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
“In Grave Danger of Falling Fruit” A Visit in Village Homes
This phrase of permaculture co-developer Bill Mollison (although he said “falling food”), kept running through Diana Leafe Christian´s head each time she almost bumped into limbs heavy with peaches hanging over the path. This happened last August in Davis, California, when it was her great pleasure to visit Village Homes with her friend Vince, who lived there at the time. Village Homes is 240-home subdivision in a college town in California’s Central Valley. Begun in 1975 by developers Mike … 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
Try my restaurant! Christophe Goll has visited numerous ecovillages. This is the result.
On a tour to teach positive psychology and the study of happiness, Christophe Goll from Sweden has visited numerous ecovillages. Loving contrasts, he spent some nights in a 5 star hotel in between, and now is trying to seduce an old friend into trying the ecovillage life. This is the result. My wonderful friend, Piotr, is the successful man many mothers hope for. Our friendship started in an office tower in 2001, when I was longing for everything the corporate world promised. Today our … Read more
There is a Life after GEN It is not better or worse – it is simply very, very different
Max Lindegger, permaculture activist and co-founder of Crystal Waters in Australia, has been involved in GEN for more than 20 years – indeed he was around when the idea was first mentioned by Hildur and Ross Jackson. Although Max has not been active in GEN or GENOA for a number of years, his own life is still very active in community. He shares with us what his life is looking like now. Work for GEN/GENOA has taken me around many parts of this globe and the many friends I have made over the … 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
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
