A good beginning. On and large scale, one must have a good idea first, then develop that good idea intellectually very deeply before measurable progress is made, even when frenetic action occurs along with that development (and that frenetic action often winds up counter-productive, even when absolutely necessary at the moment).
I have been a member of an intentional community for decades, do you have specific experience in such an environment? My experience and interest has taught me that there is no true self-sustaining on the small scale, because small communities do not have the resources to bootstrap recovery from disasters, often not even surviving them. This is a completely natural process that human civilization has entirely and artificially short-circuited through the centralization- that is not a bad thing, to my way of thinking. That large collectives bring a tremendous amount of negative tendencies is as much "human nature" as all the positive qualities.
So, it seems there's an inevitable collision between the positive and negative energies in any endeavor, and the greater the endeavor, the more pronounced the collision, even in the absence of naturally-occurring challenges.