What matters the most is that the lands are healthy, the water is pure, the wind is free from viruses, and the human beings are at peace with themselves. - Calixto Suarez, Chief Elders of Arhuaco People, Colombia It is with great satisfaction that we release the Global Ecovillage Network Annual Report 2019. Our staff, partners, and members are diverse, creative, and driven by passion and commitment. We strive to ensure our projects and programmes are engaging, impactful, and contextually … Read more
Africa
GEN at COP25: 8 African Countries to scale up Ecovillage Development Programmes The Global Ecovillage Network signed agreements with 8 African Countries to scale up ecovillage development programmes in response to the Climate Emergency
Spain, Madrid – At the High Level Summit COP25, official negotiations were sticky and focussed on issues of carbon trade rather than the radical transformation of human presence on this planet that is so desperately needed. Whilst, the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) signed or deepened agreements with 8 African Countries for the implementation of ecovillage development programmes. Ministers of Environment from The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Liberia, Nigeria and Burkina Faso signed … Read more
2019 Hildur Jackson Award winner: ReScope Programme, Africa African educational programme wins annual prize from the Global Ecovillage Network and Gaia Trust
The ReScope Programme in Africa is the winner of the 2019 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. In the 2019 edition, 32 ecovillages and sustainable projects from all over the world applied to the Hildur Jackson Award. The prize is awarded to projects bringing the most impactful inspiration about … Read more
Democratic Republic of Congo delivers its annual Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) course
The GEN Democratic Republic of Congo network (GEN DRC) just delivered its annual Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) course in Mingadi, approximately 1 hour outside Kinshasa. With the support of Vodacom, this two-week course provided training for 44 participants from 4 villages and was one of the first steps towards developing an ecovillage demonstration centre for the DRC. This event was the culmination of a very busy six months for GEN DRC and their lead organisation, Luc Lutala and his … Read more
Our Annual Report 2018 is here! How the Global Ecovillage Network is responding to the state of Climate Emergency
We are proud to release the Global Ecovillage Network Annual Report 2018. Our staff, partners, and members are diverse, creative, and driven by passion and commitment. We strive to ensure our projects and programmes are engaging, impactful, and contextually relevant. When we reflect back on our accomplishments of 2018, we hope to ignite these qualities in our readers as well. Our annual report provides metrics, as we measure and track our progress and set new targets for the coming year. It … Read more
COP24 Katowice and the Ecovillage Development Programme in Africa
Last December, the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) delegation of 10 people attended the UN Climate Change Conference, COP24 in Poland. GEN hosted an official side event entitled Essential Climate Solutions: Community-Led Development, Renewable Energy and Cultural Heritage together with INTO and the Nordic Folkecenter. GEN also hosted a press conference where focus was placed on the climate change solutions provided by ecovillages and similar projects from around the globe. Several delegates … Read more
Webinar: Privilege and Inequality in Ecovillages A Global Perspective Towards a New Story
May 2019 Global Ecovillage Network monthly webinar was hosted by NextGEN. Privilege and Inequality in Ecovillages: A Global Perspective Towards a New Story Ecovillages are integral to creating the beautiful world we know is possible. However, some of the same social patterns of inequality also appear within ecovillages. A global array of speakers will share how the inequality has impacted their communities, and we also invite you, the participants, to share your experience and insight. … Read more
Gambia’s environmentalists trained on ecovillage regeneration and sustainability At least thirty environmentalists from environmental organisations and institutions have been trained on regeneration and sustainability of the ecosystem, including environmental protection held at the MDI campus in Kanifing.
Organised by the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), the training sensitised participants on ways of regenerating lost ecosystem and maintenance of the disappeared forest cover. Kosha Joubert, GEN executive director said her Network is committed to sure that Gambia is well prepared to regain her lost ecosystem values, saying GEN has a network of different active partners globally who are prepared to safeguard the ecosystem. She said they are not only working for the sustainability of the … Read more
Impressions from COP24 European Voluntary Service (EVS) member from GEN delegation shares her experience of climate change conference
On the last day of a two-week long summit characterised by many encounters and an awareness that pressure to move towards a 1.5 degree planet must increase, I was overcome by an uncertainty about what COP24 had really achieved. Tired faces and hurried bodies, as well as extended negotiations, would suggest not much. Indeed, the changes so desperately needed were not clearly agreed upon and so it seems the regenerative world we have the potential to create remains a distant utopia. I left with a … Read more
New Ecovillage Development pilot in Europe seeks to reverse rural exodus A partnership between the Iberian Ecovillage Network and Spanish region of Navarra aims to regenerate depopulated rural communities
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
