Building the New Normal is really a matter of day-to-day actions of people living together differently. This emerges naturally wherever there is the persistent will (or coercion) to do so. It sounds simple and it is, but it is at the same time a complex undertaking. Dr. Rebeca Roysen has studied these transitional dynamics for years and has written an insightful academic article1 on ecovillages building new normalities, which she is happy to render here in a less scholarly fashion. She … Read more
News
- Lifelong Education
- Diversity & Cohesion
- Trust & Communication
- Health & Healing
- Leadership & Governance
- Conflict Resolution
- Wisdom & Innovation
- Art & Celebration
- Vision & Purpose
- Nature Connection
- Mindfulness & Self Reflection
- Defend & Protect
- Leading from the Future
- Contextualised Design
- Whole Systems Thinking
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Intervention & Transformation
- Alliance Building
- Prototyping & Feedback
- Rank & Privilege
Creating healthy, resilient food systems A River of Life story
Linda Kabaira is a dedicated community worker, who runs projects with SCOPE in Zimbabwe and Zambia with young women and schools, focusing on creating home gardens as a tool for ecological regeneration. Linda received funds through the River of Life in 2016 and 2020. Working with young women, Linda focuses mostly on growing staple food crops and using permaculture techniques to build soil fertility, manage water and maximize harvests. During 2016 when she received River of Life funds, she … Read more
Emergence of the ‘River of Life’ in GEN Brief history
In April 2013, 25 African women joined a four week ‘By Women, For Women’ Ecovillage Design Education (EDE), held by Lua Bashala and Kosha Joubert at Umphakatsi Peace Ecovillage, Mpumalanga, South Africa. The women exchanged and learned about ecological, cultural, social and economic aspects of sustainable community living and designed small projects to increase the resilience of their neighbourhoods. On another level, a deep level of mutual trust was built amongst them as they shared stories … Read more
Zegg Ecovillage Building the New Normal! BNN: Building the New Normal series - powered by Friends of GEN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ5WiySYxJ0 This is the story of Ena, of how she and the people in ZEGG Ecovillage have built their Human Connection. Zegg Ecovillage, Germany "We have developed a tool to grow personally and build trust among each other. When I step into the middle I let others be part of my inner life, struggle or celebration. Other community members will give feedback. “Before my life here, people would never point out my potential or blind spots. Here, we try to meet each … Read more
Requesting nominations for a core team to support Pan African Ecovillage Development Programme (PAEDP)
Way Forward: PAEDP Development and MoUs with African Governments Proposal for Creating a Core Team and Implementation Plan GEN & GEN Africa AdHoc Working Group Background/Introduction In the Light of the implementation of the Pan-African Ecovillage Development Programme (PAEDP) in Africa, GEN and GEN Africa have worked closely in bringing this concept to the UN Climate Summit Conferences (COPs) and many African countries. So far, 9 African governments have signed MoUs with GEN … Read more
Green Economy and Social Enterprise for Climate Resilient Communities A pilot project in Zambia
Rural communities in Zambia have been strongly affected by climate change and other issues such as deforestation, poverty and malnutrition. To tackle all of these issues, the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) developed a pioneer project adopting a systemic approach, integrating strong social and ecological aspects, but also the economic dimension. Green Economy and Social Enterprise for Climate Resilient Communities pilot project was implemented 2018-2020 in several rural communities in the … Read more
Aldeafeliz Building the New Normal! BNN: Building the New Normal series - powered by Friends of GEN
Every day ecovillages and communities around the world are building a more authentic, connected and regenerating way of life. They want this to be their normal, and rather than wait for the world to catch up, ecovillagers go ahead and build it themselves. They know in their hearts that it is not only possible - it is also destined to be. With the story below, we are launching a campaign to celebrate the many people seeded around the planet who are building their own “new normal” through the very … Read more
Hildur Jackson Award 2020 finalist: TI Ecovillage, India A unique enclave originally on the outskirts of Bangalore
The TI Ecovillage in India is the finalist of the 2020 Hildur Jackson Award for Extraordinary Project. The Hildur Jackson Award is a €3,000 annual prize that supports and honours projects around the world that demonstrate regenerative best-practices in all dimensions of sustainability. The prize is awarded to projects bringing the most impactful inspiration about ecovillages/ecovillage lifestyles to a broad audience. In the 2020 edition, we received a record number of 70 applications of … Read more
Ecovillages are a wonderful world of bird diversity Amena Bal writes about the Mini Bird Sanctuary at the TI Eco Village in India
Amena Bal is a GEN Ambassador that lives in the TI Ecovillage, on the outskirts of Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The project started in 1995 as an experiment in eco-friendly development. Amena brings us the story of her life at TI Ecovillage and their particular relationship with birds. My role as GEN Ambassador and counsel representative in GENOA is guiding me to support the more subtle aspects of our earth care work and nurture and connect consciously with wild life and their … Read more
Launch of Communities for Future, Free Online Webinar Tuesday 22nd September, 14:00-16:00 CEST
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 … Read more
