It is with great excitement that Gaia Education announces its new Masters programme: Integrated Systems Design for Sustainability - Master en Diseño de Sistemas Integrados para la Sosteniblidad! The two year Spanish programme, offered in collaboration with the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), includes: Ecosystems and Social Dynamics (Ecosistemas y dinámicas sociales) Sustainable Economics and Systemic Thinking (Economía sostenible y Pensamiento Sistémico) Permaculture Design (Diseño … Read more
indigenous peoples
the Great Unification Inspiration for the End: "Free Your Choice" - the Great Unification
Yan Golding, a yoga instructor, permaculture teacher, dancer, and community builder, co-founded a pioneering eco-community called Khula Dhamma in South Africa, organised and co-facilitated the first Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) in Brazil, and is now living in Southern Portugal where he intends to co-create another ecovillage. He is also part of the steering group that is spear-heading a bio-regional Transition Initiative of the Western Algarve. He unfolds his plan through this poem. Let … Read more
California California: Celebrating and Honouring Water
A pilgrimage in California called Walking Water will spotlight humanity’s relationship to water and invite people to co-create solutions that are pivotal to the wellbeing of all life on Earth. GEN is a cooperation partner of the pilgrimage. Geoff Dalglish from Findhorn reports. Walking Water is an invitation, an action, an educational journey, and a prayer intended to foster a healing relationship between people and water, while celebrating the beauty and power of water. The pilgrimage takes … Read more
9th Call of the Mountain Latin America: The 9th Call of the Mountain - Setting a Pace for our Social Movement
In January, at the South of Colombia, at the very heart of the country’s conflict zone, ecovillagers, indigenous, afrodescendants, peasants and citizens were all together dancing, communicating, sharing and envisioning under the fiery sun crowning the mountains of Guambia, territory of the Misak indigenous people. They were there to celebrate the ninth gathering of the Call of the Mountain - Llamado de la Montaña 2015 - the most relevant annual gathering of CASA Colombia. Jennifer Trujillo … Read more
Gambia Sandele Eco-Retreat / The Gambia - Responsible Tourism
Sandele Eco-Retreat in Kartong is an example of responsible tourism. The lodges are built with compressed, stabilized earth blocks which use a minimum of cement and are frequently stabilized with lime. Electricity, hot water and water pumping are provided using solar and wind power. The Lodges and the Guest Rooms have compost toilets and a constructed wetlands system that minimizes the use of, and purifies, the water flowing from the toilets, showers, hand basins and rainwater. Every step that … Read more
CASA Latin America: Good News from Mexico
“Why spend time chopping down a tree that is rotting from the inside out when instead you could be focusing on making sure the young trees grow safely?” These wise words seem quite pertinent to the current sustainability movement across Mexico—and the globe. Fernando Ausin Gomes reports from Mexico. Mexico is facing turbulent, systemic collapse. During the last few months, struggles have arisen throughout the country to protest the disappearance of hundreds of people, and of government … Read more
Local Spotlight But Don’t We Need Economic Growth to Lift the Poor Out of Poverty?
As a group challenging the growth paradigm, one of the most common questions that we hear is, ‘But don’t we need economic growth to lift the poor out of poverty?’. While growth has been successful to this end in certain ways, there are also some unwelcome consequences of growth. We prefer to ask other questions, like ‘Do we need to target economic growth to help those in need?’ and even better, ‘How are people currently breaking the poverty cycle in sustainable and inspiring ways?’. … Read more
Pro and Contra Home Birth Kenya: 57 Year Old Woman Quits 35 Year Long Service as TBA (Traditional Birth Attendant) for Skilled Delivery Advocacy.
This newsletter is full of praise for natural birth, outside of hospitals, in the protecting atmosphere of family or community, accompanied by a midwife or doula. However, in Africa, facing HIV and other risks, governments, and NGOs are trying to stop home deliveries by encouraging the Traditional Birth Attendants to quit their work. Victor Odula, program officer of the Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB), describes the work of Mama Penina, an experienced TBA, and how she was convinced to stop … Read more
GEN Events in Fall 2014 Announcements and Events:
Oct 31 - Nov 7: Global Ecovillage Network Oceania & Asia (GENOA) International Conference "Ecovillages for Sustainable Development" - A Model for Climate Change Adaptation. We will be hosting our first international conference in India this year “Ecovillages for Sustainable Development - A Model for Climate Change Adaptation", from October 31st ~ November 7th, 2014, in Orissa, India. The GENOA International Conference 2014 aims at supporting community-based climate change action, as well as … Read more
Africa, Togo Women´s Projects against Rural Exodus - The Example of Tiyeda Abalah, Togo
"Africa will become independent when the intellectuals of the continent connect to their roots. When academics, instead of taking a white collar job, share and improve the lives of the people in their home villages." Following the completion of her studies in Literature at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, 30 years ago, Tiyeda Abalah, (56, from Togo), moved with her husband Séda into his home village Baga. During the last GEN Africa conference, CIDAP in Baga was elected Ecovillage of the … Read more
