20 years ago, a group around the Danish couple Hildur and Ross Jackson founded the Global Ecovillage Network, launched at an Ecovillage Conference at Findhorn. They understood that the power of communities and ecovillages to love, work with and regenerate the life systems that they are a part of is essential to building a sane and sustainable culture. From that insight, it was a natural step to dream of a community of communities, a network of trust, mutual support and knowledge transfer between … Read more
Responsible Tourism Sandele Eco-Retreat in The Gambia
Sandele Eco-Retreat in Kartong is an example of responsible tourism. The lodges are built with compressed, stabilized earth blocks which use a minimum of cement and are frequently stabilized with lime. Electricity, hot water and water pumping are provided using solar and wind power. The Lodges and the Guest Rooms have compost toilets and a constructed wetlands system that minimizes the use of, and purifies, the water flowing from the toilets, showers, hand basins and rainwater. Every step that … Read more
The Final Push: As Time decreases, Intensity increases!
We have now raised over $56,000! Thank you! This campaign has had many inspiring large contributions, and now we are asking for the cascade that will bring us the final stretch. Make your contribution now at donate.ecovillage.org/gen20 More than 45 delegates are now funded from Bangladesh, Senegal, Columbia and many more. THANK YOU!!! You are supporting not just individuals, but key people with the power to change many lives. These participants are leaders of projects on the ground … Read more
Community regenerates land and land regenerates community
Whenever Lucia Battegazzore from Uruguay thought about herself living in a community, she imagined herself in a beautiful place of untouched nature, with a stream of clean water, an old native forest where she could lose herself… However, the place where she has ended up is different. Lucia has experienced first hand that regenerating the ecosystems brings back community - and the other way around. I live in an old vineyard in an intensive agro-industrial zone, where a contaminated creek … Read more
Local Collaboration in Italy "We grow our vegetables as we grow ourselves"
In its 26 years of activity, the Ecovillage Torri Superiore, in western Liguria, has been committed to building positive relationships with the local population, tells Lucilla Borio, founder and former GEN-Europe secretary. Now the local connections also include businesses, and the principles of sustainability and social responsibility. The EU program "The Transition Journey, Sustainability to Touch" (2009/2011), conducted with four GEN-Europe ecovillage partners, encouraged us to look for … Read more
Kibbutz Lotan: Mud and Straw Homes Possible Answers for Earthquake Regions
Nepalese villagers are now faced with massive rebuilding projects following the April 25 earthquake. They could benefit from the lessons learned by eco-minded builders in Israel’s Arava desert. Marlene Dodinval reports. In preparation for future anticipated tremors, an Israeli ecovillage is taking a unique approach to safe and environmentally sound construction rather than the more common, but expensive and less effective, reinforced concrete method often relied on to withstand … Read more
Japan in Transition: College for Sustainable Society Building and the Ecovillage Promotion Project
Japan has been dependent on more than 30% of the country's energy from nuclear power plants. After experiencing Fukushima, many Japanese people started restructuring their lives. Transition became attractive and caught the interest of those who were searching for ways to live more sustainably. Shunro Yoshida had already founded the Non-government-organization, Transition Japan, in 2009. Hiroko Katayama is from the As-One-Community in Suzuka, which became part of Transition Japan recently and … Read more
Establishing a New GEN Office The Joys and Challenges
With just a few weeks left until the GEN Europe General Assembly in Findhorn Ecovillage, Scotland, it seems appropriate to Robert Hall, Managing Director of GEN-Europe, to reflect on the current situation with the GEN 'office transition'. Perhaps, however, we can start with a historical perspective. GEN-Europe started off in 1996 in Germany at Lebensgarten, later moving to Torri Superiore in Italy. Then the office returned to ZEGG, in Germany, where our current German NGO was founded in … Read more
New Gaia Education Masters Program Integrated Systems Design for Sustainability
It is with great excitement that Gaia Education announces its new Masters programme: Integrated Systems Design for Sustainability - Master en Diseño de Sistemas Integrados para la Sosteniblidad! The two year Spanish programme, offered in collaboration with the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), includes: Ecosystems and Social Dynamics (Ecosistemas y dinámicas sociales) Sustainable Economics and Systemic Thinking (Economía sostenible y Pensamiento Sistémico) Permaculture Design (Diseño … Read more
EDE in Democratic Republic of Congo Second Intensive Ecovillage Kinshasa Workshop’s in Ecovillage Strategies
The second intensive workshop on ecovillage strategies in Kinshasa took place from 4 to 16 May 2015, at the Carter Center, the Center and IBI CEPROSEM village. 29 participants from Kinshasa, IBI village, and the Dévelopment Faculty Institute benefited from this training. Luc Lutala reports. … Read more
