Dear ,

With love and in community,
Franziska and Julio on behalf of the GEN Europe team

As you can see we are cooking some amazing new opportunities for you in our office these days! Besides the ESC opportunity page we are also working on an Ecovillage directory.

Right now we are complementing it with pictures of your communities, and are using what can already be found on your websites. Please, in case you do not want us to use these pictures, inform us by sending an e-mail to membership@gen-europe.org until the 1st of November.

We will let you know, when the page is ready - so stay tuned!

We uploaded more Keynote Speeches & workshop recordings from the Gathering! Check out our Youtube Channel which now includes: Dougald Hine, Lone Beate Ebeltoft, Anja Lyngbaek's keynote speech and workshop, and last but not least Vincent Rueda and Sandra Bedigis for Les-Pas-Sages.

We hope you enjoy!

GEN EU is a proud partner in the Communities for Local Green Deals (COM4LGD) project, which tackles the intertwined climate and environmental crises along with the social and political polarization that EU citizens are currently facing. The project proposes an innovative solution: local community development, climate and sustainability action, community organizing, advocacy, and cooperation between citizens and local governments across all 27 member states.

COM4LGD promotes not only climate action but also democratic participation for a just and inclusive future. Rooted in transformative social innovation and socio-environmental justice, the project uses deep debates, scenario planning, and gender mainstreaming to engage citizens and strengthen grassroots initiatives. It also aims to improve the accountability of decision-makers, empower communities, and promote gender equality as an essential pillar of sustainable transformation.

As part of COM4LGD GEN Europe represented this project at the LEADER Congress, hosted by ELARD in Poities, France in the beginning of this month. Members of ISCTE, ECOLISE and ELARD presented democratic participation in local action projects, environmental advocacy and how to implement it on the local level, and good practices in the field. Curious to learn more about the insights and opportunities discussed? Check out our blogpost about it!

Stay tuned about upcoming events by subscribing to the project's newsletter & follow COM4LGD on social media:

ECOLISE – the European network of Community-Led Initiatives on Climate Change and Sustainability – invites interested stakeholders to join the upcoming Western Europe Meeting (WEM) in Luxemburg City (11 – 13 November). The event will focus mainly on sensing and brainstorming how a localized European Green Deal (EGD) can support biodiversity and tackle issues related to food systems, biodiversity and land regeneration.

The aim of the event is to connect key stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), academics, practitioners, policymakers, and community-led initiatives (CLIs) from across Western Europe (Ireland, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg). The event will lay the ground for a policy positioning phase on "food systems and biodiversity" (2024 - 2025), initiated by ECOLISE together with partners such as ICLEI Europe and ELARD (Work Package 1 of COM4LGD).

From 18th to the 23rd of September, 30 people gathered together to share the Bridgedale experience: one both personal transformation and learning facilitation skills.

Gathered in the setting of the 10 year old community, Arterra Bizimodu, the group was made up of youth workers who were driven to strengthen their capacities and knowledge in making the challenges and fears which we as a society are confronted with in this world more easily understood and digested.

The Bridgedale toolbox is made up of practices harvested from experienced communities. Participants joined efforts to facilitate around 15 of these practices for the whole group, to hold the collective journey and to learn more about themselves in the role of facilitator. To ground the context of Ecovillages' unique preparedness and practice in such reflections, the training facilitators opened a space to share stories and diversity from a variety of communities.

The experience was vulnerable, expansive, playful, and full of moments for learning. Structure mixed with spontaneity and creativity, and the days passed quickly, though many new connections were made - internally and interpersonally. "There were spaces to laugh and hug, spaces to touch upon scary facets of modernity, spaces to embrace it and expand through connections with others. Spaces of committing to do our share in making the world a better place – in our own steps, no matter how small."

In this time of global unravelling, millions are losing hope that a regenerative, meaningful and just future is even possible. But those of us connected to intentional communities and ecovillages not only know a better future is possible, we’re living it now!

Developing and sharing our personal narratives of living well and lightly with passion and purpose can inspire others to help manifest this (re)emerging story of our being in community with each other and all life.

This event is a transformative approach to dealing with the Climate complexity. An empowering training for Youth Leaders and Facilitators to deepen:
• Inner resilience & capacity to guide charged dialogue spaces
• Session & course design
• Dialogue skills applicable in work, organization, and personal life
• Accessing body wisdom to communicate authentically
• Building capacity for leadership and facilitation
• Creatively responding to challenge
• Facing the urgency of the climate crisis together

The event welcomes participants from the Netherlands, Italy, France, Romania, Switzerland and Germany without age limit per country. First round of applications closes 27th of October.

The European Green Academy is a pivotal gathering for Green actors and engaged citizens from across Europe, providing a unique opportunity to connect, debate, and build capacities.

In the post-EU election context, the academy will be an essential forum to deepen our understanding of the political landscape and to discuss forward-thinking ideas on critical topics such as the Green and Social Deal, Peace & Security, and Democracy.

This 7 day event, organised by the Pocket Project and Kosha Joubert, former director of GEN International, aims to offer a different approach in facing global challenges - taking into account practices of mindfulness, embodiment and trauma-healing.

Do you want to spend some time in an intergenerational community? Do you want your kids to join a worldschooling programm, where they can learn about life and values by doing?

Semillas Monte Alegre (Spain) invites you to two events: 

-19th+20th October: open doors days
-26-27th of October: syntropic introduction workshop and training on nutrition and fermented foods for the entire family

On October 26th, join this transformative event featuring Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti, author of Hospicing Modernity. This session, rooted in the Work That Reconnects, invites participants to explore how we can navigate the unraveling of modernity's structures with compassion, curiosity, and dignity. Vanessa will guide attendees in rethinking personal and collective responses to these uncertain times.

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.