Become a Keystone Community

Call for ecovillages to join our global community of practice

Are you living in a community, concerned about the interlinked crises of our times, and interested in exploring what could make you, your community and your region more resilient?

Download the Project Recruitment brochure pdf here.

Since 2022, GEN has built a community of practice of researchers, facilitators and members of 20 ecovillages and all GEN regions to explore resilience to climate crisis while cocreating the outcomes of the Ecovillage Resilience Project.

As we take our next steps, we are excited to open up for new ecovillages to join us in the Keystone Communities Project – a new cycle where we deepen and expand our work to build a future where local communities are sources of resilience and regeneration during deepening crisis, not only for human beings, but for the whole web of life.

If you are:

A member of a community connected to GEN or an ecovillage connected to FIC or another sister network;

Are interested in collaborative, multi-cultural projects;

Living in a physical community with whom you can test the Keystone Communities Toolkit.

We hope you consider joining us!

Starting April 2025

Why Join as a Community Representative?

What’s in it for you

Global friendships, inspiration and connections within the whole Global Ecovillage Network.

Learning from peers and experts from around the world

cocreating a vital new GEN tookit for community resilience to polycrisis

Training in being a keystone communities facilitator.

Commitment requested

Join monthly sessions for 1 year.

Commitment to the ideals and principles of the ecovillage movement.

3 Steps to Join

1. In April 2025, join the online course Weaving Resilience, free of cost for this special cohort only for members of communities connected with GEN. *Apply by 16 April.* After finishing the first module of the course, you will be invited, if you like!, to:
2. Join a global community of practice of ecovillages exploring how to navigate the interlinked crises of our time;
3. Join a working group to learn and develop tools for the whole network.

The Keystone Community of Practice

After completing 3 selected modules of the Weaving Resilience course, you are welcome to join our international online space for sharing, learning and listening to each other.

What is it?

• Regular community sessions, every 3 – 4 weeks in two time slots to accommodate all time-zones and locations.
• Calls happen on zoom, are interactive and have simultaneous translation to French and Spanish
• People from intentional, traditional and indigenous ecovillages from all 5 GEN Regions.

What will we do together in the Community of Practice?

• Work with ecovillagers from across the globe
• Learn and explore our key questions – “What is a keystone community? How are ecovillages nurturing resilience and a regenerative and just future? How can we learn and support each other as a diverse global network?“
• Engage your community in testing and refining the Keystone Communities toolkit
• Receive training and practice in using the Keystone Communities Toolkit to facilitate resilience in your community, region, & networks.
• Build solidarity, friendship and learning with other ecovillagers, across geographies and cultures;
• Develop shared values, stories and future pathways for being Keystone Communities.
• Grow skills for ourselves, our communities and the whole GEN network to navigate the polycrisis together.

What are current members of the community saying?

“I have been wildly, dramatically impacted by having the community of practice calls to join. They inform how I show up in this community. They also humble me and provide spaces to bear witness to the really disparate impacts of climate change around the world. They keep me sensitive and alert, and also provide some fortitude.”
– Devon, CoP member from Hundredfold Farm, USA

“I’ve loved the shared learnings and cross pollination and being challenged about our techniques and approaches. I would like it to be an ongoing peer group to share mutual strength and support. Extremely grateful!” – Mohan, CoP member from Govardhan Ecovillage, India

Keystone Communities Working Groups

Curious to go deeper and contribute to new tools for all of GEN and our allies?

As a CoP member, you are welcome to join any working group you want. The groups all focus on researching and developing tools for some aspect of resilience where we know many ecovillages need to improve. The themes of the groups came from the results of our previous research into the resilience of ecovillages.

As a working group participant, you will be part of helping all of GEN build resilience while creatively learning, connecting and contributing together with other ecovillagers and researchers. Some financial compensation will be available for your contributions.

We will gather online for monthly peer-learning from June 2025 to March 2026. As a participant, you’ll engage in a variety of activities including workshops, discussions and testing tools with a local group of your choice.

Read on to find out the key question the group will be exploring, what we’re aiming to co-create, and the activities we’ll be navigating through to get there.

Acting on Risk and Future Scenarios

Key question: How can we support communities to integrate the impacts of systemic risks and tipping points into local plans and actions, and act wisely in the face of climate change?

Collaborating with: Researchers, facilitators and local community members who are passionate about resilience and the value of creatively planning for multiple future scenarios to navigate disruption.

To co-create: A tool that helps communities work with scenarios to make wise and flexible plans in the face of climate change

Through: researching and testing ways of approaching systemic risk and future scenarios through online calls, peer learning, and local experimentation with your community

Community-led Early Warning Systems

Key question: What guidance is needed to help communities develop their own contextually-relevant Early Warning Systems and monitoring programs to address climate risks?

Collaborating with: Researchers and community representatives who want to actively engage in the research and design of Early Warning Systems and monitoring programs for local communities to assess and act on systemic risks.

To co-create: A community guide to developing Early Warning Systems and monitoring programs that alert communities and help them prepare and respond to both gradual changes that might lead to crises and sudden events with immediate impacts.

Through: 1) Researching EWS, climate risks, and resilience, 2) participating in facilitated online discussions, 3) reviewing and contributing to draft frameworks, 4) leading a local workshop to test EWS “tools”, 5) co-designing a community guide.

Art & Narrative as Tools for Resilience

Key question: What is the role of art and storytelling in resilience? How might we work with the arts and narratives to shape local community resilience and adaptation planning?

Collaborating with: facilitators, community representatives, artists, culture bearers, wisdom keepers and researchers who are passionate about weaving creative pathways to resilience.

To co-create: Spaces, practices and tools, including a manual inspiring communities to integrate art, story and narrative in their work to nurture resilience and recover from disaster.

Through: Sharing, listening and learning from each other, creating community spaces for healing, visioning, resilience planning, story-telling and documentation.

Crisis Preparedness & Disaster First Response

Key question: What does it look like to prepare for crisis in a holistic way that also nurtures resilience in our daily lives? How can we respond in ways that strengthen solidarity and the long-term wellbeing of both humans and the rest of nature?

Collaborating with: community members, facilitators and experts who move beyond individual preppping towards designing holistic and collective responses to disaster.

To co-create: a resource that supports local communities to put in place the systems, functions and capacities needed to collectively care, prepare, and respond wisely to emergencies and disasters.

Through: Learning from past crises and the insights of holistic first-responders, exploring existing preparedness in communities, experimenting with including nature and non-human beings in our preparedness, and distilling learnings together.