This month we have exciting news from all GEN Regions! We celebrate GEN Africa through River of Life and the SDG Africa Programme learning opportunity. We highlight the collaboration between GENOA and GEN Europe through the Twinning Project. GEN Europe invites you to get to know the Iberian ecovillages. CASA Latina launches their new website. GENNA hosts a youth discussion space.

We’re pleased to share with you several learning opportunities, including the first online EDE which starts next month. We also feature 2 paid roles and volunteer opportunities with GEN International. Plus, GEN Europe and our North American partner FIC are hiring. An ecovillage in Australia and another one in Ecuador are actively recruiting new members.

Finally, we're very happy to invite you to register for free to our third GEN Online Ecovillage Summit from 9 - 15 April 2021. Join us and 35 ecovillages & speakers for 7 days of connection and hope.  Please like, share, and sign up today for the Summit at summit2021.ecovillage.org

Inspired by the motto 'Living Solutions for a Regenerative World,' the Ecovillage Summit will showcase how ecovillages and communities contribute to the mitigation of climate crisis in the face of multiple crises and function as resilient communities of practice under the conditions of environmental breakdown.

We will explore how individual and community participation in ecovillage lifestyles work towards earth restoration, economic revival, social regeneration and cultural celebration through showcasing practical solutions and inspiring individual and collective action through sharing ecovillage and solution stories.

Note: Even if you are already on GEN’s main newsletter mailing list or are otherwise subscribed to updates from GEN through email or social media, you will need to register for the Summit specifically on the Ecovillage Summit site to receive access to Summit videos.

Have you ever wondered who is behind the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) International? We are pleased to share with you the third interview of our GEN Staff Interview Series! Find out who we are, what drives us, and what we are currently working on!

Esther Hirsch, originally from a little neighborhood community in the German countryside, serves as the Operations Director of GEN International as well as the Online Summit Project Manager. After working for different cultural institutions the passion for culture and arts got a new companion  - the environmental movement. Followed by her engagement with the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation in Berlin, Esther works now with and for GEN for over 3 years.

Do you want to see what Esther and the GEN Summit team are working on? Find out more at the Ecovillage Summit website.

Visolela Namises, a national leader and advocate for women’s rights for decades has been initiating incredible work in her community in Namibia. With the support of River of Life funds in 2020, Visolela was able to work with women from different communities to develop gardens for food security and nutrition and as a way to improve their livelihoods.

Visolela was able to conduct 6 workshops and events in the past year, working in 6 villages and 3 schools, reaching over 850 people, including women, pensioners, children and youth, men, and LGBTQI members from the communities they worked with. River of Life is a global project, by women for women, to express solidarity with each other.
Read more about Visolela's story here.

Discover the ecovillages of Europe from your own home. Sit around the (virtual) campfire as community residents tell the stories, cultures and traditions of their homes, answer your questions about what it’s really like to live in community, and get inspired for your next adventure. Your tour guide is none other than Riccardo Clemente: straight from Italy’s Valley of the Elves, eco-builder, musician, ecovillage expert, and famed cabaret artist at the European Ecovillage Gathering talent shows. Riccardo will bring his inimitable energy and humour to each visit.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for universal action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure peace and prosperity for all. To support this, Gaia Education developed a series of educational tools to implement the 17 SDGs at the local and regional scale. Presented in partnership with GEN's PanAfrican Ecovillage Development Programme, the self-paced online course teaches how to implement the 2030 UN Agenda SDGs in the African Continent using the unique 4D Framework. Whether you work for an NGO, are a teacher or a student, or simply keen to build your knowledge, you can gain valuable insights and skills from this 5-week journey.

It launched on 15 March and is FREE until the end of May 2021.

To expand from our Greening Schools Webinar Series, we continue to explore the interconnections between schools and communities, and how ecovillage principles can be applied in the most diverse contexts. We especially invite educators, parents and members of school communities who are interested in integrating regenerative approaches and ecovillage design principles into their learning activities.

