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
intentional communities
Among Humans and Nature Peace is Respect for the Rights of Mother Earth
We humans are the only species living on the surface, under and above the skin of Mother Earth that have had the ignorance, arrogance, senselessness to pretend that Her nurturing elements: soil, water, wind, fire, mountains, rivers, oceans, insects, animals of all sorts, can be subjected to appropriation, abuse, domination, exploitation, and turned into resources, merchandised, destroyed, extinguished for our own benefit, greed and foolishness. Once upon a time we were grateful for Her power, … Read more
Ecovillage – 1001 Ways to Heal the Planet The Book on Ecovillages
"What a beautifully, lovingly constructed book! It conveys not only the variety and ideals of the ecovillage movement, but the heart of it as well. Kosha and Leila's book affirms the importance of ecovillages not just as an inconsequential alternative in the margins, but as an invitation to transform every place into an ecological collaboration between humans and the rest of nature." Charles Eisenstein The Ecovillage book by Kosha Joubert and Leila Dregger introduces a selection of ecovillage … Read more
What is Our Ecovillage? Reflections on the 35th anniversary of Huehuecoyotl Ecovillage in Mexico
When we were at University in 1966 and ‘67, I dreamt that my best friends and I would one day live together in a commune. We had read about some examples in the US, Israel, Europe and Cuba, but we had no clue of how we could materialize that dream. Then the year 1968 came. Suddenly, our vision became the quest of many thousands of us, baby boomers, and we started to hear that people our age were dropping out from “the System”, and moving from the cities to rural places everywhere. … Read more
Urban Ecovillages in North America These days, you can find ecovillages in more places than ever – including in places like Los Angeles or San Diego.
When you hear the word “ecovillage” you might think of a collection of rustic cabins on a rural farm. Or maybe you imagine a solar-powered suburb like the Ithaca Ecovillage in NY state. You might think living in an ecovillage is too remote or unaffordable. But these days, you can find ecovillages in more places than ever - including the 40-member Los Angeles Ecovillage near downtown LA and the Le Case community in San Diego. For two years, I lived in an urban ecovillage in SE Portland, OR, … 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
What is an Ecovillage? Reflections from the Network
An ecovillage is an intentional, traditional or urban community that is consciously designed through locally owned, participatory processes in all four dimensions of sustainability (social, culture, ecology and economy) to regenerate their social and natural environments. GEN’s definition of ‘ecovillage’ is broad, allowing for many different kinds of communities and projects to be recognised. Because each ecovillage is designed by the people who live there, according to their vision, … Read more
Intentional Ecovillages and Their Role in Global Transformation – Join Sabine Lichtenfels and Macaco Tamerice in an open GEN Webinar
Intentional Ecovillages and Their Role in Global Transformation - with Sabine Lichtenfels and Macaco Tamerice Thursday, 20 April 18:00 BST (British Summer Time) - Find your timezone here Register here and get your link to join! Ecovillages have long been places of alternative living and solutions, but what is their potential and impact beyond the village itself? Hear Sabine and Macaco tell the stories of two of the oldest and most established ecovillages: Tamera in Portugal and Damanhur in … Read more
Community Nature’s secret to evolutionary success
By: Jaime Brown-Hansen and Yael Marantz As we reflect on the current ecological, societal, political, economic and spiritual circumstances in the present day, it is clear that the need for reorganization is upon us. A time of creation, of course, is equally a time of destruction. We breathe life into new models by stepping into them, and old model dissolve as we step out of them, though for a time we may have a foot in each as we shift our weight from one to the other. … Read more
GEN Latin America A Year in Review from CASA
Jennifer Trujillo Obando from CASA, the GEN Network of Latin America, reports. CASA Latina, legally established in October this year in Colombia, is emerging as a pioneer organization in Latin-America to implement Sociocracy as a dynamic form of governance within the context of conventional legal protocols. More than 100 sustainable settlements, grass roots communities and positive impact entrepreneurships came together in the CASA network to promote sustainable and regenerative styles … Read more
