The first public event of GEN-Israel, an all-day conference, was held on November 23 at Kibbutz Gezer. Participants included Kosha Joubert, president of GEN-International, Aida Shibli, coordinator of GEN-Palestine, and around 200 people from different ecological projects, communities and communities-networks. It was a new step which not only strengthens the existing network, but also stretches it further to local traditional Bedouin communities, some communes and networks coming from a socialist … Read more
General
“Blueprint” Meeting in Tamera – For Sustainable Aid in Areas of Crisis
In September, a group of specialists, entrepreneurs and representatives of aid organizations came together in Tamera to discuss the possibility of creating a “Blueprint” for coordinated aid measures in crisis and disaster areas. They were invited by Ruth Andrade who called on the friends and cooperation partners of her late husband, Paulo Mellett, to form a team that would continue his work. Leila Dregger reports. … Read more
Big Changes in Communities magazine! Now All-Color + 100% Recycled Paper! - Plus Spring Issue "Community for Baby Boomers"
Big Changes in Communities! We’re excited to announce two major changes in Communities magazine, starting with our Spring 2015 issue. Fulfilling a long-held dream of better aligning our production process with our ecological values, Communities is now printed on 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper. Not a single tree fell to produce our new issue of Communities. We are thrilled to be using this beautiful matte-finish recycled paper from our new printer, Ovid Bell Press, and to be … Read more
GEN europa en Arterra
HOla compas, primero era una posibilidad, y ahora es una realidad. La oficina de GEN eu se ha venido a vivir a Arterra. No sabemos la duracion, hasta junio seguro, despues a ver... Asi que tenemos con nostras de momento a Robert y Gabi. Y pronto algun que otro voluntari@ de por alla los mundos, mas tal vez alguna gente de Arterra. Es posible que sea una buena oportunidad. Para aprender de asuntos adinistratitivos, becas, fondos etc... pues seguro. Veremos como podemos hacer para que se nos … Read more
EDE in 2015 Ecovillage Design Education Programme
Ecovillage Design Education programmes, commonly referred to as ‘EDEs’, are a 125 hour courses which have been carried out over 190 times in more than 34 countries on six continents since 2006. More than 5,000 people have participated in these sustainable design programmes worldwide! … Read more
Middle East: GEN Palestine Building the Foundations of GEN Palestine
Hakoritna Farm, one of the winners of the GEN Excellency Award 2014, co-hosted a meeting of GEN and Global Campus Palestine with the Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie, in order to meet the many challenges for peace and sustainability in an occupied country and to prepare the creation of GEN Palestine. Frederick Weihe reports. From the 19th - 24th of November, a historic event happened in support of peace, cooperation, and sustainable solutions to climate change in occupied Palestine. … Read more
Cross the Bridge! My Friend, My Brother! The Salaayel Ecovillage Approach in Mauretania
Severe droughts in recent years have had negative consequences, including impacts on the socio-economic life of our people. One of the most serious consequences was the exodus, which forced village communities to lose some of their socio-cultural values: in hospitality, pride, solidarity, and the cultural space of the village. The initiative, Salaayel, rebuilds original values to establish regional sustainability, in order to re-establish the bonds and bridges between villages, cultures and … Read more
Refugee Aid by Ecovillages – The Journey of a Refugee from Syria
Wars, climate change, economic and social injustices, have made millions of people refugees, with thousands dying, stranded on the borders of Europe, or the United States. At the recent GEN Summit in Dakar, Africa it was re-iterated that ecovillages are an effective alternative to migration, especially for young people. However, ecovillages of the Global North can also assist directly, by providing new opportunities for refugees. This is the story of Fayez Karimeh, from Syria - however, similar … Read more
Ecovillages and Climate: COP20, Climate Injustice and the GEN World Summit
By Robert Hall, Managing Director of Global Ecovillage Network – Europe During the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP20) in Lima, Peru, the governments of the world gathered in December, 2014 to discuss their contributions to the reduction of carbon emissions. The aim of the meeting in Lima was to prepare a much-need, far-reaching agreement in Paris in 2015. But the negotiations were stuck in the old paradigm, unable to think outside our present system to find solutions to the … Read more
Maia Earth Village, Phillippines: Creating a Wholeness Center
Maia Earth Village, in the Philippines, is giving birth to the Wholeness Center, a whole-systems model in the 'Asia of Transformation Medicine' programs, that have global applications in supporting inner work-oriented healing centers, hospitals and energy processes around the world. Pi Villaraza shares. Transformation Medicine began as an intuitive journey undertaken by two unlikely partners, a successful integrative doctor from Cebu City, named Dr. Romy Paredes, and myself, Pi Villaraza, as … Read more
