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Dear ,

Welcome to 2026!

A new year opens before us, inviting fresh perspectives and renewed commitment and shared intention. Across much of Europe, winter has settled deeply into the landscape, snow blankets fields and forests, ice slows our steps.

Beneath frozen ground, unseen processes are already shaping what will emerge. At GEN Europe, we begin this year with the same sense of quiet, grounded hope - aware that around the world, from Europe, over Palastine to Venezuela, communities are navigating profound uncertainty and change.

We are grateful to walk this path with you, our members, communities and networks, whose engagement continues to give life to the ecovillage movement. Together, we look forward to another year of learning, collaboration and cultivating pathways toward a more regenerative and connected culture.


Franziska and Lena
on behalf of the GEN Europe Team

 

🔍 Content table

1. News from GEN EU

  • Staff & Council Meeting Sunny Hill Report
  • National Networks Meeting Sunny Hill Report
  • Nataša on maternity leave
  • European Ecovillage Gathering 2026
  • GEN Europe Contribution to the European Affordable Housing Plan
  • GEN Europe at the Commoning Spaces Network Conference in Aachen, Germany

2. Project Updates

  • COM4LGD Interactive Documentary, Website and Funded Events!
  • Ecoprise International Panel compressed

3. News from around the network

  • Research Article: Forms of agency in strategies of relocalization by translocal networks of community-led initiatives in Europe
  • Experience Week Los Portales
  • Get your hands dirty in Permaculture Garden Glarisegg

3.  Volunteer and Erasmus+ training opportunities

  • ACKnowledge Erasmus project
  • Clay & Straw as a Key Training Course 
  • "GIGIE" Green and Inclusive Games for an Innovative Exchange - Youth Exchange 
  • Sage Online Workshop Supporting Fairness

5. Trainings & Courses 

  • The Tamera & ZEGG Festival - From Crisis to Connection
  • PDC Course Glarisegg
  • Schweibenalp Online Summit

6. ECOLISE news

  • The Week of the European Day of Sustainable Communities
  • Applications Open for Regenerative Communities Fund - Funding Fairer Futures Intern
  • Reclaiming the Future of Food: Community Pathways to Resilience, Justice and Regeneration

7. News from GEN International

  • Regenerative Pact Webinar: From Pioneer to Planetary Movement

8. Invitations from beyond the network

  • Kinship with the Source of all Life
News from GEN Europe
Staff & Council Meeting Sunny Hill Report

At the end of November, the GEN Europe team, staff, and council gathered at Sunny Hill to welcome new council and staff members and to reflect deeply on the future of our network. Through storytelling and collective visioning, two core forces emerged at the heart of GEN Europe: Deep Belonging and Service to Regeneration.

Curious about what this means for GEN Europe, and how you can be part of it?
👉 Read the full Meeting report here

National Networks Meeting Sunny Hill Report

Right after the Staff and Council Meeting, from November 27-30, 2025, representatives of different National and Transnational Networks of GEN Europe came together in Sunny Hill to reflect on what is alive in the network, share needs and challenges and collaboratively work on new project ideas. To dive more into what has happened, read the full report here.

Nataša on maternity leave & Welcome Bernada! 

Our Gathering Coordinator, Nataša Gvozdić, will be stepping back from her role over the next year as she welcomes her daughter, Duša, into the world. We wish her a year filled with love and treasured moments in motherhood!

 

At the same time, we are welcoming Bernarda into the role of Event Co-Coordinator, who will continue Nataša's work with much passion and dedication!

Bernarda is passionate about the healing power of belonging and human connection, she looks forward to serving as Events Co-Coordinator to organize a deeply connecting Gathering in 2026.

Get to know Bernarda better here!

European Ecovillage Gathering 2026

✨ Save the date ✨
📅 July 13-18, 2026
📍 Nature Community, Germany

Join us for the next European Ecovillage Gathering! In times of uncertainty, choosing to trust in each other and our collective capacity is the most radical act. Ecovillages are laboratories of trust—proof that another way of living is not only imaginable but already tangible. Registration and program details coming January/February 2026.

🎉 Missed this year's gathering? Relive our 30th anniversary celebration in Hungary! Read the full report here.

GEN Europe Contribution to the European Affordable Housing Plan

Ecovillages are living laboratories where citizens co-create solutions for affordable housing, social inclusion, climate neutrality and rural regeneration. In the process of answering the EU Public Consultation on the Affordable Housing Plan, our Project Development Manager Dario Ferraro produced this position paper.

