Welcome to our Monthly newsletter! We have many news, opportunities and celebrations to share with you!
Over 11,850 participants from 163 countries joined the GEN Ecovillage Summit - Living Solutions for a Regenerative World! And if you haven't joined yet, we have good news for you: the Summit Extension is online!
During this week and the next one, we will share several free conversations with ecovillages from all over the world. Each talk will stay online for a week for you to slowly enjoy the experience and have the opportunity to share them with the people who are important to you.
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This week we are taken on a journey around the globe: Sunshine Ecovillage in China, Sandele Foundation in Africa, and Los Portales in Spain. You will hear and learn from different experiences, challenges, and stories each ecovillage has to share followed by inspiring discussion with Carol Sanford on a new economy and business world. These conversations are online for free until next Wednesday, when the final weekly extension videos become available.
Let’s celebrate the abundance of expertise and wisdom!
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GEN Ecovillage Summit Package
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If you would like to (re-)watch some of the more than 60 ecovillage interviews (including the extensions), we invite you to purchase the whole Summit Package. You can enjoy our wonderful speakers in sync with your own rhythms and lifestyle. The package sales help us to cover the cost of this summit. We are offering a sliding scale between 35-100 GBP to make it accessible and affordable for everyone.
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GEN celebrated in the One World Award
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GEN is thrilled to be recognised by the One World Award, which honors global people, projects, initiatives, and ideas that make the world more equitable through ecological, social and economic improvements. Represented by our passionate and committed Kosha Joubert and Sonita Mbah, GEN joined 6 incredible co-recipients in the online ceremony last week.
Read more here including comments from the organisers and a link to the full event, or enjoy GEN's highlight reel available in our website.
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Hildur Jackson Award - Open for Applications
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Together with Gaia Trust, we are pleased to again offer the Hildur Jackson Award this year.
The €3,000 gift is to support and honour a project that demonstrates regenerative best-practices.
* Applications close 1 June.*
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In addition to the application form, projects must be updated in the GEN database by the closing date. Selection criteria includes innovative character, long-lasting impact, and appeal to a wider audience.
This year, we engage an amazing jury, with representation from every GEN region, as well as previous winners! We've also added to the prize options to celebrate the runners-up by providing additional support through collaboration with either our education, outreach, finance, or operations teams to enhance your work.
Last year, we welcomed over 70 applications so we strongly encourage you to get your application in early and ensure your profile is up to date!
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Twinning Project Highlight
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“Green Rivers / Rios Verdes” Collaboration:
Jacutinga do Caparaó (Brazil) and
Catfarm Community (France)
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Water resiliency held a central theme in the youth-focused educational collaboration between these two communities.
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Members from Jacutinga applied their learning from an online course with Plant’agua association in Brazil. They visited a local water planting school for inspiration and observed the terrains to develop locally relevant solutions that will guide them for the next 15 years.
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Members from Catfarm hosted a permaculture Youth exchange together with one member from Jacutinga who was holding agro-forestry & zero waste workshops there on the ground in France.
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Blended Ecovillage Design Education Course
in the Netherlands & Belgium
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GAIA Netherlands will facilitate a blended (online and in-person) EDE, Ecovillage Design Education, course starting on 5 June. Bringing together expertise and experiences from projects from across the region, the aim is to help get new projects off the ground.
Certified by UNESCO, GAIA Education, and GEN, participants will learn how successful projects have worked towards solutions, through big picture principles and on-the-ground practical applications. More than twenty coaches and trainers provide 61 online workshops to prepare participants for an in-person immersive experience in a local ecovillage.
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This Lowlands EDE course focuses on the bioregion around the Netherlands and Belgium and will be offered in the Dutch language (with the possibility of some English support for those at the intermediate language level).
Read more about Gaia Netherlands' experience running this course since 2015 and what to expect here. Join the free introductory session on June 5.
Discounts available for GEN ambassadors, students under 25 years old, groups of 5, and participants who obtained partial certificates in a previous EDE course.
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As we cater to a global audience, for consistency we list all times in BST (London time). Please remember to check your local time here.
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TRIBZALIZE: Regenerative Living Summit
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14-16 May, both online virtually and live from Tulum, Mexico
The Future of living...what will it be? Our partner Tribalize consistently asks this question. Since their inaugural summit in early 2017 in Ojai, CA, they’ve catalyzed and nourished the ongoing conversation about regenerative living. They have brought together dreamers, builders, healers, artists and architects who seek to be in deeper relationship with the earth and with one another. And now you are invited to be part of the conversation of our time at TRIBALIZE - REGENERATIVE LIVING SUMMIT IV!
Join us and our partner TRIBALIZE for the amazing conversation on regenerative community living, May 14th-16th, LIVE from Tulum MX and virtually, everywhere.
Know more and register here.
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Holistic & Regenerative Education in Schools
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18 May, 20:00 - 22:00 BST
Hosted in English and Spanish with translations, guests from the network will share their insights on the theme. Facilitated by Piedad Viteri and GEN Education, speakers include Mugove Nyika (ReScope), Toomas Trapido (Gaia Education), Jacqueline Ponce (Colegio Johannes Kepler), Oliver Torres (Red Bosque Escuala), and Ronald Sistek (Project Based Learning).
We will apply the facilitation methodology of powerful conversations, as we explore how to create resilient communities from schools, the systemic patterns that enable this work to expand, and the steps for schools to integrate Education for Sustainability.
