Make sure to pass along this email to your community!

Dear GEN Europe Community,

In community,

Franziska and Lena

for the GEN Europe Team

🔍 Content table

1. News from GEN EU

• GA Registrations + Members Guide
• Ecovillage Gathering 2026
• We're hiring — three new roles open at GEN Europe
• Sustainable Technology: Community-led Solutions for the Future Webinar Series
• GEN Europe is featured in Evolve Magazine and Podcast
• Reminder: GEN Europe Media & Storytelling Charter Survey

2. Project Updates

• Regenerative Communities Fund: New Call for Proposals
• Western Europe Community-Led Housing Regional Gathering - Open call for Participants
• CHOICE Project Opening Conference
• GEN Europe Attends the Northern Europe Community-Led Housing Regional Gathering

3. News from around the network

• NextGEN Europe is looking for a Communications Manager
• Yes to Sustainability is looking for a Communications Coordinator
• Call for Meditation for Peace
• Celebrating 40 years of LiberSchool
• Damanhur Fest 
• Call for Contributions for the 6th International Conference on Social and Solidarity Economy and the Commons 

4.  Volunteer and Erasmus+ training opportunities

• Check out our ESC Page!
• Erasmus+ Youth Exchange Europath
• WAKA In Nature We Believe Erasmus+ Training
• Leader in Me Erasmus+ Training

5. Trainings & Courses

• Storytelling as a Tool for Change
• Farming with Nature
• SURE Learning Journeys 
• Info session on Erasmus+ projects (Youth and Adult) and ESC
• EDE at Damanhur 
• Training of Trainers at Damanhur

👉👉👉Member Registration Guide

Click above to view the for a step-by-step walkthrough on how to secure your spot for both the GA and the Gathering.

As part of a GEN Europe member, your registration process is handled specifically to ensure you receive your member benefits and delegate discounts.

Important Dates:

• General Assembly (GA): July 9–13 (Delegates)
• The Gathering: July 13–18 (Open to all)

General member guidelines for the events:

• The General Assembly (GA) generally is for delegates only
• The Gathering is open to all representatives of our members (delegates and participants) and the general public.
• The GA has no ticket – you only pay for food & accommodation
• Delegates can vote at the GA and get a discounted Gathering ticket
• Each community has a limited number of discounted delegate Gathering tickets, depending on membership type
• To access discounted delegate tickets, at least one delegate must attend the GA

🌿 Explore the Vision

Visit the brand-new website to get inspired by the program, the venue, and the spirit of this year's event:

👉 ecovillagegathering.org

GEN Europe is growing its team and we're looking for three new colleagues to join us:

👉 Communication Officer — deadline to apply: 10 May
👉 Project Officer — deadline to apply: 17 May
👉 Project Manager — deadline to apply: 17 May

Full job descriptions and application instructions are available on our website. We warmly encourage applications from within and connected to our member communities — if you know someone who might be a great fit, please share this widely.

📅May 6th 2026 from 18:00 to 20:00 CET|📍Online

The topic of the last webinar is Biomimic Creativity with Marek Wieczorek and Primož Turnšek.

As part of a cross-collaboration with the German magazine, GEN Europe was featured in the latest issue of Evolve Magazin where a conversation with our Projects Coordinator, Dario Ferraro, was published.

Ecovillages are increasingly featured in online media - sometimes beautifully, sometimes not. As we co-create a Media & Storytelling Charter, we want to learn from our communities how they get contacted by influencers, filmmakers and other content creators.

This survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. All responses will inform the development of our collaborative charter.

The Regenerative Communities Fund (RCF), an initiative by ECOLISE launched in 2024, is announcing its Fourth Call for Proposals opening May 11th. This call will select 50 more Pathfinder Communities from across Croatia, Finland, France, Portugal, and Spain.

As part of the current CHOICE (Community-led Housing for Inclusion, Climate, and Equity) project, we are organizing the Western Europe Regional Housing Conference that will take place during the European Ecovillage Gathering this year.

👉If you are involved in community-led housing initiatives (ecovillage, co-housing, housing co-op, etc.) in France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, or Austria and would like to participate please fill out this form by May 24th to apply for a free ticket!

