19 representatives from nine European National Ecovillage Networks met in Park Istra in Slovenia, from January 18 to 22, to continue their work on the two-year Erasmus+ funded project “Sustainable Community Incubator Partnership Programme” (SCIPP). In October, the partners of SCIPP met in Torri Superiore in Italy for the first time to work on the outline of the programme. For the second meeting in Park Istra, Slovenia we started giving the framework shape and content.We carried out an … Read more
Europe
Editorial Newsletter January 2016 Dear friends of ecovillages, dear ambassadors, members, allies throughout the world,
Two major crises of our time - climate change and the refugee crisis – are intertwining to reach historical dimensions. People the world over - and all beings of nature – are existentially threatened, with nowhere to turn to. Climate change, in the guise of a long-term drought from 2006-2011 was one of the factors that lead to the war in Syria. In the past three years, the number of people boarding rickety fishing boats – leaving Myanmar and Bangladesh for countries further south in … Read more
With RefuGEN on Lesvos Nothing prepares you for Moria
RefuGEN was created by GEN Europe to help support refugees arriving in Lesbos, Greece – more than 1,000 arrive to the island daily. GEN has established a volunteering hub on the island, committing volunteers through June 2016. Leila Dregger of the Tamera Ecovillage shares her experience as one of RefuGEN’s first volunteers. Want to help? Click here to volunteer. Donate (all RefuGEN efforts are volunteer). … Read more
Join Friends of GEN Support what is close to your heart: GEN Small Projects Campaign
You can be part of making sustainable dreams come alive in 2016! All around the world there are communities and people doing amazing work to take care of people and the planet. There are incredible examples of the restoration of degraded ecosystems, rivers and lakes; the rebuilding of community support ‘nets’; the recognition of elders knowledge and ancestral wisdom; the development of economic activities and systems that create solutions and not just problems, to name a few. In … Read more
Carbon Farming The Best Way to Sequester Carbon and Reverse Global Warming
Many ecovillage communities have been experimenting with different means of carbon farming and have gone well beyond carbon neutral to become net-negative carbon communities. These villages provide best practices models for sequestering billions of tons of carbon and reversing global warming. Essential Reading: GEN Representative to the United Nations, Rob Wheeler, brings you stories of success from ecovillages around the world. We think it’s a must-read! … Read more
Mexico: The Power of Grandmothers The Story of Kalpulli and Grandmother Hope
The Power of Grandmothers can create and maintain healthy communities - just like this one from Mexico, collected and translated by Tracy Barnett. Esperanza Moran was not a young woman when she decided to pack up her family, leave the big city and stake out a claim in the wilderness with an assorted band of spiritual seekers. The eldest of her five children was already in college; she had co-founded the first School of Love, a program dedicated to exploring the divine feminine within, and had … Read more
Turkey Can we Try to Become Healers of these Souls?
“Peace at home and peace in the world,” was the motto of Turkey”s founder Ataturk. Turkey is currently riled with violence and aggression. Inci Gokman explores the question: “Can we try to become healers of these souls?” … Read more
Green Phoenix 2015 Deep Sharing among Communities
"We are all refugees, migrating from one Earth to a new Earth" said someone during the harvesting of a silent meditative walk in the rich and magical woody mountains surrounding the Center for Unity Schweibenalp. It was during the Green Phoenix congress, initiated 5 years ago by the founder of the Center for Unity Schweibenalp, Dr. Sundar Robert Dreyfus. It was the 6th edition of the congress that each year, in autumn, brings together representatives of experiential models for the future in … Read more
Ecovillages in Tanzania Innovative Climate Interventions in African Villages
Ecovillages in Tanzania have the potential to lead the way in adopting an integrated approach to climate mitigation and adaptation while adding to climate resiliency. An article by Michael Farrelly, programme coordinator, Tanzania Organic Agriculture Movement, with introductory comments by Rob Wheeler, United Nations Representative, GEN, and Tim Clarke, GEN Ambassador. A primary example of what can be done in either a traditional or ecovillage community to best address our climate challenges, … Read more
January 2016 The two major crises of our time
Dear friends of ecovillages, dear ambassadors, members, allies throughout the world, Two major crises of our time - climate change and the refugee crisis – are intertwining to reach historical dimensions. People the world over - and all beings of nature – are existentially threatened, with nowhere to turn to. Climate change, in the guise of a long-term drought from 2006-2011 was one of the factors that lead to the war in Syria. In the past three years, the number of people boarding … Read more
