Launch of Communities for Future, Free Online Webinar

With the goal to strengthen collaboration between community-led initiatives and local authorities for regional sustainability, GEN has been leading the Ecovillage Transition in Action project in collaboration with partner organizations. This project will showcase lessons learned to scale up many of the strategies developed by communities. In support of this, ECOLISE is launching the Communities for Future programme which values and puts communities and citizens at the centre of the conversation. In this webinar, we will hear from successful case studies that have managed to draw together collaborations between stakeholders to shift local and even regional realities. It will highlight the fact that responding successfully to the next phase of the global crises will depend heavily on community engagement. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and be inspired by exchanging in smaller groups. Within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and the commitments towards the Paris Agreement, the European Green Deal and the Sustainable Development Goals, this online event will bring together Members of the European Parliament, as well as representatives of the European Commission, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, national, regional and local government representatives, together with representatives of community-led initiatives and other NGOs. We especially invite member of local communities/community leaders, Local authority representatives, Members of the European Parliament, Organisations engaged in supporting or representing community development, Organisations engaged in supporting climate action, Universities and researchers working on sustainable development, local development, social innovations and other related topics, as well as Citizens interested in sustainable development, local development, community building, intersectoral partnership building and other related topics

Free Online Webinar – Launch of Communities for Future Tuesday 22nd September, 14:00-16:00 CEST. To participate in the webinar, simply join via zoom here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81344348813?pwd=bGpqT3VCdjJ5clFGYkJLa0JPV0pFQT09 Meeting ID: 813 4434 8813 Password: 646763

Communities for Future (CfF) is a new, integrated Europe-wide programme to inspire, empower and enable local community-led responses to the climate and ecological emergency. Focusing on citizen engagement at the sub-municipal (village or neighbourhood) level, CfF also connects communities and stakeholders at other levels, helping to build resilience, revive local-to-regional economies and also reimagine and redesign the systems and institutions on which we depend. The programme emerged from the work of 42 ECOLISE members across Europe, and is being launched in partnership with the EESC – European Economic and Social Committee, RURENER and Ripess Europe. It’s launch will explore the potential of communities to revive local economies as we emerge from the pandemic in a way that takes account of the deepening climate and ecological crises and the urgent need for deeper societal transformation. It recognises that there is no one solution fits all. Engaging citizens locally, and bridging divides, creating interaction between rural and urban, young and old, North and South and East and West Europe, are an essential part of the mission. Communities for Future values and puts communities and citizens at the centre of the conversation. To learn more about CfF, go here: http://communitiesforfuture.org

Ecovillage Transition in Action (ETiA) is an Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership running from 2019-2021, involving the Global Ecovillage Network, ECOLISE, GEN Germany, Hurdal Ecovillage (Norway) and the University of St Andrews (UK). It is based on the premise that addressing systemic crises need more than international organisations, governments and politicians. Communities, citizens, NGOs and other forms of civil society hold many of the solutions. In a fragmented world, successful cross-sectoral collaboration is key, particularly partnerships that blur the lines between top-down and bottom-up, i.e. partnerships between municipalities and community-led initiatives (CLIs). ETiA showcases lessons learned to scale up many of the strategies developed by communities. The urgency and magnitude of the challenges that humanity faces require a greater collective response. ETiA represents a new partnership of individuals and organisations passionate about developing a sustainable future by developing a pathway of collaboration that will regenerate local communities and facilitate the emergence of flourishing regenerative regions. ETiA develops the resources, learning programmes and other tools to enable CLI-municipality partnerships to take root.