On the 30th of March, partners, researchers, practitioners and guests gathered in Cloughjordan, Ireland, for the Opening Conference of CHOICE, the Community-Led Housing for Inclusion, Climate, and Equity project, funded by the EU’s CERV program.

Participants from across Northern Europe gathered for the Community-Led Housing Regional Gathering at the ecovillage Avnø Oasis. 

Are you passionate about community living, sustainability, and youth empowerment? Do you have a knack for storytelling and digital connection?

NextGen is looking for a dedicated Communications Manager to join their volunteer team!

Yes to sustainability is looking for a Communications Coordinator. If you already know and resonate with YTS’s core values – Sustainability, empowerment, transformative & experiential learning, and community building – you’ll feel right at home.

👉 Application Deadline is the 8th of May

📅May 5th 2026 at 18:00 CET |📍Online

The Community of Living Ethics, with the support of GEN EU Council, is proposing a monthly meditation session. Join on May 5th to connect with other ecovillages and individual members. 

📅May 9th to May 10th 2026 |📍Damanhur, Italy

Damanhur's family school, one of the longest-running community-based educational experiments in Europe, turns 40 this year. This milestone is celebrated with a weekend of stories, music and reflection.

📅August 28th to August 30th 2026 |📍Damanhur, Italy

Damanhur Fest is your 3-day experiment in a life less ordinary. Bring your searching spirit and your unique mastery to a site where you start off as guests, and become essential components of a new dream.

👉 GEN members get 10% off with the code COMFEST26!

📅November 4th to November 6th 2026 |📍Lisbon, Portugal

The theme for this years International Conference on Social and Solidarity Economy and the Commons is "Hacking Our Common Future". They call for submissions of contribution from researchers, practitioners, activists, artists, and policymakers. 

👉 Deadline for the submission is May 31st!

👉 Registration opens on June 16th!

📅 June 15th to 20th June 2026 |📍Madrid rual area, Spain

EuroPath is a youth exchange for people aged 20 - 25 years, designed to introduce young people to the European projects ecosystem, its roles, its opportunities, and its potential as a career and civic path.

👉 Application Deadline is the 10th of May!

📅 August 23rd to 30th August 2026 |📍Grain&Sens, France

Are you a youth worker from France, Belgium, Slovenia, Slovai or France? Then, join WAKA to learn about immersive nature-based facilitation! We will explore hands-on learning in, with and through the forest, nature connection and community living for a regenerative future.

👉 First application round closes on 31 may 2026 (2nd round on 29 June 2026)

📅 August 11th to 20th August 2026 |📍Zavod Veles, Slovenia

Leader in Me is an 8-day course rooted in Dragon Dreaming. This training invites you to reconnect with your body, mind, emotions, and spirit and rediscover the leader within you.

👉 Application Deadline is the 29th of May!

📅 May 6th from 17:00 to 18:00 CET |📍Online

This workshop explores how stories can be used intentionally to inspire social change, amplify voices, and strengthen individuals and communities.

📅 May 7th from 14:00 to 15:30 CET |📍Online

Join ECOLISE for a 90-minute online session on Farming with Nature to mobilize for the Food Policy Campaign, while building alliance capacity in support of the Right to Food European Citizens’ Initiative. 

📢 Reminder: Sign the European Citizens’ Initiative for the Right to Food here if you have not already!

📅 Starting on May 12th |📍Online & in different communities

The SURE program is built around three thematic strands, namely sustainable food, living and housing, and renewable energy, with each  offering a complete learning journey taking place online conversations and in the form of hands-on workshops.

📅 June 16th from 17:00 to 19:00 CET |📍Online 

GEN's Project Working Group warmly invites to an inspiring info session on Erasmus+ projects (Youth and Adult) and ESC. This session is open to everyone, whatever your level of experience, for learning, fresh ideas, and potential networking.

📅 August 8th to September 5th 2026 |📍Damanhur, Italy

The Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) program at Damanhur offers a unique opportunity to dive deep into essential life skills and sustainable living practices.

👉 Reach out to ede@damanhur.org to secure your place!

📅 September 7th to September 12th 2026 |📍Damanhur, Italy

Gaia Education Training of Trainers (ToT) course is answering a worldwide demand for skilled facilitators able to facilitate transformative learning environments and host multi-stakeholder conversations that enable collaborative action.

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