When the city of Eugene broke up the Occupy camp in December of 2011, they promised to give the homeless another piece of land. Dan Bryant, a minister who wears a leather jacket and drives a motorcycle; Jean Stacey, a fiery lesbian advocate for the homeless; and Andy Heben, a young urban designer who wrote his thesis on homeless camps that he visited around the country, went around touting the idea of Opportunity Village. Alex Daniell found out that "If you give a homeless person a home then … Read more
Report
For Margit Frederica Miller, remembers her
Margrit Kennedy, German architect and ecovillage pioneer, ecologist, writer, financial expert, and a visionary of an interest free economy system, died on December 28th at the age of 74. Her Norwegian student, Frederica Miller, remembers her. As a young architecture student, I first met Margrit when she came as an invited guest lecturer to a seminar we gave at the Oslo School of Architecture, called: 'Women, Ecology and Architecture in the early 80's'. She gave a brilliant lecture called "Gyn … Read more
NextGEN Is there Justice in Acting and Speaking in GEN?
Words and actions between people of different colour, gender, or religion are often charged with unconscious racism or sexism. GEN is creating communication tools to become aware of old patterns to be able to change them. Some people are our helpers by making us aware of our automatic prejudices. One of them is Elena Ball from Next GEN. The first time I learned about GEN I spent some months in Senegal moved by questions such as "Who am I?", "Where do I belong?", "What do I want to do in my … Read more
Meeting of National Networks Meeting of National Ecovillage Networks of Europe in Torre Superiori, Italy
The first meeting of the national GEN networks in Europe was successfully held last January, with the participation of more than twelve networks. The discussions were conducted and brilliantly facilitated by Lucilla, from the hosting community Torre Superiore. Lucilla has been working in the secretariat of GEN Europe for many years. Alfonso Flaquer Carreras reports. Since it was the first space for an open dialogue between the national networks, the main sessions were focussed on trying to … Read more
Creating Baltic Ecovillage Network BEN: Baltic Sea Ecovillages Project Has Delivered a Number of Significant Results
The project “Ecovillages for Sustainable Rural Development” financed by the EU’s Baltic Sea Region Programme, 2007–2013, which started in February 2010, is approaching its completion, delivering a number of significant results. Aimed at fostering the development of ecovillages as a more sustainable way of living in rural areas of the Baltic Sea Region, the project has been implemented by project partners from Lithuania (the lead partner), Finland, Latvia, Poland and Sweden. In addition, the … Read more
NextGEN: Is there Justice in Acting and Speaking in GEN?
Words and actions between people of different colour, gender, or religion are often charged with unconscious racism or sexism. GEN is creating communication tools to become aware of old patterns to be able to change them. Some people are our helpers by making us aware of our automatic prejudices. One of them is Elena Ball from Next GEN. The first time I learned about GEN I spent some months in Senegal moved by questions such as "Who am I?", "Where do I belong?", "What do I want to do in my life … Read more
USA: From Occupy Village to Opportunity Village Eugene – Pioneering New Solutions for the (Formerly) Homeless
When the city of Eugene broke up the Occupy camp in December of 2011, they promised to give the homeless another piece of land. Dan Bryant, a minister who wears a leather jacket and drives a motorcycle; Jean Stacey, a fiery lesbian advocate for the homeless; and Andy Heben, a young urban designer who wrote his thesis on homeless camps that he visited around the country, went around touting the idea of Opportunity Village. Alex Daniell found out that "If you give a homeless person a home then … Read more
For Margrit
Margrit Kennedy, German architect and ecovillage pioneer, ecologist, writer, financial expert, and a visionary of an interest free economy system, died on December 28th at the age of 74. Her Norwegian student, Frederica Miller, remembers her. As a young architecture student, I first met Margrit when she came as an invited guest lecturer to a seminar we gave at the Oslo School of Architecture, called: 'Women, Ecology and Architecture in the early 80's'. She gave a brilliant lecture called "Gyn - … Read more
Handicraft and its Role in a Modern and Sustainable Life
Sustainable development is not only about recycling or having an awareness of climate change. It is a change in our way of thinking and action in relation with nature, the world and humankind; grounded in the belief that the physical, social and intellectual worlds are interconnected. Based on this conviction, the project “Traditional knowledge for a modern and sustainable lifestyle” was developed. GEN Ambassador Jesús Pachecho Justo from Suderbyn Ecovillage, Sweden reports. The project, was … Read more
Permaculture Aid Yolanda Permaculture aid Yolanda for disaster support in the philippines
How many times have we seen images of refugee camps worldwide with people being forced by wars, or other disasters, to live together under harsh and unbearable circumstances? Sometimes this situation can last over years, and even decades. An increasing number of people in the GEN movement feel that ecovillage processes and practices can contribute a great deal in these situations. A prime example being in communities that are forced to come together out of traumatic or disaster situations often … Read more
