Arriving in Suderbyn It was the beginning of Winter 2017 when I applied to volunteer for four months in Suderbyn Permacutlure Ecovillage in Sweden. I felt the subconscious urge to come back to this gem after I coincidentally discovered it that same year while biking through Sweden. In the summer I just spent around 5 days there, leaving a stronger impression on me than I could have imagined. I arrived the night before Halloween, together with a lovely family from Australia who I just met … Read more
Permaculture
Report from Talanoa Dialogue #GENTalanoa: Addressing climate change through empowered communities pursuing their own pathways of development
Yvette Dzakpasu, GEN Advocacy Director, attended the Talanoa Dialogue on behalf of the GEN Advocacy Working Group, which also includes Executive Director Kosha Joubert and Main UN Representative Rob Wheeler. Yvette filed this report for the event: The Talanoa Dialogue took place in Bonn, Germany on 6 May 2018, bringing the traditional Fijian storytelling tool to the UN Climate Change policy process. As described by the UN, “the purpose of Talanoa is to share stories, build empathy and to … Read more
KITA Stories Innovative Solutions from Ghana become GEN's contribution to the Talanoa Dialogue
Sarah runs the Kumasi Institute of Tropical Agriculture (KITA) Green Market. She co-ordinates with the farmers in the area and ensures that they are growing by organic methods. Most of the farmers around have received training in sustainable farming from KITA. Sarah gets orders from the community and KITA buys produce such as lettuce, cucumber and green peppers from their farmers. Kwame is co-ordinating an upcycling project. The average Ghanaian drinks 4 sachets of water a day. The plastic … Read more
Ecological Design Gaia Education Design for Sustainability
The Ecological Design dimension of the full Gaia Education Design for Sustainability (GEDS) course starts 2 January 2018. Join the online course and become an ecological designer to ensure that life-supporting natural functions are not only preserved but regenerated whenever possible. Many of us feel that our current consumer lifestyles are no longer sustainable nor desirable on a personal to global level, and that our ecological systems appear to be edging closer and closer towards collapse, … 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
Ecosystem Restoration Eco-communities as Sacred Activism
To Gaia, life is sacred, because evolving life forms is what Gaia does. To life, diversity is sacred, because diversity leads to stability in the delicately interwoven ecosystems upon which life depends. To one particular life form on Earth, the humans, perceiving sacredness depends on each individual’s personal level of consciousness. Without authentic adulthood initiations what many humans hold sacred is mere survival in the widely adopted culture of capitalistic patriarchal empire. … Read more
Los Portales in Spain A Community in Service Of Human Sustainability and Global Transformation
Los Portales is a group of people and a community that was founded in 1984 with the intention of developing innovative ways of life in different areas (organic agriculture, holistic education in healthy and co-creative relationship to nature, soft and alternative medicines, arts, clean energies, an economy based on sharing and generosity, and above all, the empowerment of each individual) progressing in this way towards greater sustainability and self-sufficiency. In close relationship to nature … Read more
Digital Nomads and Community in the Modern Age In times of globalisation, community does not only connect people who physically live together.
An ecovillage is nothing new. Throughout history communities of people have lived lightly on the same piece of land, sharing skills and resources, celebrating their culture and values. With the advent of agriculture, these villages have increasingly rooted to a single geographical area. The majority of people are settled, yet there has always been a distinct minority on the move. In various cultures these are the traders, sailors, gypsies, bards, messengers, explorers, philosophers, actors, … 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
Boletín Sustentable No. 3
Presentamos la tercera edición de el Boletín Sustentable del Consejo de Asentamientos Sustentables de América Latina. En esta ocasión la Educación es el tema central de esta edición. Lee, disfruta y comparte este boletín! Click en la imagen para ver Boletín: Boletín CASA latina Abril 2016 by Andrés Boa Vida on Scribd … Read more
