A year in the clouds – documenting a sustainable community in Taiwan

meeting-with-smangus-villagersHigh in the mountains of Taiwan, is the remote village of Smangus. Inhabited by a unique group of indigenous people called the Tayal, Smangus is the only place in Taiwan that now practices common ownership of land and property.

Global worries about sustainability in our economies and societies are at a peak, fear of climate change and the destruction wrought by the financial crash have focused attention on a search for balance, for a sustainable way of living in an uncertain world. The relationship between man and nature is key to the vision of the Tayal. In Smangus Village, building and natural sustainability coexist in harmony under a joint management system. Smangus Village is unique not just in Taiwan but an example to the world – and an area, which is receiving more and more international support and development in recent years. The story of Smangus is one from which we can learn, share and be inspired by.

Life within the Smangus Tayal is focused on sustainability and community. The breath-taking view of the millennia-year old trees and beauty of the ecology deserved to be documented in high-definition. In modern societies plagued by frequent disasters and excessive consumption, this film gives a different option to viewers – to show how we can return to the essentials of life.

Source : http://www.pts.org.tw/smangus/eng/Storyen.html

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