Dear ,

With April in full swing, we're thrilled to share the latest updates from our recent Arterra Spring Meeting. It was a time when our dedicated team of staff, council members, and volunteers came together to shape the heart of GEN Europe.

Now, let's get excited for our upcoming Members Hour - a wonderful chance to connect and collaborate.

But there are more invitations coming your way! We've got some exciting new opportunities brewing, from volunteer opportunities at the Gathering over to exciting project opportunities! 

Let's dive into this season of growth together and inspire each other!

With spring in full bloom and staff & council just re-emerging from their in-person meeting in Arterra Bizimodu, we would now like to invite you to our Spring Members Hour to open better pathways for mutual support! 

The annual Ecovillage Gathering serves as our platform to engage and inspire a wider audience. Witnessing the genuine curiosity and interest of attendees has been immensely rewarding.

To ensure lasting impact, we aim to guide new individual members on a transformative "journey" into the world of ecovillages. Over the course of a year following the gathering, we'll provide monthly doses of relevant and engaging content, including blog articles, videos, webinars, movie nights, and Q&A sessions. Embracing our diverse network, we invite members to contribute their own articles and content to showcase our collective richness.

Join our Telegram working group to collaborate on these journeys. Even small contributions, like sharing existing materials, are greatly valued. Explore the topics and contribute your own content.

Exciting news! Our Membership Outreach Campaign is launching!

After receiving approval for the new scheme in December, we are now thrilled to welcome new ecoprojects, networks, and ecovillages. Your support in spreading the word will be much appreciated to help us grow and sustain ecovillages, sustainable communities, and our network.

Please check out the Members Guide below, giving advice on how you can best support the outreach!

Don't miss out on securing your spot at our upcoming Gathering & General Assembly!

Tickets are available for purchase since March, but hurry - our early bird special is ending on the 15th of May. 

The Ecovillage Sustainable Technology Exposition (EXPO) is a core part of the European Ecovillage Gathering. We are currently looking for a coordinator to make it come alive and be more impactful than ever! The role of the EXPO coordinators is to organise the EXPO exhibition space and workshop programme, reaching out and selecting European communities and tech-related projects that wish to bring their technology and workshops to the Gathering, setting up the exhibition space and overseeing the EXPO during the Gathering. If you are interested in this role, please write us an email with a short introduction through our contact form, latest by tomorrow, the April the 24th. 

The EC2 project is coming to its end, and with it the projects outputs that the consortium has been working on for the last 3 years. Among them is the attached document, which we want to highlight to our members. It is a set of policy reports on “Ways to support citizen participation in the European energy transition” that were presented during a recent event in Brussels. The policy recommendations are aimed at politicians at national level and at the European Union.

After an exciting training course that brought together social permaculture teachers and practitioners from all over Europe (and the world!), the ecovillage Torri Superiore is now preparing a documentary film that will explore topics like group dynamics, conflicts, rank and privilege, de-colonisation, edges, borders, migrations and activism. It will feature contributions from Lucilla Borio, Massimo Candela, Dražen Šimlesa, Marguerite Kahrl, Morag Gamble and Silvia Corna, plus all the participants in the course.

"Learning from Sparrows - Social Permaculture at the Edge" will be probably the first documentary film entirely dedicated to social permaculture, but to make it come true we need your help! Soon, the filmmakers will launch a crowdfunding campaign to cover the post-production costs of the film. Please help to share this amazing experience with the world and get some awesome rewards.
You can contribute starting with as little as 5€!

Global Ecovillage Network co-founder Ross Jackson has released his new book, The Bad News & The Good News. A great start for a network book club, don't you think?

Are you passionate about soil education and innovation?

Join the Curiosoil project’s Community of Practice (CoP) and become a part of a collaborative network dedicated to advancing soil literacy across Europe.

Apply today to join the Community of Practice (deadline for application 15/05/2024 18:00CET), and if you are selected you will be invited to join our launch session on the 6th of June!

Would you like to engage in the campaign for the European elections? Are you looking for ideas on how to get involved? Would you like to learn from other activists and NGOs about their plans for the campaign?

Join ECOLISE and our members online on 25 April 16:00-18:00 (CET) to discuss why and how to campaign for the European elections. This session is a capacity-building and networking opportunity for ECOLISE members and campaign partners of the Time for Collective Action Manifesto, open to all interested parties.

Let’s build Green Silk Roads, overland travel routes connecting the hearts, minds, and bodies of ecovillages around the world!

Building on Living Routes, which ran semester programs in Auroville, Findhorn and many other ecovillages from 1999-2014 and The Green Silk Road, which runs overland journeys between Auroville and western Europe, Daniel Greenberg and Gijs Spoor are planning in 2025 to launch rolling, 3-4 month, place-based exchange programs at Auroville (south India) and Findhorn (northern Scotland), linked by 2-3 month overland journeys to ecovillages and regenerative projects en route (likely April-June and October-December).

Gijs and Daniel are now reaching out to identify potential host communities!

Daniel Greenberg, one of the world's leading experts in ecovillages and community life will accompany you over 8 weeks on this journey of reflection, connection and learning digital storytelling techniques for a new emerging story. If you would like to tell your personal story, the story of your community/projects, or if you are already/would like to become a content creator for the Great Turning, this course starting on 3rd of June is for you!

To be eligible for delegate tickets, please ensure that you have paid your membership fee for 2024.

You can pay through our web page via PayPal or Stripe or via bank transfer to our bank account: IBAN: DE 11100100100007681105, BIC: PBNKDEFF

IMPORTANT: Make sure to state the reason for transaction: Membership fee 2024. If you need an invoice before you pay, please send us an email stating the sum you intend to pay, and we will send it to you.

Please note the slight increase in membership fees for 2024, see here.

We are immensely grateful for your support!

Feel free to read and pass along this email to your community!

We're excited to hear from you. Share your contributions with us using the form below.

In Community,
Carolin & Julio