and Bob Pierson, four members of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia.

The green marketplace concept was responding to the need for sustainable urban development that would enable small business owners to benefit from clustering green goods and services, and sharing green technology and design infrastructure. The founders of Green Village Philadelphia believed a green business marketplace could serve as a vibrant community hub that would address and stimulate social, ecological and economic neighborhood revitalization. This original concept inspired a dedicated and passionate coalition of local business owners, socially responsible investment specialists, sustainable planning and design professionals, local food systems professionals, and business development experts.

These founders envisioned collaboration between a for-profit partnership that would develop the Eco-village and marketplace, and a nonprofit charitable organization that would act as steward of the core mission and vision of the group and provide structure for the charitable activities of the coalition.

Green Village Philadelphia the nonprofit was duly incorporated in the October of 2007 and received its 501(c)(3) status in November of 2008. The original vision has grown to include a home in the marketplace for business incubation, mission aligned social service organizations, green housing, urban agriculture, and beautiful public common spaces. All of this integrated into an existing neighborhood and serving the needs of the larger community.

Building a village does not begin with bricks and mortar. From its inception Green Village Philadelphia has engaged and connected with individuals, businesses and mission aligned organizations, and participated in and provided opportunities for education and discussion of sustainable community development.

Past and current activities include:

January 2008 – Launched a green business incubation project under the leadership of board member and business incubation expert Karen Meidlinger. The volunteer run project provides business owners with mentorship from experienced business advisors and connects them with information and service providers.

February and March 2008 – Participated as a planning and financial partner in 2 events on Building the Green Economy and the Green Collar Jobs Movement, with speaker and advocate Van Jones. Green Village Philadelphia continues this work as a partner in the Philadelphia Green Economy Task Force, a coalition of local businesses and organizations working to spur the creation of green collar jobs for people with barriers to employment.

April 2008 – Presented a 2-day workshop on Practicing Consensus with Arjuna DaSilva, co-founder of Earth Haven Ecovillage. The workshop combined characteristics of consensus decision making with the practical application of the process.

May 2008 – Presented a public lecture and three-day workshop featuring Paolo Lugari, founder of Gaviotas Eco-village in Colombia and a world-renowned leader in sustainable community development and innovative design.

Fall 2008 to present – Completed the first draft of a business plan for the Green Village Philadelphia Eco-village. Developed core objectives and performance goals for the Eco-village project. Recruited commercial and residential tenants—we currently have a roster of 20 business owners and Philadelphia nonprofits, and 20-30 individuals, who have expressed a serious interest/intention of being tenants of the Eco-village.

June 2009 – Partnered with the Sustainable Business Network to present the Philadelphia Material Project, a half-day conference on Redeveloping Local Sustainable Manufacturing Infrastructure.

June 2009 – Launched the Urban Studio Program, a multidisciplinary design and technology studio that collaborates with Philadelphia communities to develop new tools (devices, systems and processes) for sustainable urban living.

From the beginning we have reached out to community organizations and government agencies including the Kensington South CDC, the Kensington South Neighborhood Advisory Council, New Kensington CDC, Francisville CDC, People’s Emergency Center CDC in West Philadelphia, Crane Arts, The Community Design Collaborative, Proof (Philadelphia Roof top Farming Initiative), The Sustainable Business Network, the Empowerment Group, Arts and Spirituality Center, the Interfaith Center, PIDC and the Commerce Department, the federal Economic Development Agency, the state Dept of Community and Economic Development, the PA Horticultural Society, LISC, all of them very excited to learn of the project and interested in partnering with Green Village Philadelphia.