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GEN Europe

Global Ecovillage Network Europe

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What is an ecovillage?

Ecovillages are a manifestation of conscious human innovation and creativity: groups of people living out their principals, regenerating their environment, and increasing their sense of belonging and purpose as a community.

ZEGG, Germany
Lilleoru, Estonia
Nature Community, Germany

An ecovillage is an intentional, traditional or urban community that is consciously designed through locally owned, participatory processes in all four areas of regeneration (social, culture, ecology and economy) to regenerate their social and natural environments.

Ecovillages come in all shapes and sizes, and can be found across the world: from traditional villages using age-old techniques, to modern settlements built with the latest in ecological innovations. Explore our map to find out if there’s an ecovillage near you!

…and what isn’t an ecovillage?

Each ecovillage is unique and there is no one strict definition of an ecovillage. However, there are some groups that are not ecovillages, including…
  • Families living together: family may often feel like community – but the intentional process of ecovillage creation goes beyond the nuclear family.
  • Religious groups: an ecovillage might have different religious beliefs, but this is not what defines them as an ecovillage.
  • Sects or cults: a cult may have charismatic and unaccountable leadership and be based around coercive practices. In contrast to this, participation and shared leadership are defining elements of ecovillages.

Statement of Tolerance

GEN Europe promotes community life and the four dimensions of sustainability, in line with our vision and mission. Through our membership process, we welcome member ecovillages whose values align with ours.
Our values are important to us. We are aware that there may be organisations or groups of people that interpret parts of our texts, publications, the name and definition of an ecovillage, or our website and use them for the promotion of ideas or actions that are not in line with GEN Europe’s vision, mission and values. These are not members of GEN Europe and not considered part of the network.
We are tolerant of the diversity of viewpoints within our movement; however, we condemn and distance ourselves from any group or individual that (un)intentionally harms, or promotes harm to, other individuals or groups. Examples of initiatives we actively distance ourselves from are:

  • Far right and extremist political groups/movements
  • Individuals or groups that practice or espouse discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, sexuality or gender identity
  • Individuals or groups that engage in anti-democratic practices

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Become a Friend of GEN

Donating funds to GEN is a tangible way to contribute to this concrete and dynamic movement for positive change. Your donation helps to support and to spread ecovillages around the world.

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Join our Newsletter

Subscribe to our quarterly Newsletter and be the first to hear about the latest news, jobs, opportunities and events from GEN Europe and our member ecovillages around the continent.

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Become a Member

Individuals, organisations and ecovillages can all become members of GEN Europe. Find out how to join and discover our membership benefits, from discounted gathering tickets to special resources and events.

Become a Member

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Our Vision

GEN Europe envisions a conscious, resilient and sustainable Europe where ecovillage and community values and lifestyles are widely adopted.

We do this by building bridges between communities, inspiring and training to enable the creation of new ones, and influencing policy and the public through the promotion of ecovillage solutions as part of the transition to a more resilient society.

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All content on this site is licensed under under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Privacy policy | Impressum | Global Ecovillage Network of Europe e.V. is a German registered charity no. VR 8572 P

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