Register your interest here to be notified of joining info.
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Storytelling within the Ecovillage Movement
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"Crafting Our Stories" is a series of online sessions for anyone who knows a better future is possible and is ready to develop and share their personal narrative to inspire others to help manifest this.
9 - 30 June, Wednesdays, 17:00 - 18:30 BST
Find out more and register here.
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"Digital Storytelling" builds on the previous session, and/or is for anyone who has an *already developed personal story* they want to develop into a “digital story” with narration, images/video, and music that they can share online with others and, perhaps, in local and global Storytelling Summits being developed for 2021.
7 - 28 July, Wednesdays, 17:00 - 18:30 BST.
Find out more and register here.
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These sessions are facilitated by Daniel Greenberg who has been involved in the ecovillage movement since 1988 when he pursued his doctoral thesis on “growing up in communes.” Having lived and worked in over 100 ecovillages around the world, Daniel is co-founder and past Board Member of Gaia Education and served as GEN's President. He is now inspired to bring forth stories that can help put “flesh on the bones” of the New Story.
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Ecovillage Solutions for Extraordingary Times
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At the end of 2020, GEN Europe brought together renowned experts, visionaries, and on-the-ground practitioners to help us make sense of the complex times we live in.
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The online gathering explored how ecovillages and intentional communities are awakening to opportunities through the Covid crisis and how together we can transform this moment to create a culture of regeneration and resilience for all. Highlights from these sessions are now available on our Learning Platform in packages of approximately 6-8 hours of self-paced content each.
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The Panel Package provides the big picture and latest thinking on social, ecological, cultural, and economic issues from an ecovillage perspective.
Find out more here.
The Community Incubation Package explores the question of how to start new ecovillages and strengthen existing ones. From communication and power to resourcing and tools, this is a must for any aspiring ecovillage founder or anyone who works with groups.
Find out more here.
The Sacred Activism Package takes you through the actions we can take to realise our personal and collective potential and accelerate global transformation. From working the edge and activating the archetypal activist, it also covers healing biotopes, standing with the earth, and unschooling.
Find out more here.
The Low Impact Technology Package provides practical tools and techniques including permaculture, water retention landscapes, and community biogas, as well as introducing ecosystem restoration and how to implement these in a community context.
Find out more here.
The Inclusion in Communities Package navigates the challenges of creating diverse communities and the hard questions privileged groups must ask themselves to truly address systems of oppression.
Find out more here.
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GEN and other networks of like-minded movements are collaborating with universities and researchers from around the globe and are pleased to share the work of the GEN research group. For academics searching for case studies, journalists interested in reporting on an ecovillage, and even communities receiving requests to study your project, there are plenty of insights highlighted.
Find out more here.
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"The Cooperative Culture Handbook"
- now available in GEN's Online Store!
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With 52 transformative group and individual exercises, this new E-book by Yana Ludwig and Karen Grimnig is a practical toolkit for groups to solve problems, build community, and change the culture towards greater empathy and authenticity.
This is an essential resource for leaders, facilitators, and changemakers to develop core practices in discernment, curiosity, communication, and engagement.
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Crystal Byrd Farmer, author of The Token: Common Sense Ideas for Increasing Diversity in Your Organization and FIC Board Member, praises the book: "Yana and Karen describe practical exercises to help groups engage authentically and create a positive culture. This handbook addresses social justice in a way that will challenge even the most progressive community.”
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An Invitation from Next GEN, the youth branch
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With the surging interest from young people in ecovillages, community living, and regenerative lifestyles, we've added a new category in the project registration on our website - "youth-led project" - and invite relevant projects to add yourselves.
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This is to celebrate initiators and activists under 30 years old who are committed to a project developing eco-living and cultivates regeneration. It's an invitation to those who are interested in the ecovillage movement and want to actively be a part of it.
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Anyone can simply create an account on ecovillage.org and register a relevant project here. You can choose the “youth-led project” category if the team leaders are 18-30 years old and at least 50% of your members are in this age range. Reach out to nextgen@ecovillage.org for any questions, ideas, or further support.
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Putting eco-living at the heart of daily life, each episode showcases sustainability superheroes who share knowledge and tips on the joy of living simply and sustainably.
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GEN is pleased to be featured in an upcoming interview. The content provides listeners with informative and optimistic ideas, equipping you with the knowledge and next steps to tread lightly on the earth. More than a podcast, i’s a platform where together we can achieve a vision of a holistic approach to sustainability.
Emanating from Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia, the series is created by Jeremy Melder who brings close to 20 years experience in the sustainability sector. He explores themes of health, housing, finances, family, community, mental health, and wellness that inspire simple actions that can create a better future. Check out previous episodes to see the range of topics and stay tuned to hear more from GEN.
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A Free Way to Support GEN
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Some time ago we introduced EasyFundraising to you.
We want to clarify that with that introduction we did NOT mean to encourage you to shop online any more than necessary! We did not doubt that you as ecovillagers and conscious global citizens are quite free from unconscious shopping. We simply thought that in the current conditions, a lot of people end up making purchases online, and that IF you do - it would be an effortless way of raising some funds for the work we do together.
If you happen to purchase online, doing that via this link will raise funds for the Global Ecovillage Network. If you don't shop online or need nothing from the affiliated stores, that is most likely a good thing!
With love always and in togetherness
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If you have any news or events to share in the next newsletter (mid June), you are welcome to connect with us at communications-team@ecovillage.org by 11 June.
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