Hosted by the House of I, China October 13 – 16, 2019 I was invited to attend the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) Ambassador Training Conference by my friend and colleague Dan Hines, a trainer extraordinaire who teaches internationally at many holistic centers. For the better part of this year he has been based at House of I, a center in China that offers programs and services as part of a development north of Beijing improbably named “Jackson Hole”. HOI does its work in a beautiful set of … Read more
Oceania & Asia
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
Auroville: a large ecovillage turns 50 by Susanne Ratka
Auroville is the second community besides Findhorn that I visited, which has made it to such a commendable age. What happens in a community if it exists for such a long time and how does it affect its surroundings? If you look at Auroville today you see a flourishing, manifold area, a lush green oasis with a rich culture, solid administrative structures, great education possibilities, creative and sustainable businesses, impressive buildings and a lively community going into its … Read more
The Centre for Alternative Technology maps a completely renewable future Largest survey of global energy scenarios shows 100% renewables can deliver 100% of the time!
In the largest survey yet of the rapidly rising delivery potential from renewable energy, a new report from the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) shows that clean energy could now meet all our electricity needs, at all times of the day, all year round. The report – Raising Ambition: Zero Carbon Scenarios from Across the Globe – draws on scenarios designed to meet the climate targets of the Paris Climate Agreement, developed at the global, regional, national and sub-national scales. … Read more
Reports from the CASA Conference 2017 Sharing reports from the 2017 ECCO Conference
Below are reports of the ECCO Conference held in 2017 in Brazil. Here you can download the various presentations and other relevant information on the conference.You can also read more about CASA’s activities in the 2017 Annual Report. ECCO2017 brought valuable and profound learnings to everyone involved and successfully accomplished its main objectives, particularly, supporting and strengthening the network of sustainable settlements in Brazil and connecting it with the global … 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
The NextGENOA EDE and Networking Conference A training and gathering for young change-makers from Asia and Oceania
You are warmly invited to join and support this intensive training and gathering of young Asian and Oceanian change-makers on the topic of holistic approaches to sustainability! Both training and conference take place at the Gaia Ashram in Thailand, one of the operational homes of NextGENOA, GEN Oceania and Asia's youth branch. You can read more about the location and programme here. To make it easier and accessible for young people to attend the programs, NextGENOA are woking to keep … Read more
Reflections on COP23 GENOA
What was the most inspiring aspect of COP23 for you this year? To see GEN's growing presence and the increase of interest of governments and NGOs to support and collaborate. What contribution do you feel ecovillages can bring to Climate Action in your region? In GENOA where many of the world's climate vulnerable nations belong, Ecovillages bring hope in a radically changing climate. The region is at the crossroads with many nations experiencing a rise in economic growth at the same … Read more
Climate Resilience and Community in Africa
This November the UN Climate Summit (COP23) will be held in Bonn, Germany, where the imperative will be how to massively scale-up and effectively implement the Paris Climate Agreement. The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) strongly believes that sustainable communities are already making significant contributions to climate change mitigation and adaptation. … Read more
Nature is Our Neighbour Sacred Activism at Govardhan Ecovillage, India
There are spiritual seekers and there are socio-environmental activists. Andrew Harvey, founder of the Institute of Sacred Activism explains that while spiritual seekers tend to disassociate from the material world of social, economic, environmental and political engagement, and are thereby not there for the world in its hour of need, activists fighting against the worldly socio-environmental injustices are prone to exhaustion and rage without spiritual development and practice. The need is for … Read more
