Welcome to the June edition of the Global Ecovillage Network newsletter.
This month we are highlighting Inspiring Women Healing the Earth, a collection of interviews of diverse women who take part in climate change action.

As the Summer approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, and Winter in the Southern, we bring to you exciting news. Read on to meet our new IT Platform Design Lead Joshua Harris, and learn about our ETiA Training of Trainers, dates for the upcoming Schools Webinar and the next dimension of the REGEN-Nations programme, and updates from the network and our partners.

Inspiring Women Healing the Earth is a collection of interviews of diverse women who take part in climate change action. Some of them do it in a very obvious way, others make a considerable impact with invisible daily actions.

From grassroots environmental leaders to small farmers, mothers or sisters and different kinds of educators or artists, the profiles that are portrayed are not necessarily reflective of a single model but the wide umbrella of possible actions we can be part of to heal the planet, the ecofeminist way. That means, approaching the idea of putting care and the sustainment of life at the center. Interviews are led by our ESC Irene Canalís.

 A warm welcome to Joshua Harris, who has recently joined the GEN International team as our IT Platform Design Lead! Joshua joins the team looking to contribute with a supportive work-life balance and a friendly culture. With an expertise in web-crafting and project managing, Joshua has worked before with compassionate communication,  high-performance consultancies,  web development and project management mentoring and more.

It gives us a lot of hope to feel Joshua's sensitivity, enthusiasm and great expertise! Know more about GEN Staff here: https://ecovillage.org/about/gen-structure/gen-staff/

Ecovillage Transition in Action!

We are celebrating the first successful launch of the prototype of our freshly developed Ecovillage Transition in Action Training of Trainers in St. Andrews University and our first multiplier event of this 3-year long partnership project which took place in the Findhorn Ecovillage!

Ecovillage Transition in Action is an ERASMUS+ partnership between GEN international, ECOLISE, GEN Germany & the University of St. Andrews aiming to increase collaboration between community-led initiatives and municipalities, scale ecovillages, and develop education towards these aims. Our goal is to:

• Grow the capacity of educators, local initiatives, local authorities, citizens and community organisers to facilitate this crucial but complicated collaboration, and to teach those skills and capacities to others.
• Provide accessible and transferable educational tools, trainings, curricula, and methods for bringing together community-led initiatives and local government actors, and increase the depth and quality of collaboration between them.
• Create and prototype a set of replicable trainings that support our target groups to acquire key competencies and skills for what we call Ecovillage Transition – a process where municipal authorities and local citizens work together to develop alternative pathways to local development, based on a holistic framework of social, cultural, economic and ecological regeneration.

Materials and Resources, which are developed throughout the 3-year project, include:

1. Communities & Local Authorities in Collaboration: A Handbook
2. ETiA Toolkit
3. Navigator Tool – To enable project planning in a collaborative way”
4. Training of Trainers programme

We are now in a phase of gathering feedback and refining the materials and resources, so that they will be ready to be launched by September 2022. If you are interested in hearing more, stay tuned in our newsletter!

You can find more information about the Ecovillage Transition in Action programme here: https://ecovillage.org/ecovillage-transition-in-action/

We have been hosting a series of webinars in the last two years to present the amazing work that is happening in this field. On June 20 from 9-11 am UTC we will showcase more inspiring examples of how Ecovillage principles are being applied in diverse educational contexts. We will hear from As One Community in Japan, Auroville Ecovillage in India, PermaYouth from Crystal Waters Community in Australia and Global Classroom, based in Sri Lanka.

We especially invite educators, parents and members of learning communities who are interested in integrating regenerative approaches and ecovillage design principles into their activities.

Join us on our journey of presenting and getting to know various different regenerative schools and educational projects!

You are invited to the one-month Ecology Dimension of REGEN-Nation online learning journey, starting from July 4, 2022.

