Welcome to the April edition of the Global Ecovillage Network newsletter.  New beginnings are abundant this month with a variety of upcoming courses and workshops, two new GEN International Trustees, and many exciting opportunities and resources. We invite you to fill in your calendar with the Global Ecovillage Network, and all that we have "Coming up next..."

Our online Permaculture Design Course is back! This special course explores Ecovillages as examples and sources of expertise for permaculture design in action. Mark your calendars, and help spread the word, our online PDC begins on May 7!  You can find more information and the registration form here: https://ecovillage.org/permaculture-design-course/

Are you curious to know more about our upcoming Permaculture Design Course? We have a special invitation for you! Join us for our upcoming FREE taster workshops on Permaculture Garden Design and Permaculture Principles and...

• Spark or deepen your interest in regenerative design;
• Explore one of the many fun and meaningful ways to apply Permaculture;
• Get to know André Soares and Lucy Legan, the lead facilitators of the PDC and find out more about the course and if it's right for you.
• Receive a discount for the upcoming GEN PDC

How to Design a Permaculture Garden
April 23rd from 7-8.30pm (UTC)
Regenerative Agriculture in your Backyard or Community Garden!

Permaculture Principles Free Workshop
April 30th from 9:00–10.30am (UTC)
Live free workshop. Registration required.

We live in challenging times, and we know it’s time to act. REGEN-Nations course will start on 25th April to support people who are ready to step into action! We need solutions that are as multi-faceted, diverse and interconnected as the challenges we face. We need solutions that address systemic problems at the local level. With Whole Systems Design we can create holistic solutions that heal our planet, our communities and ourselves.

Join us for the journey through 6 months of learning, practising, collaborating and growing inspired by experienced practitioners from Asia and Oceania. Course options, group discounts and scholarships available. REGEN-Nations course starts on 25th April 2022, read more here: https://genoaecovillage.org/regen-nations/

Meet Morag Gamble – one of the practitioners you'll meet in the REGEN-Nations learning programme:

"I think REGEN-Nations is an absolutely wonderful whole-systems approach to think about 'Where do we go from here? What do we do? How do we engage? What are the things we need to be thinking about to, doing and working on together in a positive and practical way?'” – Morag Gamble

We are looking for up to four new GEN Board Trustees who can help steward and care for GEN International, a charity based in Scotland but serving and promoting in global network of sustainable communities and initiatives. This is a very important way to support the international ecovillage movement as a volunteer.

If you are interested in applying, we strongly encourage you to read the Recruitment Pack. You can apply via our application form in our website – Deadline April 18, 2022 23.59 GMT/UTC

Have you seen the latest IPCC Climate Change report on mitigation?

The report showcases ecovillages as one of the solutions toward a sustainable and regenerative future. The picture that accompanies the report is from Findhorn Ecovillage and shows one of the newest neighborhoods of the community, a co-housing cluster where homes adjoin each other, topped with solar PV panels and water heaters, each with an enclosed greenhouse.

Learn more about ecovillages and the IPCC report here: https://ecovillage.org/ecovillages-featured-in-ipcc-report/

This BLAST guide was created for Trainers and Community Catalysts that are aiming to help initiate, catalyse or strengthen transition processes in communities, within organisations or networks, or at a system level – especially where they will be using both transformative learning methodologies and blended learning methods.⁠
⁠
💥 You can find a number of BLAST guides and pathways through the link below, free to download and ready to help guide your blended transformative learning.⁠ Download the tool: https://ecovillage.org/blast/⁠

We are delighted to share that the second Online Live EDE is taking place on the GEN Learning  Platform. Last year, the course was a huge success, it has been life changing for many and we hope that this year it will also be an inspiring journey. This 4.5 month online course brings together knowledge, inspiration and practical examples on how to design thriving communities, groups and organisations,  within planetary boundaries.

Coordinated and facilitated by two experienced EDE trainers: Taisa Mattos and Macaco Tamerice, with well-known guest trainers deeply rooted in the Ecovillage Movement from all over the globe, such as: Kosha Joubert, May East, Albert Bates, Daniel Christian Wahl, John Croft, Daniel Greenberg, Jonathan Dawson, Ina Meyer-Stoll, Achim Ecker, Sarah Queblatin, Anna Kovasna, Andre Soares, Mugove Nyika and Carlos Rojas. It’s such a blessing to count on experts from 11 different countries, representing all GEN-Regions to be able to deliver a course with a truly global perspective.

