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
Public Action for Climate Awareness EDE Students in Orissa/India on the Market Place
A new workshop on climate change and peak oil was organized by THREAD, an ecovillage promoting organisation in Odisha, for all customers at Laxmipur market. Standing in different corners of the market, the young tribal activists of Koraput district who had completed the Ecovillage Design Education course at Siddharthvillage, Kakiriguma biodiversity campus, explained to the people the danger of peak oil and the need for alternate thinking and living. Their banner, “No Petrol No diesel after … 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
New Generation of Damanhur Citizens Falling in Love with Community
One of the fundamental ways of regeneration, in an ecovillage, is welcoming in and integrating new members. The longevity and sustainability of any community depends on it. The approach to this process has evolved over the 40 years of Damanhur's existence. Quaglia Cocco reports. Looking for the article about Terra Preta? It is here: http://sites.ecovillage.org/de/node/5610 The Game of Life - Damanhur´s institution for constant change - inspired "Viaggio" journeys to go out into the world … 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
Thoughts from Chile Weaving invisible territorial structures
Jaime H. March Fernández, representing Ecochile Network and CASA, reflects on bringing together the ancient wisdom of the land, the cultures, and the new movements for sustainability. … Read more
Women Warriors in Brazil Urban Garden of Women Warriors Quilombo
For three years now, from early 2010 to late 2012, an urban garden has existed inside a squat called Quilombo das Guerreiras (Women Warriors Quilombo), based on agroecological principles. Essentially the result of a collective work, this great intervention is part of the lively scenery of a highly urbanized and careless place, the Francisco Bicalho Avenue, in the city center of Rio de Janeiro. The urban garden gained its own ecosystem, the plants sprouted and grew between the cobblestones … Read more
Sustainability in Bhutan Visiting the Country of the Gross National Happiness Index
Globalization is affecting the life of Bhutan. About eighty percent of food is imported from India even though the country has the capability of growing all its own food. The people are being adversely affected by TV and materialistic values. Mr. Lhundup Dukpa, program director of the School Education Division of Royal Education Council (REC), had been searching for an alternative education system and a more sustainable way of life in keeping with the intrinsic values of natural resources and … Read more
