Ghana: Country’s First EDE

GEN Ghana held its first ecovillage design education course (EDE) this spring. Sponsored by the Danish Ecovillage Network and Danish Civil Society Fund, the partnership seeks to develop sustainable solutions and ecovillage models in Ghana and Denmark.

The first Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) course in Ghana was held at the Kumasi Institute of Tropical Agriculture (KITA) in Kumasi, Ghana from February 15th-March 15th, 2016.

This four week international training course was aimed at building the capacity of community leaders, community-based organizations and institutions, and members of GEN Ghana to enhance sustainable lifestyles and development in communities. Sponsored by the Danish Ecovillages Network (LOES) with support from the Danish Civil Society Fund (CISU), 35 students participated.

The EDE was part of an umbrella project, “Building the Network, Spreading Eco-Strategies in Ghana,” sponsored by CISU Denmark and part of a Ghana-Danish partnership to enhance North-South cooperation for sustainable development in Ghana. The partnership calls for bilateral cooperation between Europe and Africa to develop sustainable solutions and ecovillage models in both Ghana and Denmark.

To support the strengthening of GEN Ghana, two conferences and the EDE were hosted. In progress is the development of eco-strategies and practice guidelines and improving the GEN Ghana web presence. GEN Ghana’s ecovillage membership has risen from 7 to 80 through this cooperation — and we continue to see fruitful results.