The EDE curriculum is composed of 4 Dimensions of Sustainability: Social, Ecology, Economy and Worldview (Culture). During the course projects are created in Design Groups, smaller working groups where participants can experience how to apply the tools and methods they are learning by co-developing real projects. The energy that is created in this process is amazing and we are proud to share that there are still some groups from last year's EDE that continue to work together.

We can’t wait to see what this year’s participants will come up with during our learning journey. Know more about our online EDE: https://ecovillage.org/ecovillage-design-course/

Celebrating the Green Match funding and the upcoming Earth Day campaign!

GEN has been awarded the Green Match funds for our Earth Day fundraising campaign to support GEN work globally! This means that every pound that will be donated to GEN during 22-29 April will be doubled by the Green Match donors. Our friends donate – the donors double the sum!

We are looking forward to the 22th of  April when the campaign will start, and hope to get your support for this unique opportunity. It is only with donations from our network that we are able to access the awarded match fund. We will need you on board to help us spread the word – please support and strengthen GEN International!

We can’t wait to see what this year’s participants will come up with during our learning journey.

Building on the inspiration sparked in our previous online summits and adapting to participant feedback, GEN’s Thrive to Survive Community Sustainability Summit is an immersive, interactive online event with pre-released videos, expert Q&As, curated discussions, original music, artwork, games, and more. This is your chance to network with a community of regeneration experts and enthusiasts from around the world!

• Sustainability Workshop: 22 May 2022, 3-5pm GMT
• Sustainability Workshop: 6 November 2022, 3-5pm GMT
• Community Sustainability Summit: 9-12 February 2023, 3-5pm GMT

Click here to pre-register and stay updated. 

Are you a passionate photographer living or travelling to Ecovillages? Would you like your work published on ecovillage.org and an upcoming Ecovillage book?

We are particularly inviting high-quality images from parts of the world and types of Ecovillages that are currently underrepresented in our materials. At the moment, that includes indigenous and traditional GEN members, and Ecovillages in GEN Africa, GEN Fertile Crescent, CASA Latina and GENOA, particularly South East Asia and Oceania.

The images will be published on ecovillage.org alongside your name and, if applicable, project/EcoVillage, as well as an option to be included in an upcoming GEN book project! The top 5 most inspiring images will receive a special feature on GEN’s social media platforms and websites.

We look forward to collaborating with you! Please send your submissions by May 25th to: https://ecovillage.org/photo-contest/

Together with Gaia Trust, GEN developed the Hildur Jackson Award, a €3,000 annual prize that supports and honours projects around the world that demonstrate regenerative best-practices in all dimensions of sustainability. The prize is awarded to projects bringing the most impactful inspiration about ecovillages/ecovillage lifestyles to a broad audience. Know more and apply for the 2022 Award here, which closes on 1 June and will be awarded in October.

Community: The Ecovillage Podcast from GEN Europe is back with a special episode on the ecovillage response to the war in Ukraine. For this and coming episodes, the European Network will be sharing interviews from community expert Steffen Emrich and members of GEN Ukraine as they tell us how the country's ecovillages have sprung into action to welcome refugees as the crisis has unfolded.

In this episode, Steffen interviews GEN Ukraine president Maksym Zalevski about his unusual path into ecovillages, and how the Green Road initiative is currently hosting hundreds of refugees around the country in ecovillages.

Listen on GEN Europe's website, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

As many people are feeling discouraged, angry or in denial in front of climate-change, the team of the documentary film Once You Know have decided to organize an online event for Earth Day to inform people and help them find resources to tackle issues at their level.

Receive access to the film Once You Know and watch it for free until Earth Day, April 22. The film tells the journey of a man in a world at the edge of a climate-induced collapse. His voyage is that of a whole generation turning to climate scientists, local democracy, grassroots initiatives, and mass rebellion in a courageous search for an exit.On April 22nd at 7pm CET, you can join an online talk with the film’s director and main protagonists who will share precious information to face the climate-induced collapse. It is also possible to organize screenings and discuss these issues in your local communities

Know more information about the event here.