GEN Europe at the Commoning Spaces Network Conference in Aachen, Germany

In the cold days of mid-December, 26 people from 16 countries and 12 NGOs gathered in Aachen upon invitation from the Commoning Spaces Network for their annual conference. GEN Europe presented the CHOICE project alongside representatives from ECOLISE.

Read more here!

Project Updates
COM4LGD Interactive Documentary, Website and Funded Events

The COM4LGD project emphasizes that real sustainability must be rooted in local community action and political participation.

Whereas our interactive documentary takes you on a journey to meet the people creating just and regenerative futures, we invite you engage and join our funded events and online meet-ups! Stay connected and subscribe to our newsletter here.

Visit the COM4LGD website here! 

Ecoprise International Panel compressed 

Discover how ecovillage design meets ecosocial entrepreneurship with expert voices from communities across Europe!

Hear from ecovillage practitioners and innovators who are building regenerative futures through community-led projects.

Learn about the mindsets and practices that turn ecological values into viable ventures!

Watch the Recording of the Session here! 

News from around the Network
Experience Week Los Portales

📅1 to 8 March 2026

Los Portales offers you the opportunity to live an experience week, a guided immersion in the life of the community.

During this week, you will become part of a dynamic, diverse, multi-generational and multicultural group.

You will get to know the essential values ​​of the community, participate in our daily activities, experience a feeling of connectedness with each other, with nature and with life itself, and explore being at the service of the changes that the planet needs.

➡️More information here!

Get your hands dirty in Permaculture Garden Glarisegg

📍Permaculturegarden Glarisegg, Bodensee, CH

The dates for 2026 are out! Experience permaculture and get involved in the community through the garden mornings in 2026!

Curious? More info here!

Research Article: Forms of agency in strategies of relocalization by translocal networks of community-led initiatives in Europe

This article investigates how transnational networks of community-led initiatives (TNCLIs) advance sustainability transitions through strategies of relocalization. Using a comparative qualitative analysis of three European networks – GEN-Europe, Transition Network, and RIPESS-Europe – it identifies three forms of agency: configurative (systemic design of regenerative settlements), catalyzing (activation of latent community capacities), and epistemic (knowledge co-production and advocacy).

Read the Research Article here!

Volunteer and Erasmus+ training opportunities
Sage Online Workshop Supporting Fairness

Are you living in Spain, Germany, or Poland? Would you like to practice English while exploring fairness, social justice, and how our everyday choices affect others and the planet– all in a safe, friendly, and international atmosphere? 

Join free online workshop, organized as part of the SAGE – Sustainable Actions through Green Education project.  This session is the second of a series of 12 monthly workshops hosted over the coming year.

Explore social justice, privilege, and power, and how they are connected to sustainability and environmental impact.

Practice English in an open, supportive space.

📅 When: 14 January 2026, 18:00-20.00 CET
💻 Where: Online (link sent after registration)
🗣️ Language: English (no need to be fluent)
💚 Cost: Free
👉 Register here

Training Courses 
Clay & Straw as a Key, Training Course about natural building

Call for participants from Spain, Slovenia, Italy, France, Sweden, or Egypt!

Ready to get your hands dirty with clay and straw?

Join the Erasmus+ training "Clay & Straw as a Key" to learn tons of hands-on, natural building techniques, from traditional plaster to straw bale walls!

1st Training Course: Asturias, Spain – 16-23rd March 2026
2nd Training Course: Svinjsko, Slovenia – 1-8th July 2026

✅ Travel, food & accommodation covered
✅ Age 18–45 preferred
✅ Youth workers, volunteers, sustainability enthusiasts welcome
✅ English required
🔗 More info
Questions? Contact mail

“S.E.N.S.E - Sustainability. Empowerment. Networking. Skills. Education”

Open call for participants from Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Italy, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

🎯 Main objectives:
➡️ to provide participants with leadership and facilitation skills
➡️ to provide participants with tools to work on sustainability and climate action
➡️ to increase the collaboration between ecovillages, sustainable initiatives and youth organisations

📅 Dates: 24th of March to 31st March 2026 
📍 Location: Sunny Hill, Slovenia
⏰ Apply by: 5th of Febr. 2026
📌 More info & application

ACKnowledge Training Course

ACKnowledge - Ancient knowledge, modern eco-communities

📍 Online + Ecostello Magliano Sabina, Italy
📅 May 1–10, 2026
👥 Youth workers from Italy, Poland, Spain, Germany, Portugal
🤸‍♂️Organizer: MatriCulture Feminine Wisdom School

❓What it is about?❓

  • enrich youth work through Matriarchal and Indigenous knowledge, tools and methodologies for sustainable and inclusive communities
  • engage young people in community building, fostering democratic, inclusive, egalitarian, sustainable and nature-connected communities 

🔗 If you're interested, see the infopack here!

