Our experience in the EDE 2023 Reflections from the support team, Jule, Mari, & Rubén

In the current context of ecological emergency and huge social inequalities, it is more important than ever to support education for the design and promotion of sustainable communities that generate solutions integrating the 4 dimensions of regeneration.

This year’s EDE offered exactly such an educational journey and was characterised by a diverse range of guest speakers with an abundance of knowledge and experience to share. The journey was a deep dive into the ecovillage approach, including the different dimensions of ecology, social, economy and holistic worldview. Each dimension and lesson having their own way of capturing and inspiring further reflections and actions within the group.

Whether it was John Croft taking us on a heart-warming dreaming journey through his unique methodology of co-creating collaborative projects: The Dragon Dreaming; Carlos Rojas (Ecovillage Aldeafeliz) who enabled us to create our own Masterplan for collective green building projects; Helena Norberg-Hodge who inspired us with the concept of re-localisation and encouraged us to become activists on the way to a healthy and life-supporting economy; or Kosha Joubert who taught us that ecovillages and a connected community lifestyle can be key to integrating collective experienced traumas. At the same time – seemingly separated from each other – each dimension and each topic integrated itself along the course into a big-picture perspective and we could see and feel the interconnectedness of everything we learned.

One great gift that enabled this change of perspective was the EDE facilitators and guest hosts ability to pick us up no matter where we are currently in life and enabling the group to integrate and reflect on a global scale as well as to make the transition to our own local context. Some of us were able to join the European Ecovillage Gathering 2023 in July and had the chance to connect with Taisa and Macaco and other EDE participants in person, breathing in some ecovillage spirit. With 800 participants from 41 countries, the 2023 Gathering was the biggest ecovillage Gathering ever and highlights once more, the movements power and the growing desire of humanity to opt for community and more sustainable ways of life.

The EDE as a key tool to raise awareness, educate and offer tools to make this other possible world a reality was therefore an essential starting or transition point as well as stepping stone, laying the foundation for individual and collective empowerment, to step up and engage into the creation of alternatives. Moreover, one of the strengths of the EDE is the variety within the participants, as it was online, people could join from many countries. This variety resulted in an abundance of knowledge, experience and perspectives, which greatly supported the collective learning and group dynamic. Reflecting the great potential that lies within the embracing of human diversity.

The practical and collective part of the EDE – the Design groups process – was as challenging as it was rewarding to present the final group project. Learning by doing was the motto – learning how to communicate and organise in the design groups, sometimes even across different continents, was for many a huge learning zone. By being supported each week with new, inspiring tools that integrated into the design groups process the initial nervousness gave way to an enthusiasm about the creative power that was unleashed by opening up to different views, ideas and ways of doing. The combination of theoretical and practical input during the sessions and then being encouraged to put the learnings collectively into practice in our own design project felt super empowering, since a certain manifestation of an idea took place and was held by a community of engaged and motivated human beings.