Together we will dive deep into our relationship with the natural world and the solutions for regeneration based on design principles found in nature. In this programme, you will learn topics like Landscape Leadership; Introduction to Permaculture; Rethinking Ecological Practices & Designs through Regenerative Agriculture, Appropriate Technology & Restoration Ecology from practitioners around Asia & Oceania.

Registrations are open only until July 7, 2022 - Read more and sign up here: https://learn.ecovillage.org/course/regen-nations/

In addition, GENOA will offer a free session on InterPlay on June 14th.
Learn more about it: https://events.humanitix.com/interplay-belonging
 

Meet NextGEN

NextGEN works to empower, educate, connect, and inspire youth based on Ecovillage values and principles to take collaborative action, participate in the Ecovillage Movement, and contribute to community-led change for eco-social Regeneration.

In 2021, in cooperation with other NextGEN regions worldwide, NextGEN Europe created a Map of youth-led eco-projects and active members to facilitate further outreach, collaboration, cross-pollination, networking and engagement of youth in NextGEN and in the Ecovillage Movement.

You can learn more, join and check the map here: https://nextgen-ecovillage.org/?page_id=1535 

Would you like to connect to members from all NextGEN regions, get to know them more personally, hear about their projects and ideas and share yours, explore questions around ecovillage lifestyle together, and celebrate, laugh, sing and have loads of fun?

You are more than welcome to join the online NextGEN Global Gathering 2022 - A two-day online gathering to network, inspire and activate youth power in the Ecovillage Movement! 😍

Be sure to save the dates of June 17 & 18, 2022 and join this journey of connection, inspiration, discovery, and friendship! Read about the program of the Gathering here.

Dialogue is the basis of having great relationships, making decisions together, dealing with conflict, holding our boundaries, and just about all the things it takes to get along with other humans. When we communicate with clarity and compassion life becomes so much easier.

Our dear friends from the Foundation for Intentional Communities (FIC) are offering a new online course, Tough Talks - How to Communicate with Grace and Compassion. This is a 5-Week Online Course starting June 25!

Know more and register here: https://www.ic.org/communication-course/ref/161/

Thinking of joining us at the European Ecovillage Gathering in July? Don't miss out - 50% of regular tickets are already sold! Discover the programme streams at ecovillagegathering.org/the-programme

Permaculture Magazine Award 2022

The Permaculture Magazine Award is now in its fifth year, with £30,000 to be awarded between three different prizes, each celebrating people and projects, from anywhere in the world, who are using permaculture to regenerate landscapes, economies and the lives of local people. Do you know a project or person who should apply? It could be you! Applications close this Sunday June 12, 2022. Know more and apply here: https://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/permaculture-magazine-award-2022

Transforming Anxiety into Empowerment

With Joanna Macy, Author of Active Hope
And Jonathan Gustin, Founder of Purpose Guides Institute

Free online event. Tuesday June 14.  Register here: https://www.purposeguides.org/ccspwithjoanna

Work with our friends in Transition Network

Communications Role - Apply before 2pm (UTC) July 12, 2022.

Know more and apply here: https://transitionnetwork.org/news/join-communications/

Last call for the ICSA Conference &
Tours in Danish Ecovillages

We are thrilled to invite you to the triennial conference of the International Communal Studies Association, to be held on July 14-16, 2022. The conference will be fully hybrid, so you are free to participate virtually from the comfort of your home, or join ICSA at the Audonicon Conference Center in Skanderborg, Denmark. ICSA is also organising two tours of Danish communities. Please check out our full conference schedule at https://www.icsacommunity.org/program

Work at Sunseed Desert Technology

Sunseed is non-formal education project for the social ecological transition in Andalucía, Southern Spain. Their 6-month transition period with the current transition team members is coming to an end in June, so they're now hiring! Vacancies include Project Manager, Eco-Maintenance Coordinator & Communications Coordinator. Know more and apply here: https://www.sunseed.org.uk/vacancies/