What We Can Learn from Transylvania (Really!)

[marmar]

from OnTheCommons.org:



What We Can Learn from Transylvania (Really!)
The village commons endures in central Romania



By Jay Walljasper


The word commons dates back to the medieval era, originally describing land that was shared by a community under well-defined rules. Peasants were often given specific rights to hunt and fish in these places, or to harvest medicinal herbs, forage for berries, or gather thatch for their roofs.

When these privileges were later revoked (giving exclusive use of what was once common land to landowners and nobles in a process known as “enclosure”) many peasants suffered a drastic decline in their ability to provide for themselves. Many were forced to leave the countryside and work long, hard hours in the unhealthy factories that were opening up across the continent.

This tradition of common ownership still thrives among indigenous and peasant cultures in the developing world, but has disappeared in Europe except for a corner of Transylvania where a few commons customs have endured to this day.

“It’s a laboratory for sustainable solutions,” explains Notre Dame University architecture professor Krupali Krusche who last year led a team of students to study the landscape, buildings styles, settlement patterns and lifestyle of villages spread across valleys in two remote regions of central Romania .

“It’s the one place in Europe where the life that existed in the 13th century can still be found,” Krusche notes. “It is the roots of today’s ideal of an organic lifestyle”—sustainable farming, local food, natural building methods, a closely-knit community.” ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://onthecommons.org/what-we-can-learn-transylvania-really

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. I learned that instrumental metal songs kick ass. -nt

[InvisibleTouch]

2. Very cool article. Thanks for posting! n/t

[Hannah Bell]

3. interesting, thanks.