Located 30 min from Canoa beach, Rio Muchacho was the first ecotourism project conceived and developed as a sustainability education model in Manabí and Ecuador. It was endorsed by National Geographic for this unique concept and chosen as one of it’ s 8 favorite places to stay in Ecuador. This social enterprise is now evolving and transforming into an ecovillage! There are 8 membership spaces in total, and 4 are still available. Nicola Mears and Darío Proaño, have blended … Read more
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Leading through Action A River of Life Story
Visolela Rosa Namises, a national leader, representative of GEN Africa and advocate for women’s rights has been initiating incredible work in Namibia. With the support of River of Life funds in 2020, Visolela was able to work with women from different communities to develop gardens for food security, nutrition and as a way to improve their livelihoods. She conducted 6 workshops and events in the past year, working in 6 villages and 3 schools, reaching over 850 people, including women, youth, … Read more
“Peace Ark” Collaboration: Peace Valley (Australia) and Korogonas Ark (Greece) Success stories of the Twinning Project
As these two partners combined live in-person and online participation events they were realising that they have been creating an arc of peace around the world. Both projects focus on bringing inner/outer peace and regeneration and therefore were deeply motivated by the shared vision of building cross cultural understanding, mutual support and honouring each other’s contributions. This has extended the field of their work, contributing to more harmony and the manifestation of the Story of … Read more
Tu B’Shvat Celebration on Kibbutz Gezer: The Jewish Holiday of the Trees
The 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat, or Tu B’ishvat, is the day that marks the beginning of a “new year” for trees. This is the time when the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel, perhaps most famously the beautiful almond tree, emerge from their winter sleep. Tree planting has always been a Jewish tradition. The bible states that "And you shall come to the Land, and you shall plant all kinds of edible trees..." (Leviticus, 19:23). Almost all the forests in modern Israel … Read more
A “New Story” Collaboration: Centre des Hommes (Togo) & La Bolina (Spain) Success stories of the Twinning Project
With the goals of promoting dialogue about local development and migration while supporting ecologically balanced social entrepreneurship, the twins Centre des Hommes (Togo) & La Bolina (Spain) turned their ideas of a New Story into reality. Together with the additional support from a GEN Ambassador, the two communities produced an educational video series and launched a website for Centre des Hommes. The Community members shared their experiences, exchanged resources, and reflected on … Read more
Ecovillages and New Normalities – Insights from Dr. Rebeca Roysen BNN: Building the New Normal series - powered by Friends of GEN
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
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
