Education Director
GEN Staff
Starting as a volunteer with GEN in 2016, Abbie is now Education Director, where she primarily leads the schools projects and the online learning platform. She also coordinates the Hildur Jackson Award and supports the Resilience Project.
Originally from a tiny island (Bermuda) and currently based in the Netherlands, Abbie considers herself a world citizen as she has lived in many places, including 30 ecovillages and intentional communities. After completing her Masters in Sustainable Development and working with community-focused network NGOs, she pursued her passion for education, returning home to launch and run the international environmental education programme, Eco-Schools.
This sparked a further desire to learn hands-on skills which lead her to complete a Permaculture Design Certificate and then onward to adventures in ecovillages. She participated in workshops and conferences and contributed to natural building, gardening, and community engagement projects, some of which she remains involved.
Primary interests: Social (Lifelong Education, Diversity & Cohesion, Trust & Communication, Health & Healing); Culture (Nature Connection); Integral Design (Contextualised Design); Ecology (Seeds, Food & Soil, Green Building, Water Cycles); Economy (Sharing & Collaboration, Planetary Boundaries)
Events & Trainings held by Abbie Caldas
Power of Community Summit – Informal get-together and discussion
- Date: 9 February 2019
- Language:
- English
- Location: The Hague - Please contact the host for exact location, Netherlands
For any participants of the summit interested in sharing the experience with others in the area. This will be a very informal gathering to discuss the topics from the summit in a locally relevant context and brainstorm any potential applications. … Read more
Site content by Abbie Caldas
Blog posts
Regenerative Educators Cross Pollinate Updates from the Community of Practice
This month’s Sprouts project opened the space to the wider Community of Practice and held a Regenerative Educators Cross Pollination session, a kind of reunion with our previous collaborators, with a vision to create more future collaborations. The updates from across the globe were incredibly inspiring. We learned from our partners that: In Colombia, the Minga work for food sovereignty continues. (A Minga is system of reciprocity where people come together to work towards a beneficial … Read more
Youth in Action: Navigating Challenges
With last month’s launch of the local projects, this month the Community of Practice held space for navigating any challenges that arose. It was important for the education practitioners to first celebrate the momentum generated from all the planning and weaving in of the school communities. And then, we took a step back to face head on anything that was or could be blocking the biggest impact we dreamed of. This is where the beauty of Community of Practice is revealed: no matter what one of the … Read more
Youth in Action: Local Projects have Launched After months of framing, planning, and engaging their local communities, the physical results of the hands-on ecological projects are now shaping up!
Read on to learn how each Local Project is developing, and how you can get involved with GEN's work with regenerative educators. 🍕 At the Self-Directed Learning Center at Kuthumba Ecovillage, South Africa, a ceremony was held to open the site for the new community space which received a lot of excitement and created momentum. The main foundation for the open-air structure with a roof, natural walls, and pizza oven has begun. 🐉 At the School Garden in Mongenegro, the initial design … Read more
Hildur Jackson Award Finalists 2023
It is that time of year to celebrate our dear Hildur Jackson's birthday with a special celebration of some amazing ecovillage projects. Thanks to the continued generosity of the Gaia Trust, we are delighted to provide some financial celebration as well. Find out more about the award and apply for the next round (applications due by July 2024) here. Celebrating this year's HJA winner! REDES (Réseau pour l' Emergence et le Développement des Ecovillages au Sahel) The main goal of the … Read more
Our experience in the EDE 2023 Reflections from the support team, Jule, Mari, & Rubén
In the current context of ecological emergency and huge social inequalities, it is more important than ever to support education for the design and promotion of sustainable communities that generate solutions integrating the 4 dimensions of regeneration. This year’s EDE offered exactly such an educational journey and was characterised by a diverse range of guest speakers with an abundance of knowledge and experience to share. The journey was a deep dive into the ecovillage approach, including … Read more
GEN’s Core Circle How we steward the GEN International team
Purpose: To cultivate an overall vision of GEN International’s activities and finances, coordinate the implementation of its strategy and projects, and ensure they reflect our values and purpose. Accountabilities: Participation Agreements As a Core Circle member of any kind, I agree to: As a Core Circle voting member, I agree to: Spirit of These Agreements We uphold these agreements because we believe they will help us cooperate, enjoy our time together, … Read more
Twinning Regenerative Educators: Escola da Esperança, Tamera Ecovillage (Portugal) & Almar School, Piracanga Ecovillage (Brazil)
Over the course of 2022, both schools faced massive transformation. Escola da Esperanca in Tamera Ecovillage experienced change in their staff as multiple teachers involved with the project left the school. In their partnership with Inkiri School, now Almar School, in Piracanga Ecovillage, Anja was able to find commfort in understanding that the changes she was experiencing were happening globally, that she wasn’t alone. That the effects of Corona were long-standing. “I want to honor the … Read more
Twinning Regenerative Educators: Aldea Feliz (Colombia) & Kuthumba Ecovillage (South Africa)
Uba Qynza at Aldeafeliz Ecovillage in Colombia in South America and The Self Directed Learning Center at Kuthumba Ecovillage in South Africa partnered in the course of a year during the Twinning ReGENerative Education Project, in which beyond developing their connection as twins they shared their experiences in Sociocracy and deschooling, respectively and also participated working together in the cocreation of the project deliverables such as the Living Showcase and Toolkit and the Teacher … Read more
Twinning Regenerative Educators: Ecomundi School (Mexico) & Teachers Center at Auroville Ecovillage (India)
After exchanging ideas, dreams and many possibilities, the twins EcoMundi and the Teachers Center at Auroville Ecovillage came to some important points to share about Mexican and Indian culture and what they have in common. They came to take the idea to create a game. What steps were taken? · Florencia shared about her yoga class and shared photos from her sessions in connection with using them for the creation of the cards. · She … Read more
Twinning Regenerative Educators: Gaia School (Estonia) & Cloughjordan Ecovillage (Ireland)
School meets Ecovillage This article presents the Twinship between Gaia School in Estonia and Cloughjordan Ecovillage in Ireland as part of the “Twinning Regenerative Educators” project. One of the main learnings of this Twinship is how easy it is to use technology to deepen and enhance a meaningful learning experience for students. The project enabled children and youth to learn from and about ecovillages and to foster curiosity for more sustainable lifestyles and regenerative … Read more
