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🔍 Content table

1. News from GEN EU
Sign up for Extraordinary General Assembly, March 28
GA registration open & Gathering tickets sales
GEN celebrates 30 years
National Networks Meeting in the Netherlands
New Ecovillage Podcast episodes live
ECOLISE - General Assembly

2. Project Updates 
GEN Europe is looking for a field researcher in Germany 
Webinar about alternative economic models in rural areas ECOPRISE February Newsletter

3. News from around the network
Volunteering at Sunseed Desert Technology
Article Building Sustainable Future at Ananda Kalyani

3. Trainings & Courses
ECOLISE - Advocacy Training

4. Erasmus + opportunities & ESC
Youth Worker Mobility - Be the Water
Short-term ESC volunteering in Zaježová (Slovakia)

5. Opportunities from beyond the network
RIPESS - Looking Up Tuesdays
Q&A Sessions with Les Pas-Sages

IMPORTANT ACTION REQUIRED 📢

If your community is Full member of GEN Europe, we need you to sign up as soon as possible for the Extraordinary General Assembly on 28th of March (18.00 CET). Check out the e-mail we sent you,  for all relevant info & fill in this form to sign up.

We’re excited to announce that  registrations for this year’s General Assembly (GA) and ticket sales for the 2025 Gathering are now open!

 📍Location: Manas Garden, Hungary
 🏛️ General Assembly (GA): August 9–11            
       (Arrival on August 8)
 🌿 Gathering: August 12–17

As Community Member of GEN Europe, you enjoy access to the General Assembly, as well as reduced ticket prices for the Gathering. You can read about Prices & Cancellation Policy for Delegates & Representatives of GEN Europe members in this post. 

Wondering how to access Registration for General Assembly & Gathering tickets as Ecovillage, Network or Ecoproject member of GEN Europe? Read the e-mail you've also received into your inbox in public view.

Check also your community-inbox from the 4th of March, to read your personalized e-mail on step 1 of registrations. Reach out to membership@gen.europe.org if you cannot find it or need help.

Also check out the official Ecovillage Gathering website!

Join us in celebrating GEN's 30th anniversary! This year marks a very special milestone, and we're excited to share the festivities with you & our friends around the globe.

Learn about GEN's fascinating roots in this article from GEN International.
Throughout the year, we'll be bringing you special content, taking a look back at GEN's history and looking forward to its future.

Most importantly, we want to celebrate with you! Share your (personal) GEN story with us! We'd love to hear about your journey, special GEN moments you cherish, or any other memories you'd like to share. Whether it's in written form, a video, or any other creative format you can imagine, we encourage you to contribute. Need some help getting started? Just reach out – we're thrilled to hear from you!

Each year, the National Network Working Group of GEN Europe organizes their annual meeting to meet, connect, and engage with each other. It is an inspiring space to co-create and ignite new projects that serve our network.

This year in 2025, the National Network Meeting took place in the beautiful project of Hof van Moeder Aarde, in the Netherlands! It brought together representatives from 15 GEN National Networks across Europe: 35 passionate changemakers, each bringing their unique perspectives and experiences to enrich our collective journey for ecovillage culture and project creation.

Read the full report on what we were working on!

Community is the GEN Europe podcast! It’s an exploration of the biggest questions and most inspiring stories of ecovillages and their inhabitants. It’s about what makes us stronger, more resilient, more hopeful, together. We now have 2 new episodes:

• “The Political Aspects of Community Building” with A’ida Al-Shibli
• "The Power of Going Local" with Anja Lyngbaek

You can find them on 🌐our website & on 🎧 Spotify.

As GEN Europe is member of ECOLISE you (as our member) can attend the ECOLISE General Assembly happening on April 17th 2025 (time to be confirmed) either in person by joining the event in Luxembourg or online by participating in the formal GA session in a hybrid format.

As members, this is both an opportunity and a responsibility to engage in network governance, ensuring that ECOLISE serves the network effectively and responds to our needs. If you are interested reach out to membership@gen-europe.org by 20th of March. 

This month GEN Europe participated in the first meeting of the project "Sustain-Ability, shaping GreenComp for the youth field". The goal of this project is to is to increase the capacity of the European youth work sector to implement non-formal education activities by using the European sustainability competence Framework (GreenComp).

In the frame of this project, we are looking for a field researcher based in Germany that will support our researchers core team to map educational initiatives in that country which are using GreenComp, and to conduct focus groups and interviews.

Please share this call with people in your network in Germany that may be interested!

GEN Europe has been invited to contribute to the webinar "Alternative economic models for service provision in rural areas" organised by the consortium that is running the Horizon Europe project SERIGO - Enhancing Resilience, Social Inclusion, and Well-being in rural areas through Social Innovation.

The webinar will happen on
📅 Thursday 3rd of April from 10 to 12 CEST.
🏘️  with Dario Ferraro, our project manager. 

He will talk about alternative economic models for housing and living: rural housing cooperatives, eco-villages, or community-led housing initiatives that provide sustainable, affordable living arrangements, and thus that address inclusiveness aspect, such as facilitating access to housing or supporting the right to housing for vulnerable groups who are typically excluded.

The programme of the webinar will include contributions about different aspects of social economy in rural areas.

📢 You can check the full programme and register for the webinar.

GEN Europe, as partner of the ECOPRISE project, is excited to share an incredible opportunity! Dive into a 12-week MOOC built around UNESCO’s four dimensions of sustainable development—society, environment, culture, and economy.

Don't miss out on insights, updates, and ways to get involved! Read the full newsletter now.

Are you passionate about protecting the environment, tackling climate change, and building a fairer, greener future? Do you want to make your voice heard and take action on the issues that matter most to you and your community?  Then register now for the Advocacy Training of ECOLISE!

We’re thrilled to invite you to ECOLISE’s most important networking event of the year – an inspiring Advocacy Training on Environment and Climate, combined with the 2025 ECOLISE General Assembly. This event will take place from April 14th to 18th, 2025, at the Youth Hostel of Esch-sur-Alzette in Luxembourg.

Registration for the advocacy training (in-person only) and/or ECOLISE General Assembly (hybrid, only for members) is open now until 26th of March 2025.

"BE THE WATER: regenerative hydrology for life resilience" is a project designed for youth workers and the young people they support.

Its goal is to promote an ecological and balanced way of life, combining personal transformation with concrete action for a harmonious coexistence with all living beings.

This 12-day program brings together six European associations and 30 participants, creating an opportunity to strengthen a network committed to ecological transition.

Learn about the event! 🌊

Ekokomunita Sekier, a small permaculture farm within Ecovillage of Zaježová in middle of Slovakia is looking for volunteers for 2 months. Topics are simple life, gardening, animal care, natural building and community support.

📅 14th of April - 6th of July 2025

Read more about the opportunity & apply here!

🌱 Join the conversation on the global food system and its impact! Read more about the event here.

📅 March 11, 2025
🕠 17:30 - 19:00 CET

The 3rd circle of Looking Up Tuesdays Webinars kick off tomorrow! Don’t miss this chance to explore how urban and rural communities can strengthen their food systems through short supply chains.

💡 What’s on the agenda?
✅ Introduction to urban-rural food relationships
✅ Geopolitical power of global food systems
✅ The impact of consumer choices on food sovereignty

📢 Last chance to register!

Les Pas-Sages is our partner on financing sustainable co-living projects. Each friday they invite you to come and ask your questions and find out with the team of Les Pas-Sages what can be your next steps!

Join at one of their welcome Q&A sessions, held every Friday afternoon at 5 PM CET.

Zoom Room 84704352235 Code 007

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