The AAEV Governance & Strategic Development Committee, coordinated in 2011-12 by Wayne Allen, has the following role:

With guidance from the SA Community Titles Act and Village By-Laws, the Committee assists the Community in long-range strategic planning, and in design and implementation of effective processes for making fair and equitable decisions that value and take account of all members' views.

Discussion
During 2007-08 the Governance Team, on behalf of the Community, researched the "Sociocracy" system* of self-governance. Three team members attended a Sociocracy workshop sponsored by the Sydney Coastal Ecovillage, who are considering adoption of this governance model. On their return to AAEV, they prepared and presented three information forums to AAEV members. As a result of this project, a number of the tools and processes used in Sociocracy are now being applied within the Community.

A second project in 2008-09 examined several potential legal structures for implementing a parallel legal entity with the ability to promote business activities - a function which is not appropriate to the Community Corporation itself under the Community Titles Act of South Australia. As a result, a recommendation to establish an Incorporated Association was brought to the 2009 AGM and approved in principle by the Community for action once the necessary start-up funding is available. An alternative Company structure to promote entrepreneurial activity in the EcoVillage has also been put in place privately by a small group of villagers.

If you have an interest in strategic planning or in governance and self-governance systems and processes, why not let Wayne Allen know.
Use the Contact MC form and direct your enquiry to the Governance Committee.


*If you would like to know more about this innovative self-governance system that is gaining popularity in Holland, the USA and elsewhere - in both the business and community environments - see the document "The Creative Forces of Self-Organisation" by John A. Buck and Gerard Endenberg under GC Documents.