Dear friends,

As we approach the autumn equinox and celebrate the harvest season, our thoughts are with all those who have been affected by another season of extremes: from wildfires to flash floods, this summer has once again been beset by challenges and tragedies for many. Every year, the call is stronger to ask of ourselves: how can we be resilient? How can we create communities that are ready to offer support in times of need? That contribute to ecosystem and community protection, restoration, and mitigation of the impacts of a changing climate? GEN Europe is committed to support both the individuals and ecovillage communities who are working on the ground to find the answers.

In this newsletter you'll find:

• A look back on the European Ecovillage Gathering
• Events, volunteering, training and courses coming up in ecovillages around Europe
• A brand new webinar series on ecovillage essentials, coming soon
• Ecovillages in international press
• ...and more news and updates from around the network. 

Wishing you an abundant autumn,

Fran and the whole GEN Europe team

Two months on, we are still integrating the emotions, connections and lessons from the biggest ever European Ecovillage Gathering, which we celebrated in Nature Community, Germany from 12-17 July. If you couldn't make it, you can still share in our memories: watch the after-film that so beautifully captures the essence of our time together, explore our photo gallery, and read our reflections on the Gathering.

The Gathering was full to the brim with inspiring conversations, challenging perspectives and fresh ideas - among them, our two keynote addresses that we're delighted to be making freely available! 

Watch Vivian Dittmar's powerful call to renew and redefine our relationship with prosperity, and Christian Felber's dynamic invitation to see the economy with new eyes, in the videos on our Youtube channel. 

How do ecovillages buy land? What's the best legal model for a co-housing project? What about governance and decision-making? Join us and ecovillage experts from across Europe for four webinars between September 26th and October 23rd diving into inspiring examples that can help you find what works for your project.

We'll learn how Cooperative Oasis raised over six million euros to fund fifty community start-ups, explore a model for shared ownership with maximum personal freedom, meet the 'Pas-Sages' and their economic and legal model for communities, and explore Sociocratic organising for ecovillages. 

The Planet Local Summit brings together cutting-edge thinkers, writers, policy-makers, movement builders and activists with a clear vision to change the world from the ground up. It has an incredible lineup of speakers, including Helena Norberg-Hodge, Charles Eisenstein, Satish Kumar, Bayo Akomolafe...and our very own Dicte Frost representing GEN Europe! The event takes place from September 29th - October 1st, and the GEN Europe workshop will take place on Friday 29th. The event takes place in Bristol, UK, and will be live-streamed.

In August, hundreds of people converged in Sainte Camelle for the Oasis Festival, a celebration of France's thriving sustainable community scene. Organised by Cooperative Oasis, the event was a dive into the political, economic and social aspects of ecovillage living in France, as well as creating space for embodiment and play.

Led by GEN Europe member Sunny Hill and part of the Classroom for Life project, this conference focuses on the power of place-based learning and will address topics such as localization, integrated systems thinking, transformative pedagogy, green competencies and climate education. The event takes place online and in Slovenia on 28-29 September.

The EDE (Ecovillage Design Education) is a unique opportunity to increase your understanding of yourself, your life, and principals to design projects such as a community, a garden, an economic system, an enterprise, your health, your home or your career. Avnø Oasis ecovillage welcomes you to join their 12-week programme, with two start dates in 2024!

You leave with a PDC (Permaculture Design Certificate) certificate from Permaculture Denmark, an EDE certificate from Gaia Education, a sense of what works for you, practical skills to live a happier, healthier and more green life as well as being a valuable co-player in the co-creation of eco-communities, co-housing and other green projects.

The majority of these opportunities are available through the European Solidarity Corps, an European funding stream that funds youth up to 30 years old. We are always searching for opportunities without an age limit to share here too, so if your community has an offer to share please get in touch!