GEN includes creative educators bringing ecovillage principles and methodologies to formal and informal learning environments. This webinar will particularly highlight the approach, methodologies, and results from the experience in 3 case studies (La Cité Écologique in Canada, Sekem in Egypt, and Jungle School Pachamama in Costa Rica) while drawing parallels with other examples from the wider network.

https://redcasalatina.org

GEN International is Hiring for 2 roles!
Finance Director and Fundrasing Director

We are looking for two experienced and highly motivated people to join our team.
As Finance Director, your main responsibility is to translate our vision, mission, and aims into sustainable financial strategies and systems that support the organisation’s and network’s unique character and values.
As Fundraising Director, you take on the crucial task of ensuring that we have financial resources to fund our teams and projects.
In both roles, you would also join our ongoing exploration of leadership in a shared governance system, and take part in co-stewarding the development of the whole organisation. You would be joining a purpose-driven, dynamic international team and global network engaged in ongoing learning and experimentation in how to increase our impact, deepen a collaborative and network-based approach, and diversify our resource base. 

Find out more and apply here.

Volunteering Opportunity: Support GEN's Participation at COP26!

Part of GENs Annual representation is at COP, the Conference of Parties, now preparing for its 26th session this November in Glasgow, UK. It is a vital event for GEN as we show the world who we are while also telling the real stories of communities. We need to support around 10 delegates from around the world who are representing GEN at the COP and are in the beginning planning and fundraising stages. Here is where we need to build our team.

Applications due: 29 March. Start as soon as possible.
Find out more and apply here.

GEN Europe is Hiring a Membership Manager

Getting paid to weave the network and connect with ecovillages on the ground - a dream job! If you’re highly organised, a natural networker, and familiar with the sustainable community movement, you may be GEN Europe's next Membership Manager. Working 40 hours per month, either remotely or in GEN Europe’s office in Navarra, you will expand, engage and inspire Europe's network of ecovillages.

Applications due: 4 April. Estimated start date: 3 May.
Find out more and apply here.

Foundation for Intentional Communities (FIC) is Hiring an IT Director

Supporting resilient living and the communities movement isn't all working the land and facilitating relationships. We also need the hard skills to create and manage the technological systems that make all of this possible. That's why the FIC is recruiting for an experienced technologist to oversee the website, directory, store, courses, marketing, analytics, and more. This is a remote role for people in timezones compatible with meetings in North America.

Applications due: 21 March.
Find out more and apply here.

Writing Competition

To celebrate Schumacher College's 30th anniversary, Satish Kumar (one of our speakers for the Online Summit) has launched an essay competition: Education as if People & Planet Matter. This theme obviously runs deep through GEN's work and the Schumacher College has pioneered and promoted a very different paradigm of values-based, holistic education over the past 3 decades.

In collaboration with Resurgence & Ecologist Magazine, they invite writing between 1,000 and 1,500 words. There is a small entry fee and top entries will receive cash prizes up to £5,000 as well as an opportunity to present and be celebrated at the anniversary event. 

Submissions open until 1 July. 
Find out more and apply here.

Rio Muchacho, Ecuadorian Organic Farm, Ecolodge, and emerging Ecovillage is recruiting new members

Located 30 min from Canoa beach, Rio Muchacho was the first ecotourism project conceived and developed as a sustainability education model in Manabí and Ecuador. It was endorsed by National Geographic for this unique concept and chosen as one of it’ s 8 favorite places to stay in Ecuador.  This social enterprise is now evolving and transforming into an  ecovillage! There are 8 membership spaces in total, and 4 are still available.

Find out more about the project and joining process here.

Maleny Ecovillage, Queensland Australia, is recruiting new members

A small community based in a small town, Maleny members value individuals committed to self-development, good communication, and are deeply connected to the land. They seek to live lightly, sustainably, and regeneratively and hope to inspire others. They are looking for new members who align with their mission, enjoy living simply, and are excited about building a community that is truly sustainable. Check out their website to read the vision as a first step and get in touch.