The Sustainable village

The Sustainable Village is a ‘social enterprise’ with many volunteers. They donate/invest all profits for microfinance and microenterprise projects in developing countries. As a way of further helping the villagers and undermining the roots of poverty, they help import the products back. These are mainly fair-trade items, organic, and made with renewable energy - no or little pollution resulting in their creation.

They provide solutions to global problems using renewable energy and appropriate technology. They help projects in developing countries concerning energy generation, safe water, public health, long-distance communications, sustainable agriculture, and micro-enterprise employment. They provide the ‘hard technology’ for these projects: design and engineering, equipment and parts supply, international delivery, training and installation. Additionally, they do print production, web site development and marketing consulting for sustainable development organizations.
They save organizations money and effort because they have:

1) the world's largest selection of renewable energy equipment +10,000 products from over 1000 manufacturers;

2) 35 years experience and thousands of installations worldwide;

3) deep knowledge of traditional and high-tech solutions

4) a thriving global network of partners who share ideas and resources. All of their profits fund renewable energy and micro-enterprise activities in developing countries.

Collaborating Cooperation: How we do Business
”Our world has many serious problems: poverty, illiteracy, war and intolerance, bad drinking water, desertification, infant mortality, inequality.....too much for any individual or group or government. To effectively solve these problems, we need to collaborate and work together. We see this networking function as one of our most important roles. To that end, we strive to maintain openness and a focus on positive benefits. We're:

1. Non-denominational
Many different religious groups are doing wonderful projects in developing countries. We help based on the good they're doing rather than any allegiance to any particular belief system. Our customers/partners/clients include most Christian denominations, Islam, Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist groups.

2. Non political
Democrat, republican, independent, the political parties of the countries we work with, and many of the smaller groups - again, we look at the work being done, not the philosophy.

3. Multi-country
We work with all or at least one NGO, group, individual, government or commercial venture in almost every country.

4. Multi-ethnic
Human goodness, integrity, and inspiration are much deeper than skin and culture.

5. Gender-blind
Again, we look at the work being done, not the people. We work closely with many women's causes and organizations.

Whether you'd like to become a Sustainable Village microenterprise partner, are seeking new connections to like-minded organizations and efforts, or are simply looking for ideas, please contact us. We'd like to learn more about your work so we can share your experiences and wisdom with our global audience.”

Further information: http://www.sustainablevillage.com
And: http://www.ewb-international.org/events.htm (engineers without borders)