Global Ecovillage Network Europe

The Global Ecovillage Network Europe (in German: Global Ecovillage Network Europe ) is a global international organization of individuals and communities ( eco-settlement ). Members use the network to exchange ideas and information, transfer technologies and develop cultural and educational exchanges.

history

Hildur and Ross Jackson from Denmark founded the non-profit Gaia Trust in 1991 . It funded a study by Robert Gilman and Diane Gilman on sustainable communities around the world. This report on Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities was published in 1991. Despite many ecovillage projects, the report found that the ideal ecovillage does not yet exist.

In 1991 the Gaia Foundation was invited to a meeting in Denmark made up of representatives from eco-communities to discuss strategies for the further development of eco-village concepts. This led to the establishment of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN). In 1994 the Ecovillage Information Service was started. In 1995 the first international conference of ecovillage members called Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities for the 21st Century was held in Findhorn, Scotland. The movement grew rapidly following this conference.

In 2001, GEN was given advisory status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). In October 2005, at GEN's 10th Anniversary Conference, a group of young adults joined forces to create NextGEN, the next generation of the Global Ecovillage Network. Until then, GEN did not have any audit procedures to audit ecovillages without membership fees. A so-called “Community Sustainability Assessment Tool” has been developed and offers a means of assessing the success of support in improving the sustainability of a specific ecovillage. While the membership of GEN in the first few years mainly consisted of intentional projects in which new settlement and community projects have come together, in recent years it has grown increasingly through the addition of traditional villages and village movements, especially in Africa and Asia. In Senegal, for example, there is the Global Ecovillage Network Senegal, which currently includes 45 traditional villages that have developed so positively that a government program is now being launched in Senegal to develop 14,000 villages into “ecovillages”.

In December 2012, 55 delegates on the Sekem farm (Egypt) founded the ecovillage network GEN-Africa. The previously loosely networked structure on the African continent was given a board of directors and an advisory board. Board of Directors for 2013–2014: Lua Beshala-Kekwana (Congo), Rosemary Mbone Enie (Tanzania), Ousmane Pame (Senegal), Mugove Walter Nyika (Zimbabwe) and Mohamed El Mongy (Egypt).

Members

The network includes a variety of types of sustainable settlement and eco-villages:

• Eco-cities such as Auroville in South India, the Federation of Damanhur in Italy, and Nimbin in Australia;
• Rural eco-villages such as Gaia Asociación in Argentina, the ZEGG , Sieben Linden and Tempelhof in Germany and Huehuecoyotl in Mexico;
• Permaculture facilities, such as in Crystal Waters, Australia, Cochabamba , Bolivia and Barus, Brazil;
• Urban rejuvenation projects such as Los Angeles EcoVillage and Christiania in Copenhagen, and
• Educational centers such as the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland, the Center for Alternative Technology in Wales and the Ecovillage Training Center in Tennessee .

What they all have in common is that they want to further develop their projects and society in a conscious and participatory manner in the four sustainability dimensions of ecology, economy, social affairs and culture.

aims

The Global Ecovillage Network pursues the goal of "supporting and promoting the development of sustainable settlements around the world." This is done through:

• Internal and external communication services; Facilitating the exchange and exchange of information on ecovillages, pilot projects, model settlements and model sites;
• Network and project coordination in areas related to sustainable settlements and
• Global cooperation / partnerships (UN Best Practices, EU PHARE / follow-up program IPA , EYFA , ECOSOC).

To this end, GEN has offices and employees in the five global regions of Europe, Africa, Oceania and Asia, North America and South America.

activities

The Global Ecovillage Network Europe organizes various English-language events. The largest event that is always open to the general public is the annual summer conference, which always takes place in a member project. The national networks organize the exchange between the individual joint projects in the countries and support start-ups. The German network, the Global Ecovillage Network Germany, also organizes events for joint projects, including the annual joint workshop, which is intended to strengthen project initiatives.

Web links

• Global ecovillage network
• European branch: Global Ecovillage Network
• http://www.gelebte-nachhaltigkeit.de/home/home/index.htm

Individual evidence

1. ↑ NextGEN
2. ↑ Ecovillages and North-South Reconciliation ( Memento of the original from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ GENSEN: Global Ecovillage Network Senegal ( Memento of the original dated November 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Global-Ecovillage-Afrika network, report from the founding conference, December 19, 2012, Board of Directors and Advisory Board ( memento of the original from March 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ^ GEN Europe
6. ↑ Africa (GEN-Africa)
7. ↑ GEN Oceania and Asia (GENOA)
8. ↑ North America (GENNA)
9. ^ Consejo de Asentamientos Sustentables de América latina
10. ↑ Summer Conference
11. ↑ Global Ecovillage Network Germany
12. ↑ Community workshop ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.