Tom Stanton

Tom Stanton, At-large member of the CAFE Board of Directors, is working on multiple projects centered around Ecovillages and Intentional Communities of all kinds. He has helped to establish multiple projects affiliated with Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) and multiple regional groups that are included within the GEN family of organizations. Those include GEN-Europe, GENNA (for North America), and GEN-CASA (for Central and South America). Tom initiated what is now a joint project between GEN International and Appropedia (the open-source Wiki for appropriate and sustainable technologies). This project is focusing on success stories and all kinds of technologies, governance practices, decision making tools, and frameworks and guidelines for ecovillages. You can read more about ecovillages here. 

For July 2025, Tom is working on plans for Michigan Ecovillage and Intentional Community touring and education. The Tour begins with a full-day at Interlochen Arts Academy on July 17. Interlochen is engaging in dozens of sustainability projects relevant to other intentional communities, and Interlochen has already adopted a comprehensive Climate Action Plan. Discussions are also starting now about the best ideas for Interlochen’s second century, which begins in 2026. July 18-19 will include tour sites around Northwest Michigan. On July 20 the tour will begin at Crystal Mountain resort, with a lecture and tour about its sustainability plans and practices and will visit Grand Rapids in the late afternoon and early evening. July 21 will include sites in the Lansing and East Lansing area, including visits to circular economy and sustainable food systems sites. July 22 will visit ecovillage and cohousing neighborhoods in Ann Arbor, and July 23 and 24 will visit similar places in Detroit. Almost all tour events will be free to attend, with people providing their own transportation and paying individually for meals.