The Framework by Alfonso Flaquer Carreras, Ecovillage resident and GEN Elder One of the biggest problems facing governments in many European countries is rural exodus, with the majority of the world's population dreaming of life in cities. In opposition to this trend, certain ecovillages and communities, mostly established in degraded or abandoned rural areas, have reversed downward population trends in certain municipalities and their peculiar development style is reflected in increased … Read more
Advocacy
Ghana Permaculture Institute integrates Ecovillage models GPI explores dimensions of sustainability in its carbon footprint and sustainable development
Short introduction of GPI Ghana Permaculture Institute (GPI) is an institute that considers the future feedback of human interaction with the earth or the environment. GPI uses the permaculture principles and ethics of earth care, people care and fair share integrated in its activities. GPI, through its exemplary model of seeing solutions beyond problems, has identified poverty as the core challenge which commits people to initiate certain actions that negatively affect the … Read more
GEN Advocacy at the HLPF: Review and Next Steps
GEN spent the last two weeks in New York at the UN’s annual High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, held under the theme “Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies.” It focused on reviewing Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) on water (Goal 6), energy (Goal 7), cities (Goal 11), consumption (Goal 12), forests (Goal 15), and partnerships/means of implementation (Goal 17). GEN’s Delegation joined the Forum to share the ways in which ecovillages and … Read more
Celebrating our Annual Report 2017 How we Innovate, Catalyse, Educate and Advocate in Global Partnership
Celebrating our Annual Report GEN just completed several months of hard work co-creating our 2017 Annual Report! It is a beautiful and many-faceted document and so we will take this opportunity to share some highlights from our programmes and partnerships over the last year that continue today! Since our mission is "to innovate, catalyze, educate and advocate in global partnership with ecovillages and all those dedicated to the shift to a regenerative world," we offer the following examples … Read more
Report from Talanoa Dialogue #GENTalanoa: Addressing climate change through empowered communities pursuing their own pathways of development
Yvette Dzakpasu, GEN Advocacy Director, attended the Talanoa Dialogue on behalf of the GEN Advocacy Working Group, which also includes Executive Director Kosha Joubert and Main UN Representative Rob Wheeler. Yvette filed this report for the event: The Talanoa Dialogue took place in Bonn, Germany on 6 May 2018, bringing the traditional Fijian storytelling tool to the UN Climate Change policy process. As described by the UN, “the purpose of Talanoa is to share stories, build empathy and to … Read more
Reflections from COP23 Great Interest in Ecovillage Climate Solutions at COP23
The two most promising and exciting things about COP23 for me was the keen interest among so many delegates first in ecovillage development and second in taking the 1.5 degree goal from the Paris Agreement on limiting global warming quite seriously and then on increasing government ambition to be able to do this. For example I heard again and again about various efforts being made to move towards 100% renewable energy; to sequester carbon in plants and soils; and to reach carbon neutrality … Read more
Women Transforming Traditional Villages into Ecovillages in India
Differently from ecovillages in Europe which are intentional communities, in India “Eco Village Development” is about changing existing traditional villages into ecovillages by implementing in, and teaching the community - especially women - climate solutions which are needs based, low carbon and affordable. India has 600,000 traditional villages all over the country. The following example is a model on 6 villages in Uttarakhand. Its aim is to showcase these to the Government and other NGOs, and … Read more
Empowering Communities and Building
Communities in the delta area of Bangladesh are in grave danger of salt water inundation from huge tidal rivers that are increasingly breaking their banks. This can devastate villages, damage the simple houses and leave the locals struggling to grow crops in salinated soil. The Bangladesh Association of Sustainable Development (BASD), Gaia Education and CIFAL Scotland have responded to this dire situation with a 3-year consortium project. The project aims to improve sustainable food security and … Read more
Ecovillage Zoning in North America Three North American Ecovillages Innovate “Ecovillage Zoning”
Many ecovillages overstep regulations with the hope of not being caught out. However, when ecovillages obtain official permission for ecological innovations, similar projects in their areas will benefit, for they create precedents in their countries for other ecovillages to apply to local authorities for permission. Diana Leafe Christian visited three ecovillage projects in North America in which ecovillage founders worked closely with local authorities in the site-planning process and requests … Read more
Permaculture Aid Yolanda Permaculture aid Yolanda for disaster support in the philippines
How many times have we seen images of refugee camps worldwide with people being forced by wars, or other disasters, to live together under harsh and unbearable circumstances? Sometimes this situation can last over years, and even decades. An increasing number of people in the GEN movement feel that ecovillage processes and practices can contribute a great deal in these situations. A prime example being in communities that are forced to come together out of traumatic or disaster situations often … Read more
