FAQ – Frequently asked questions

Can I volunteer with GEN?

If you are interested in volunteering with GEN, there are three ways to volunteer with GEN:

1. With the GEN International team on a global level
2. With one of the GEN Regions
3. In an Ecovillage

Here you can find more details about the three different ways of volunteering with GEN!

• If you want to volunteer with GEN International or any of our regional networks, you can sign up here as a volunteer. Please note that the majority of volunteer opportunities with GEN International and the GEN Regions are project-based, remote support. This means you don't have to be in a community to offer this type of support. For example, you could be helping with communicating upcoming GEN events, using your design skills to create educational materials, checking if our ecovillage database is up-to-date, or translating an article.

• If you want to volunteer on-the-ground in a community and in an ecovillage, for example by supporting a permaculture project, learning natural building, developing off-grid energy systems, or similar, then please contact ecovillages directly that you can find on our Map of Ecovillages. In this case each ecovillage has its own volunteer requirements and conditions for volunteering. GEN is not responsible for the quality of any experience within the ecovillages, it's the ecovillage responsibility. We advice you to connect to other volunteers, and the ecovillages itself if you are facing any issues."

• We get a lot of requests to volunteer with GEN and we don't have the capacity to reply to or accommodate everyone all the time. You are welcome to contact us more than once if we haven't immediately replied to your inquiry. We have a lot going on and appreciate your generous spirit. We will reach out as we have projects you can plug into.

How can I join or visit an ecovillage?

• If you want to  visit or join an ecovillage/community project, it is best to contact them directly via email. On our ecovillage map you can find all the projects that are currently posting their information with GEN, including contact details. We are in the process of updating our ecovillage database so check back with the ecovillages about their current state, especially when you can see that they haven’t updated their profile since a while.

• For your individual journey with an ecovillage from our ecovillage map, GEN International can not take the responsibility for your experience as we are not directly working with the ecovillages on the ground. In case you want to find out more about a specific project before contacting or visiting them, it may be that the regions they are allocated in holds more information about them.

How does GEN define ecovillages?

• An intentional, traditional or urban community that:

1. Uses local participatory processes
2. Has a holistic perspective - designing and integrating the ecological, economic, social, and cultural Area of Regeneration
3. Aims to actively regenerate social and natural environments

• GEN invites ecovillages to be recognized in our network. You can find out more about our criteria for recognition and other types of community arrangements in GEN's Glossary.

• If you want to learn more about GEN and the different types of ecovillages recognized in our network, we invite you to have a look at our GEN Introduction course on our Online Learning Platform.

How can I start my own ecovillage?

Ecovillages are as widely diverse as the countries and cultures from which they spring, and therefore GEN can't offer a 'one-size fits all' approach to starting an ecovillage. However, we do have some advice, resources and programmes that might help:

• CLIPS Community Learning Incubator Programme for Sustainability: CLIPS is based on learnings and insights from established ecovillage projects. These insights have been distilled into concepts and methods applicable to any group that recognises the value of community. You can download the CLIPS guide for free on the CLIPS website.

• EDE: Ecovillage Design Education: It is possible to do an intensive one-month long course on the creation of ecovillages, which is offered by Gaia Education. Ecovillage Design Education programmes, often referred to as ‘EDEs’, provide participants of all ages with the knowledge and practical skills to design a society which uses energy and materials with greater efficiency, distributes wealth fairly and strives to eliminate the concept of waste.

• GEN’s Online Learning Platform can support you with a diverse range of online courses and free resources and as well as our online Market with books, manuals and educational materials that tap into the theme of Ecovillage Incubation more broadly

• GEN Consultancy can offer you personalized support to help you with starting your ecovillage project or bringing ecovillage concepts into your already existing project(s). To start with GEN consultancy you can book a 30 minutes introductory call.

• Also, connect with your regional GEN network, they might be able to give you advice for the specific region. You can contact them here.

• If you already started your project and you have a location, you can create a page on our ecovillage map so people can find/hear about you.

Where can I find ecovillages in a specific area and with specific criteria?

• The easiest way to find an ecovillage in a specific area and with specific criteria is by using our ecovillage map where you can search by region, country and type of community.
• Our regional network GEN Europe has a similar map for the GEN member ecovillages in Europe.
• Another resource would be the website Ecolise, as well as the Foundation for Intentional Community which also has a community map
• For knowing more details about the ecovillages please contact them directly.

Most frequent technical website issues

• For using our website it’s best when you are logged in with a profile. This way it’s easier for you to post projects and solutions, comment on entries or purchase articles in our online shop.

