“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”
– Margaret Mead
Our Work
Through the sharing of best practices and innovative solutions and the honouring of deep-rooted traditional knowledge and local cultures, GEN builds bridges between policy-makers, academics, entrepreneurs and sustainable community networks across the globe in order to develop strategies for a global transition to resilient communities and cultures.
GEN is registered as an international charity in Scotland. It does its work through an International office in Findhorn, and through five regional networks: Oceania & Asia (GENOA), North America (GENNA), Latin America (CASA), Europe (GEN Europe), and Africa (GEN Africa). GEN Fertile Crescent is an emerging region from the Middle East.
GEN has consultative status within UN-ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) and is a partner of the UNITAR-CIFAL initiative, which provides trainings in sustainable development to local governmental officials around the world.
GEN’s Main Activities
• To provide information, tools, examples and representation to the expanding networks of those dedicated to developing and demonstrating sustainability principles and practices in their lifestyles and communities around the world
• To coordinate the activities of a number of regional ecovillage networks around the world
• To serve as an incubator and platform for international projects and initiatives those accelerate the shift to sustainable lifestyles and more resilient society
Strategic Goals of Our Work:
- Increase the number and visibility of grassroots actions and ecovillage projects that are linked to GEN (e.g. as members, on interactive maps, through newsletters and conferences)
- Increase the number of individuals who support GEN (e.g. GEN Ambassadors, Friends of GEN, GEN Volunteers, GEN Staff, etc.)
- Share best practice and showcase the solutions implemented by ecovillage projects on the ground
- Offer pathways to sustainability (e.g. Ecovillage Transition) that are easy to implement and further develop education and programs that support this
- Create inspirational meetings and conferences to promote sustainable lifestyles and resilience worldwide
- Raise the profile of GEN internationally through pro-active political influencing (e.g. governments, AU, EU, UN)
- Build and strengthen strategic alliances with like-minded governmental and civil society organisations and socially responsible corporations
- Strengthen the organizational and financial base of GEN in order to adequately fund our work activities and staff