Youth Exchange 
"GIGIE" Green and Inclusive Games for an Innovative Exchange

Open call for participants from Georgia, Greece, Italy, Spain.

The aim of the project is to discover the use of play and creativity as tools to facilitate learning, social inclusion and emotional well-being of young people.

📅 March 21st (arrival date) to March 29th (departure date), 2026
📍 Rascafría, Madrid, Spain
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Young participants aged 18-30 (group leaders 18+)

Application deadline: 11th of January, 2026

➡️INFOPACK 

📝APPLICATION FORM

Volunteering 
Volunteer with EcoAtivo

EcoAtivo is looking for a motivated person to join the team through two phases:

✨ Volunteering (2 months)
✨ IEFP ATIVAR+ paid internship (9–12 months)

The role combines project support, communication & social media, and hands-on ecological regeneration work, within a community-based setting in nature at Ananda Kalyani, Central Portugal (Paúl).

📅 Ideal start: early February
If this opportunity resonates with you, please check the details and apply here!

Trainings & Courses
The Tamera & ZEGG Festival - From Crisis to Connection

June 18 - June 21, 2026

Join an inspirational gathering where two visionary intentional communities – Tamera (Portugal) and ZEGG (Germany) – come together to explore elements of a new, peaceful culture. In a spirit of co-creation, we will inquire into how love, community and trust in life can guide us towards building a culture of inner and outer peace in these challenging times.

Find out more here!

PDC Course Glarisegg

6 Months Permaculture Design Certificate (72 hours) April – Oktober 2026

📍Schloss Glarisegg, Bodensee, CH

Deepen your skills in designing and implementing diverse, dense and productive natural gardens. Design your own project with a supportive learning community.

➡️More info here, sign-up here!

Schweibenalp Online Summit

📅February 14-20

Join the free Online Summit of Schweibenalp and dive into inner and outer peace work here!

ECOLISE news
The Week of the European Day of Sustainable Communities

The Third Call for Pathfinder Communities under the Regenerative Communities Fund (RCF) is now open! This is an exciting opportunity for both emerging and well established, small-scale, community-led initiatives (CLIs) locally rooted in Croatia, Finland, France, Portugal, and Spain to access funding and capacity-building support to deepen their impact, inspire others, and contribute to a just and inclusive climate transition across Europe.

Sounds like you? Find out more here!

But psssst... the deadline for applications is 26 January 2026!

Applications Open for Regenerative Communities Fund - Funding Fairer Futures Intern

Are you passionate about climate justice, community-led action, and making funding more accessible to those driving real change? ECOLISE is looking for an intern to support the Regenerative Communities Fund (RCF), one of five funds under the Funding Fairer Futures (FFF) initiative. This initiative works to strengthen the climate movement by ensuring that diverse voices, including those from often marginalized communities, are heard and reflected in climate action.

Find out more!

Reclaiming the Future of Food: Community Pathways to Resilience, Justice and Regeneration

This co-created policy paper, developed through a participatory process involving ECOLISE members, networks and partners across Europe, outlines a shared vision and 13 policy recommendations to empower communities to drive the transition towards resilient, regenerative and just food systems. It aligns local innovation with European policy ambitions, offering concrete pathways for multi-level collaboration and collective impact.

➡️Dive deeper!

News from GEN International
Regenerative Pact Webinar: From Pioneer to Planetary Movement

Exploring Community-Led Economic Systems and the Future of Money as a Tool for Collective Wellbeing

Join GEN International for this transformative webinar on February 7, 2026!

➡️More info here

Invitations from beyond the network
Kinship with the Source of all Life

Five-Day Retreat in Germany, Connection with Water: 🌊💧🌍
April 25 – 29, 2026

This immersive gathering invites you to connect with water as a sacred and living being, to touch its essence, centrality, and mystery. It offers the opportunity to deepen the connection with the entire web of life—seen as animate, intelligent, and cocreative—and to reconnect with the source of life, honoring water as vital matter and symbolic origin. 🌀

➡️For more information click here.

Thank You!

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