You can have 'mining' based on any action, like building a new house or asset within the project.
Technically, in this case, it isn't really mining, steem for example is a proof-of-stake, where 'mining' is just controlled inflation, appearing based on staked decisions.
In your case, a 'proof-of-building' algorithm could be developed, which doesn't seem very hard (ie if building, increase money supply by 85% building value, or something simple like that, or something less simple too).
That said, I think I am leaning towards @likedeeler's suggestion in terms of currency.
I have thought a lot about this idea, more so the social institutions inside such a utopian society. This is a conversation that is worth having, and I would be honored to continue talking about it! These are the dreams by which the future is made!
thanks for your input.. that really helps! Good to know mining and is done like this.. i wasnt even sure how it worked for Steem! SO that sounds potentially perfect with mining reflecting the actual value of properties..
likedeelers suggestion is one I thought about, but i dont think it would fit the vision here.. since SMT's involve a hard fork of the existing blockchain, whereas in this case we dont really want or need existing users to be involved in the ecoVillage..