The NSW Government is set to abolish a successful planning policy that has seen more than 120 intentional communities established across the state over almost 30 years, most of them in the northern rivers. The policy allows groups of people to establish Multiple Occupancies (MO) or intentional communities on land of 10 hectares or more in rural or non-urban zones. by Chris Dobney (first published in http://www.echo.net.au) Just three councils statewide will be exempt from the … Read more
General
Editorial Newsletter September 2015 Ecovillages Responding to Disasters and Crises
With thousands of refugees and migrants arriving on the shores of Europe on a daily basis, the pain and crises in the world are becoming increasingly impossible to ignore, even in those regions which have felt relatively sheltered for a long time. … Read more
Schloss Tempelhof The first Earthship in Germany
The eco-village and community, Schloss Tempelhof, was founded in 2010. As a visionary place and future workshop venue it is going to build the first approved Earthship in Germany. Thanks to solar power and water stills , these Earthships are almost ‘off-grid’ : not reliant on any external electricity, gas, water and sewerage systems. Construction will begin on September 28, 2015. Stefanie Raysz reports. "Imagine a home that: heats and cools itself, provides its own food and water, … Read more
Skala Ecovillage, Greece Greece: Community Building in Times of Crisis
At Skala Ecovillage, a network meeting of grassroot projects from all over Greece brought ideas, actions for change, community building, and hope as Anna Fillipou writes in her moving letter. Dear Friends of Skala Ecovillage, Next Sunday, on 20 September, elections will take place once again in Greece. After Tsipras put Greece in the third international bailout and austerity measures, the political party Syriza has split into two parties. The demands of a radical overhaul of the Greek … Read more
Strand Report Science and Research in GEN
Even academia is changing slowly towards new paradigms. Ecovillages are increasingly approached as “research objects” often because of their exciting experiments for sustainable living, social and technical innovations. The one year ago started GEN research working group organized three sessions at GEN+20 to first exchange experiences and perspectives on research about ecovillages with the facilitation method of a world café. A general agreement was that we need a forum between academics and … Read more
Netherlands: Village Trade Center
The time of the World Trade Centers is over, we will have Village Trade Centers instead! A Village Trade Center (VTC), is the simple idea of stimulating local production based on the talents of people in the village. This concept was first born in Veerhuis; see the short animation for an overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NptZ5Zg6Eko&feature=youtube We are now in the process of making the VTC a worldwide movement in a open source construction as a creative common. We formulated the 6 … Read more
The Tsunamika Doll: Auroville’s Symbol of Hope for Tsunami Survivors
Auroville, a community in South India aspiring towards human unity, was among the many communities hit by the December 26th, 2004, Indian Ocean Tsunami that was caused by an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra. From out of the disaster and devastation emerged many projects, bringing community spirit back within Auroville and connecting Auroville to its neighbouring Tamil villages. One of the beautiful stories is one of a little doll named Tsunamika, shared by Kavitha Urvasie Selvaraj. The … Read more
Sweden/Syria: Integration Ecovillage A Solution for Migration and Eco-livelihoods
The Syrian refugee, Fayez Karimeh, arrived last year in Europe. With the help of the GEN network he reached Sweden, where he now plans to build an ecovillage for migrants and refugees (we reported about him here: http://gen.ecovillage.org/en/node/5825 . Due to visa issues he could not attend the GEN summit in person, but was connected with the emerGENcies strand via Skype. Allan Stewart, Treasurer of the new-found association SICE, reports. In the last months around Fayez, a team of … Read more
Strand Report
Some of the lessons, energies and experiences of these days begin to settle and find their place in me, so rich and multilayered. I very much appreciate the contact and working together with Visolela Namises, from Namibia, and Alberto Ruz from Mexico, the incredible richness of wisdom and sensitivity of our group and the systemic approach we used to explore the complexity of our collective structures. What touched me most were two things. First, the depth of generational and gender-based … Read more
Strand Report International and Gender Dialogue
Some of the lessons, energies and experiences of these days begin to settle and find their place in me, so rich and multilayered. I very much appreciate the contact and working together with Visolela Namises, from Namibia, and Alberto Ruz from Mexico, the incredible richness of wisdom and sensitivity of our group and the systemic approach we used to explore the complexity of our collective structures. What touched me most were two things. First, the depth of generational and gender-based … Read more