• To create a profile or access your profile, click on the "Log In" section on the top right of the homepage or bottom left corner under Resources or here and if you forgot your password, click on the lost password button on the "Log in" page.

• If your entry on the ecovillage map or solutions library does not appear as you make edits or new entries, this means that it is still under moderation. Our communications team moderates all new entries to avoid spam, advertising and to check if entries have all the required information. We apologize that in busy times it might take a bit longer until your profile will be published.

• If you want to update your ecovillage page but the user who uploaded it is no longer part of the project, contact us and we can change the name and email address and generate a new password.

Can I get funding support?

• • Unfortunately, GEN International does not have the finances to fund projects/ecovillages. We are constantly working on increasing our capacity so that we can directly support more projects on-the-ground. Nevertheless, you can connect with your regional network as they work directly with communities and may have local knowledge about possible sources of funding. They probably cannot directly fund your project but may be able to point you in the right direction.

• • Each year we run the Hildur Jackson Award: a €3,000 annual prize that aims to support and honour projects around the world that are demonstrating regenerative best-practises in all dimensions of sustainability. Keep an eye on our site and our newsletter for the opening of this annual initiative.

• • You may also wish to visit our Consultancy page to find out how GEN can help you manifest your project in other ways. If you are planning to write funding proposals for a project which includes GEN's participation, please let us know, as we can share information about GEN and ecovillages to include in the proposals.

• • Another way for getting funded is through being part of one of the projects we are currently running which are funding specific people and projects. Have a look at River of Life for women supporting each other and Twinning for ecovillages supporting each other.

Can I get support for the development of my project?

• GEN Consultancy can offer you personalized support to help you with starting your ecovillage project or bringing ecovillage concepts into your already existing project(s). To start with GEN consultancy you can book a 30 minutes introductory call.
• GEN’s Online Learning Platform can support you with a diverse range of online courses and free resources to develop your own project

Can you help me to share my project?

• We invite you to add your project to our ecovillage database/map or to our Solution Library.

• Due to capacity, we cannot share crowdfunding/EVS/project links on our Facebook page or other social media. We receive quite a few requests like this, which is why we have a policy to only share requests from long-standing partners from our network with prior notice.

• Feel free to promote yourself in our Facebook Groups. Either our main Facebook Group or in the regional Facebook group more suited to you.

• We also recommend you also to get directly in touch with the region, they might be able to help you by sharing your request to their mailing list.

• If you are running an event and want to publicise it, then please add to our Events Listing.

• Did you already insert your ecovillage in our Ecovillage map? It assembles a lot of different communities/ecovillages/projects all over the world. With your ecovillage listed in our map you can get more visibility and even share events happening in the community so it could be a possibility for you to share your ongoing project.

How can I support or become part of GEN?

• To engage with GEN, you may create a profile and register your project on our ecovillage database, look at our Consultancy services, reach out to your Region or national network for collaboration with local movements, and browse other ways to get involved.
• To support the ecovillage movement financially you are welcome to join Friends of GEN.
• If you want to dive deeper into the work of GEN and how you can get involved with us we are happy for you to join our online GEN Introduction Course.

How can I/we become a partner of GEN?

• • GEN partners with non-governmental organisations, government offices and ministries, networks, movements, associations, and academia to collaborate on projects. Many of our current partners are listed on the partners page.

  • If your organisation falls into one of these categories and you would like to work with us on a specific funded project, please contact us.

  • We are in awe of the thousands of beautifully healing and culture-shifting projects, movements and organisations working globally - we are truly experiencing a global shift to a culture of regeneration! However, GEN does not create formal partnerships with individual communities, centers, or other place-based projects.

  • If you are a recognized organisation providing ecovillage education aligned with GEN’s vision, mission and goals, working with the ecovillage principles and interested in collaborating with us on offering online courses on GEN’s Online Learning Platform you can contact us under [email protected]

How can I get involved with GEN as a researcher?

If you are a researcher on ecovillages, or otherwise engaged in these topics, you are welcome to join our research group! More information you can find here.

What is the difference between GEN and GEN International?

GEN is first and foremost a network, not an organisation, but it is serviced and coordinated on different levels through several organisations. GEN International is one organisation, existing within the network providing a global support, network weaving and amplifying services on a global scale that require global coordination (e.g. data collection and visibility of the global network, support for inter-regional communities of practice, online platforms) and support the transition to sustainable livelihoods and self-sustaining organisational models for all parts of the network.