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
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
GEN+20 Summit: Living the New Story
- Date: 6 – 9 July 2015
- Language:
- English
- Location: Findhorn Community, Scotland, Undefined
Organised by GEN in partnership with Gaia Education, the Findhorn Foundation and New Findhorn Association, the GEN+20 Summit is an invitation to celebrate 20 years of walking our talk. You are warmly invited to join us in honouring some of the elders of the ecovillage movement, celebrating the present holders of energy from all corners of the world and continuing to look ahead with the next generation at where our learning edge for sustainable living is now. Together, we will share realistic … 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
Ecovillage Transition Scaling Up Community Led Change Processes
In order to support societal transition, and the scaling up of 'grassroots' solutions to climate change, we need to couple 'bottom-up' with 'top-down' processes, says Kosha Joubert, President of GEN International. In April 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published the third part of a trilogy of reports, compiled by thousands of the world’s most eminent scientists, giving the most accurate and up to date account of climate change. The first report, released in … Read more
Japan’s AS-ONE Community: The Story of a 14-Year Community Creation Process
In 2001, some volunteers gathered in Suzuka, Japan, aiming to realize a happy society free from fighting and opposition, in harmony with nature. A borderless community named “AS-ONE COMMUNITY” has been created in an ordinary neighborhood of Suzuka, a typical middle-size city and also well known as a city of the Honda company. Hiroko Katayama, GEN ambassador reports. The name ‘AS-ONE’ was taken from a line of John Lennon’s masterpiece Imagine, ‘and the world will be as one'. Nowadays, 38 core … Read more
Design Ecovillages & LB Communities
- Date: 23 – 28 March 2014
- Language:
- English
- Location: New Zealand
Tues, 24 March – Sun, 29 March 2015 This course teaches a sequential approach to designing an ecovillage/land-based community using permaculture design principles and methodology, culminating in small group designs which encompass each broad step. The course is designed as an advanced module for PDC holders as well as those well familiar with the concepts of Permaculture. In order to design harmonious human settlements which marry the needs of people with the needs of the land, we … Read more
