GEN EUROPE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2022
Over 40 delegates met in person for the General Assembly on the 4th and the 5th of July. The feeling of connectedness and belonging was warm, and the meaning of the Network has been renewed. After three years of separation, we explored the old and new questions and looked at the strategy for the next few years.
The four present council members held four groups looking for the answers to the following question:
Why is my community/network part of GEN Europe? How can GEN Europe serve my community/network? How can GEN Europe serve the world? Who can be a GEN Europe member? The answers will inform the future of our network. GEN Europe exists for over 25 years, and in this time the world has changed, and GEN members have been the inspiration for many to follow the ecovillage model as a lifestyle aligned with the needs of today.
During the next session, we addressed actual issues of the network, which were brought to question by the delegates: What happened to the community spirit, conflict culture in ecovillages, Gaian politics, the core values of our network, and financial (in)dependency. The session ended with more questions than answers, still, it was good to hear each other and share different views and ideas.
During the official part of the assembly, we accepted GEN Ukraine as a new full member. The power of the network has been shown through their Green Road initiative, which has provided shelter to hundreds of people, who had to fly from their homes in destroyed cities of Ukraine. Abdul Otman has resigned from his position as a council member, and Steffen Emrich has been elected as his substitute for another year. Two new council members were elected to serve for the next three years Teodora Radulescu and Jack Jay Lewin.