Albert Bates, founding member of The Farm, Tennessee, was part of the GEN delegation at the Climate Summit in Marrakech, this November. He is also part of a group of sustainability experts brought together by the Secretary General of the British Commonwealth, Baroness Patricia Scotland. At the final day of the 22nd Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change, Baroness Patricia Scotland rose to address the Joint High-level Segment gathered in plenary session: "Mr. … Read more
General
Ecovillage Movement in China An update on the Sunshine Ecovillage Network
The partnership and friendship between GEN and the Sunshine Ecovillage Network (SEN), in China has been growing in the past year, since the first Ecovillage Forum organised by SEN took place in October 2015, drawing around 500 interested participants. Ecovillage Design Education courses have previously been run in China, led by Pracha Hatanuwatr and Jane Rasbash, and many young Chinese have participated in ecovillage training elsewhere. Chinese representatives have been reaching out to GENOA – … Read more
African Response to Climate Change The Pan-African Ecovillage Development Programme: building resiliency and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
The Pan-African Ecovillage Development Programme: building resiliency and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. By Tim Clarke, former EU Ambassador, advisor of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), who was a GEN delegate at the COP 22 Climate Conference in Marrakech. For the past 20 years, GEN has been developing a transformative model using an integrated, multi-sectoral community-based approach to create sustainable and resilient ecovillage communities. Africa is the home of some of … Read more
Latin America (CASA): Video Documentation and Educational Tools for Community Development
A Solution provided by Común Tierra, Latin America With the rural exodus and the deterioration of rural communities, many traditional skills and decentralized solutions are threatened with extinction. On the other hand, local communities that are determined to remain and continue to develop don´t have access to globally shared knowledge. The Común Tierra Project has stepped into this gap and works as a bridgebuilder and information carrier for numerous remote communities in Latin … Read more
Asia/Oceania (GENOA): Earthen Architecture and Green Building Techniques
A solution provided by Auroville, India Construction is responsible for the huge consumption of energy, electricity, water and materials. On the other hand the building sector has a great potential to deliver significant cuts in emissions at little or no cost. Buildings account for 18% of global emissions, or the equivalent of 9 billion tonnes of CO2 annually. According to the United Nations Environment Program, the emissions could double by 2050 during this time of rapid growth. With so … Read more
Europe (GEN Europe): Holistic Water Management and Water Retention Landscapes
Solution provided by Tamera, Portugal Humus and topsoil can absorb a large amount of water and release it slowly. In this way floods and droughts are prevented. But erosion has widely degraded both humus and topsoil in the landscape. In order to restore the water cycle, we need to enable rainwater to be absorbed by the earth even without the topsoil layer. Water Retention Landscapes are systems for the restoration of the full water cycle by retaining the water in the areas where the rain … Read more
Africa (GEN Africa): Integrated Land Use Design and Greening Schools
A solution provided by Mugove Walter Ngyia, Malawi Numerous communities in Africa are affected by critical issues such as hunger and malnutrition that still afflict millions of children in sub Saharan Africa. The education system does not really address this topic or support children and their families with the skills and knowledge to provide for themselves in an increasingly degraded environment. With his organisation SCOPE, the permaculture designer Mugove Walter Ngyia and his team have … Read more
USA/Europe (GENNA/GEN Europe): Soil Restoration and Carbon Sequestration using Biochar
The future starts with the dirt beneath our feet. Soil is the earth’s fragile skin that anchors all life. However, half of the topsoil on the planet has been lost in the last 150 years. Soil restoration is a major concern of farmers and of all of us who depend on vegetation. Soil restoration using Biochar (as with Terra Preta), is carbon negative by sequestering the carbon in biomass for thousands of years. Biochar incorporated in soils offers numerous benefits, such as improved soil … Read more
Synergies between Degrowth and GEN Synergies between Degrowth and the Global Ecovillage Network
One of the most controversially discussed key tracks during the 5th International Degrowth Conference 2016 in Budapest was “Degrowth and other social movements”. Can degrowth be considered a movement? Does degrowth embrace all kinds of movements struggling for a sustainable future? On one hand, the notion of “degrowth movement(s)” was rigorously criticized for fragmenting the political struggle. It was also critiqued as umbrella concept for creating incongruous hierarchical relations between … Read more
GEN at DEGROWTH conference, Budapest 30. 8. - 2. 9. 2016
Degrowth is a “bomb word” used to inspire in-depth debates on whether infinite growth in a finite world is desirable or even possible. A vibrant and dynamic network developed around this term, bringing together academics, activists, environmentalists and social (r)evolutionaries, as well as global movements and organisations they belong to. Degrowth conference in Budapest was the 5th such biannual conference since the first one organised in Paris in 2008. The goal of the conferences is … Read more
