Hola chic@s,
os paso un mensaje de Ulrike, GEN-Europe, sobre cosas que se están haciendo en estos momentos desde el GEN: proyecto ecoaldeas bálticas, encuentro de jóvenes en Tamera (a la par que el encuentro anual del GEN-Europa), nacimiento del GEN-África, aportaciones de Gaia Trust, un nuevo empleo a nivel de GEN internacional. Todos los detalles, abajo.
Ulrike pide a todas las redes nacionales que no se olviden de enviar un representante a la asamblea general en Tamera, pues se van a discutir muchos temas de interés, que tienen que ver con las posibilidades de crecimiento y expansión de la red.
Hasta ahora he venido representando a la RIE dentro del GEN-Europa, pero tal vez sea el momento de que alguien tome el relevo (buen inglés imprescindible). Así que ya sabéis, ¿quién se anima?
Un abrazo, ulises
Inicio del mensaje reenviado:
De: Ulrike Schimmel
Para: Ulrike Schimmel
Dear friends,
in this message I’d like to share some exciting news and information about the upcoming GA, as well as remind some of you to pay their membership fees.
Please keep us informed about your activities and projects and if we can support you let us know. If there is a change of contact person, address or email, please also keep us informed.
And please make use of the advantages of the GEN-E website and database, post your events, information about your ecovillage and more.
News
Ecovillages Project: This is an exciting new project that several GEN members are involved in. It focuses on a survey of eco-villages around the Baltic Sea with a view to promoting ecovillages as innovative sustainable rural development. Key objectives are to gain political recognition for ecovillages in the Baltic Sea Region and strengthen the ecovillage movement. It is funded by the EU Baltic Sea Region Programme (Interreg) with 1. 46 M EUR. Several GEN members are involved and GEN Europe has become an associated partner and will benefit directly by expanding it’s presence in the region. More information on our website.
Students of Sustainability – Youth Gathering: Picking up on the 2009 success, this meeting of 40 people aged 18-25 from all over Europe and beyond will take place July 07-11 in Tamera, parallel to the GEN conference. The focus will be on sharing visions for a sustainable future, inspriring Youth to actively work towards them as well as learning new tools for project design, using the Dragon Dreaming method facilitated by John Croft. Hopefully, this meeting will help revive the NextGEN network. Read more here.
Emergence of GEN Africa: We are meeting a lot of interest among African projects and individuals to get involved. Next important steps in building the network are an Ecovillage Conference in Congo in May (sorry, no article on the website yet), EDEs planned in Senegal and South Africa, and presence of some African reps – Lua Kekana and Adama Ly whom some of you have met last year in Damanhur – at this year’s GA and conference.
Funding by Gaia Trust: Another piece of very good news is that the Jacksons have committed to continue funding GEN at the same level as the previous years, indefinitely. Part of the money is spent on GEN international activities, the rest is divided between the GEN regions ENA (Ecovillage Network of the Americas), GENOA (GEN Oceania and Asia) and GEN Europe.
Communications Liaisons: This is a new paid staff position created by GEN international with the purpose of improving communication and information flow between the GEN regions, improving the international website and database, coordinating international activities such as presence at UN events and more. For GEN Europe, Kosha and Ulrike are sharing the position for the time being.
General Assembly 2011
Please make sure to send a representative to the GA July 12-13 in Tamera (and the Ecovillages and Sustainable Living Conference July 7-11). We will make important decisions that will shape the future of GEN Europe. There is a lot of potential for growth and expansion, and a lot is happening already. GEN Europe has submitted several funding applications also for bigger projects that we havn’t yet heard back about, but if they are accepted they will make a big difference and they will make GEN grow a lot. Having more and more staff brings up the question how we want to develop GEN structures, including individuals working together over the distance vs. local teams or a balance between the two.
Because the way we work at the moment involves a lot of very long term planning, we will talk about the office transition already this year. And anyway, these two issues are related.
We will also talk about membership categories and membership fees.
If you have any issues to propose for the GA, please write to me.
Membership fees
Thanks to those who already have paid their membership fees for 2011! If you havn’t paid yet, you can either pay in cash at the GA or make a bank transfer (bank details below). The fee for full members is a sliding scale of € 100.- up to € 600.- per year. Members from Eastern Europe are welcome to pay in ecorates – contact me if you are not sure how much it is for you.
As GEN-Europe has charitable status we can write an official confirmation for your fees as a donation which might be tax deductible (depending on your country). For all German members this is an opportunity, please make use of it!
If you need an invoice please let me know as well.
In community,
Ulrike
GEN Europe bank details:
Global Ecovillage Network of Europe e.V.
Legal headquarters: Sieben Linden 1, D-38489 Beetzendorf
Postbank Berlin, Hallesches Ufer 60, 10963 Berlin, Germany
bank code 10010010, Account no: 7681105
IBAN: DE 11100100100007681105, BIC: PBNKDEFF
