Launching in January 2022, GEN facilitated 20 educator collaborators to build a community among them, establish direct ‘twin’ relationships, and co-create three educational resources: a living showcase and toolkit, a teacher training curriculum, and ecovillage principles design cards for children.
Spanning every region, collaborators brought experience from ecovillage schools, traditional schools, and community projects. GEN stewarded this enquiry to weave the knowledge and experiences into a new fabric that will serve educators and children within the network and beyond.
Collective Dream
To launch the project, all collaborators shared what they hoped to get out of the project. This is the synthesis:
- To create a strong network of alternative and complementary education and transcend what we imagined possible for education. Realising that we are all a part of a bigger movement, to feel this shared purpose in this global sphere.
- To ensure this work is visible and accessible to the world, making a real impact with meaningful, effective, and transformative tools that will make a positive change for educators and children.
- To expand our ideas of what is out there, feeling as though we have travelled around the world visiting each project and see the results of that in the inspiring materials and tools we produce, aligning theory with practice.
- To be driven by curiosity and draw strength from our differences, nurturing each other and pushing the edges so our collective project flourishes. To awaken a new understanding of this process.
The Project Journey:
Phase 1 focused on building community among the collaborators and the GEN team. We delved deeper into the strengths and challenges and articulated a collective dream for this collaboration. From that, we sensed which collaborators could support each other best based on the strengths they could offer and the leverage points where they wanted support (also referred to as inputs and outputs). From that, we launched the ‘twin’ relationships. We explored systems of communication and identified effective ways of working together. We also continued our webinar series, where each of the collaborators gave a more in-depth storytelling of their journeys.
In phase 2, collaborators focused on the 3 educational resources, facilitated by the GEN team. Starting with an open brainstorm, we gathered all the ideas and laid the foundation to build upon. We explored some essential framing questions: What makes a school “Regenerative”? Who are our audiences and what are their needs? What are the essential components of each resource? The collaborators contributed to an aspect they felt called to and we weaved their input throughout each resource.
In phase 3, we engaged with local communities to invite wider input as we continued to refine the resources. In December 2022, we launched the 3 resources to the wider GEN network and the public, opening the doors to welcome an emerging Community of Practice, where educators, both formal and informal, can practice the methodologies, play with the tools, and share their feedback and input to take this work to the next level.
We held a final showcase and celebration of the project, with several representatives and an open invitation for the public. This can be viewed here (free, with registration).
The Project Partners and their Twin Relationships
Escola da Esperança, Tamera Ecovillage (Portugal) & Almar School, Piracanga Ecovillage (Brazil)
Johannes Kepler School (Ecuador) & Springhouse Community School (USA)
Ghana Permaculture Institute (Ghana) & O.U.R. Ecovillage (Canada)
Regenerative Education and Adventures for Students (Iceland) & ReScope (Zambia)
Children’s Paradise Montessori School (Philippines) & As One Community (Japan)
PermaYouth in Crystal Waters Ecovillage (Australia) & Scope (Malawi)
Gaia School (Estonia) & Cloughjordan Ecovillage (Ireland)
EcoMundi School (Mexico) & Teacher’s Center of Auroville Ecovillage (India)
Uba Qynza in Aldea Feliz Ecovillage (Colombia) & Kutumba Ecovillage (South Africa)
Get Involved!
Explore the resources that were co-created by the 20 educator collaborators and GEN team.
We are excited to already take interest from anyone curious about the Teacher Training here (dates to be confirmed).
And we welcome any educators curious about joining our self-organised Community of Practice here. The goal is to hold regular (monthly or bi-monthly) meetings to share resources and inspiration.
GEN Staff
Dear sir/ Madam
Namaste frome sankalpa Nepal
First, I hope this mail finds you and your loved ones safe and Healthy.I’m from Nepal and we need a place for our NGO if someone wanna help us they can contact with us our official number, email any time 00977-9841813133 / [email protected]
I humbly request that these International non-government organizations (INGOs) have been carrying out various activities in Nepal for a long time to help the women, children, dalit, janajati, LGBTQ etc vulnerable community. In this District (Sudur paschim province, Darchula) also, there is a request to conduct the next program in partnership with Sankalpa. Sankalpa has adopted the right-based approach at strategic and practical levels because it believes that all people are entitled to the ‘rights’ that are enriched in the National and international laws and conventions. Sankalpa has been addressing the subject of inequality, powerlessness, suffering and material poverty. Sankalpa Darchula Nepal (Sankalpa) is a community Based organizations (CBOs)/ NGO dedicated to Human Rights, Food security, Health and wash, Education, Water Governance, Climate, Peace Building, Media and Development in Sudur Paschiem Province since 1997. It works with a mission to enable rural people to claim and exercise their rights promoting and protecting human rights through the National rule of law, poverty reduction and improved livelihoods through their organization, research, policy advocacy and judicious resources mobilization. It has been implementing various project/programs with the funding support of different community Based organizations (CBOs) and users Groups. Theme area as belows.
1.WASH and Water Governance (Public Health).
2. Resilience and Climate Justice including humanitarian response.
3. Education and Child Protection and Disabilities.
4. Gender and Social Justice and Human Right.
5. Nature-Based Solutions/ River Right.
Sudurpaschim Province Darchula districts are located in a mountainous area that is about 965km to the east of the capital city, Kathmandu. Mt. api himal is located in the north of Darchula district, and only the base areas of the mountain attract climbers, making sightseeing business as the pillar of the local economy. The areas with many foreign visitors have been relatively easily attract attentions from outside
Nepal is one of the least-developed countries of the world. Estimates show that nearly 31 per cent of the population lives below the national poverty line, and 24 per cent live with less than a dollar per day income. The UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI) rank of Nepal in 2021 was 154 out of 169 countries, indicating a low standard of living of the people. Over the last decade, there have been noticeable improvements in the country’s health and sanitation situation. Infant mortality and under five mortality rates have decreased significantly, by 39 per cent and 48 per cent respectively. Likewise sanitation coverage has increased to 40 per cent. Girls’ enrolment in primary school has reached 87 per cent.
Despite such progress, Nepal still faces several problems including numerous child deaths from diarrhoea and acute respiratory infection, lower than targeted coverage of poor nutation and sanitation facilities, poor hygiene practices, and substantial gaps between sanitation and water supply, rural and urban, rich and poor, hills and lowlands, and the knowledge and practice.
The sudur Paschim province of Nepal has the lowest development indicators in the country. Districts in the hilly parts of the region are the most inaccessible in Nepal and the communities struggle to eke an existence in a rugged and harsh environment. Development seems to have bypassed parts of the mountainous sudur Paschim province and most basic facilities remain absent in many villages.
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Sankalpa is a child-focused local organization committed to promote the rights of children through international development cooperation in the spirit of harmonious coexistence. The organization has been operating in Nepal since 1997 to help deprived, excluded, and vulnerable children, families, and communities through meaningful, sustainable solutions.
One of the thematic intervention sectors of sankalpa is on education to improve school infrastructures, governance in school management, student support materials, teaching quality, food security, wash and in enhancing child protection in government/community schools. Furthermore, and through other thematic sectors, Sankalpa continues to serve the disadvantaged children, families and communities on education, healthcare, nutrition and income generating areas through sponsorship, special assistance and emergency relief and rehabilitation programs with support of various donors, sponsors, LGU members and government fund of Nepal.
More information is below address