Dear 

Happy Christmas to you all!

The 12 days after Christmas are a magical time and it is full of legends, fairy tales and myths.

It is an invitation for love, connection and reflection and I hope you may be touched by its magic.

The GEN Europe team is now also slowing down at this time of the year and taking a break to reflect and come back into the new year filled with fresh energy.

But please find below the last new of the year before you will hear from us again in 2024.

After resting, reflecting, reading through all of the feedback from participants and hosting a series of different evaluation meetings, we are now ready with the European Ecovillage Gathering 2023 Report! In the report you can read more about the financial and demographic outcomes of the Gathering, the feedback from participants as well as reflections from the coordinator, staff and council - and get your own little 'throw-back' to our time together in Nature Community.

Now is the time to bring your gifts of workshops, talks, music, DJ sets and other performances to the European Ecovillage Gathering 2024! Anything is welcome: permaculture workshops, sharing key practices from your community, offering dance sessions or singing circles, yoga classes or DJ set, Your creativity is welcome! If you would like to offer a workshop/other contribution in the Gathering please send in you proposal via this form (insert link) by February 4th 2024. The 2024 Gathering will take place in Ängsbacka, Sweden, from 20-25 August.

Please spread the news to anyone in your community or circles who could be interested in co-creating the Gathering with us!

Thank you so much for all of you who were present for our Winter Solstice Celebration and Extraordinary General Assembly! 🙂

Next to voting (and successfully approving) the new membership policies and the changes in the statutes, we also shared our moments of gratitude for GEN, tuned into the Solstice and shared our dreams and visions for the year ahead.

If you've been thinking about applying for ESC volunteering in 2024 with GEN Europe...don't wait! We're accepting applications on a rolling basis and roles are filling up, but there are still some open spaces and we'd love to hear from you!

Around 30 representatives from the network will be meeting in less than a month.

Stay tuned for updates from the meeting in the next Moon Cycle News!

The EC² project has just launched registrations for a Twinning Programme, designed to support aspiring energy communities by connecting them with the expertise of established communities, like the ecovillages Arterra Bizimodu and Torri Superiore. The programme will focus on the legal, economic, and social aspects of energy projects, and share the knowledge and tools developed to help new energy communities thrive. Participants will be supported to create an "Energy Community Action Plan", laying the groundwork for the establishment of your energy community.

The programme will develop in February and March 2024, and the applications are open until January 20th.

Intentional communities have done this through the centuries and have come up with many creative solutions. They continue to do this even today, and we need these solutions more than ever.

This conference will look at experiments from the past, experiments that are happening today and into the future, and find solutions to our present predicament.

Conference Dates: January 15-19, 2024

Dreams of the Great Mother" is a film about Hildur Jacksons's dream of the Ecovillage as the birthplace of a new culture. It portrays her life as a social pioneer, feminist, mother and her partnership with Ross Jackson, with whom she co-founded Gaia Trust that played an instrumental role in the birth of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN).

The film will be freely available from now until January 20th.

On January 16th at 15h CET the creator of the film (Aon) will host a Memorial space for his mother for people who have watched the film and would like to share thoughts, anecdotes in relation to Hildur or share how her life and ideas may have impacted them.

This eight-month long-term ESC project is designed for 6 enthusiastic young people age 18-30 who are interested in ecovillages and sustainable living, and who want to gain experience and participate in regenerative farming activities, renewable energies and building maintenance, as well as in community-building, self-development and work in intercultural teams.

During the eight months you will get to know the life of a Spanish ecovillage and the European network of ecovillages. T

The ESC project will take place in 2024 and has a flexible starting date between 01/03/2024-1/04/2024. 

Application deadline 6th of January!

A great opportunity to explore the Danish ecovillage network, get acquainted with the ecovillage lifestyle and gain skills working with either project work, communication and membership administration or educational activities. All costs are covered by the ESC programme (transport, accommodation, feeding, insurance and pocket money).

Jan 4 – March 27, 2024
Sep 5 – Nov 27, 2024

Enthusiastic newcomers and experienced ecovillage souls — welcome to the EDE course in Denmark!

A 3-month Health, Happiness and Green Living course in Avnø combines the transformative power of the EDE and PDC (Permaculture Design Course) programs. Made with immense love, depth, and fun by the Avnø Oasis ecovillage community 🥰

Every Saturday from April 4 - August 11, 2024

Held by experienced facilitators Macaco Tamerice and Taisa Mattos together with 14 cutting edge facilitators, pioneers and experts in their fields!

GEN Ukraine is living through the second winter of the ongoing war. The ecovillages continue hosting refugees and survive despite the difficult economical and social obstacles. The network stays active and solidarity but to continue its work and support the members in need it strongly needs your support.

The two researchers Lara Monticelli and Linea Munk Petersen were writing two new pieces of academic (creative) writing on  collapse and ecovillages which have recently been published in the journal Ephemera.

For reading this newsletter, sharing it in your community and your ongoing support! 

For anything that you would like to share via the Moon Cycle News, please write to me at carolin@gen-europe.org 

In Community,
Carolin