Re-imagining Energy on the Colville Reservation

Abstract

Many abstract organizations and institutions influence our everyday behavior in modern life, making us less dependent and accountable to each other, and making it much more difficult for us to realize our collective goals. The lack of interaction between neighbors in the United States is a reflection of modernity’s tendencies towards isolation and is emptying communities of meaning. We need a catalyst that empowers local communities by strengthening our interdependence and collaboration with each other. This thesis urges that we must take cues from the Danish Ecovillages to bring neighbors together spatially and socially in order to strengthen local communities through interdependence and collaboration. A framework for developing a community centered around shared energy production as a catalyst for increased collaboration is proposed. This framework is then applied to two hypothetical communities on the Colville Reservation in Eastern Washington.