Social benefits​

Social sustainability is at the core of all sustainability. It’s the precursor to both financial and environmental sustainability. If people collaborate with other folks in their neighbourhood to simply invest locally, starting with the Sun Villages model, then existing neighbourhoods could be made far more sustainable. Defined hubs can be created around local shops to serve and empower all—from the youth to the ageing—using local funds, a complementary currency, and the Sun Villages model.
 
All people have the potential to thrive within a village type structure, thus greatly reducing or even eradicating many of our pressing social issues.  
 
Research data makes it clear that people thrive in a village atmosphere—in all ways. Loneliness and many aspects of mental health could become a thing of the past.

It's not an 'intentional' community

It has been proven that people thrive better when in casual and frequent contact with others—we are social by nature. A village is not an intentional community where people are required to meet and make decisions together. Simply nodding to others on a garden path or in a café has been shown to be sufficient to keep our mental health in good shape.

Getting to know you...

When living in a village atmosphere, it’s easy to get to know other residents if you want to, and different types of communities have the potential to emerge. For instance, it is much more plausible and cost effective to organise child minding, caring for our elderly, and to encourage them to participate in village life, than using institutions that are void of the yin, or matriarchal, traits of love and real caring that grows over time.

The incorporation of a complementary or yin currency is essential if we want the potential of empowerment and abundance for everyone—from young to old. This is probably the hardest aspect for people to grasp. So we recommend that you read the parts of the book relating to this aspect, as it really needs to be explained through experiential storytelling.