Projects

Yes to Sustainability

Yes to Sustainability is a network of young people and youth workers whose aim is to bring together young people in ecovillages and sustainable projects in Europe. Our vision is of a world in which young people are empowered to create resilient communities, contribute to regenerative cultures, and take care of the planet.

We work towards this by organizing Youth Exchanges and Mobility for Youth Workers such as training courses and seminars. These activities are fully funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ scheme, which means that young people can get closer to sustainability completely cost-free. We also offer support and mentoring to ecovillages, networks, sustainable projects and young people wanting to organize a Youth Exchange.

Today we are a network of young people across Europe. Some of us are based in ecovillages or other sustainable communities, others are still exploring. We’re connected to the Global Ecovillage Network in Europe (GEN Europe), its youth branch NextGEN, and its national networks including RIE, RIVE, and many others.

Learn more at the Yes to Sustainability website.

EC² – Energy Citizenship and Energy Communities for a Clean Energy Transition (2020-2023)

What are the conditions that will facilitate and strengthen energy citizenship for the much-needed transition to a low-carbon society? That’s one of the key questions that the EC² project - Energy Citizenship and Energy Communities for a Clean Energy Transition - will address through three years of in-depth research and co-creation with a diverse range of stakeholders.

The project, funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation grant, is made up of a consortium of 14 partners from 6 countries, coordinated by the Centre for Social Innovation ZSI (Austria).

Taking a multi-disciplinary approach, EC² brings together partners from the fields of law, psychology and economics to define energy citizenship and gain a better understanding of the factors that enable individuals to become empowered energy citizens, and will be enriched by co-creation processes with energy communities and municipalities from all across Europe, including ecovillage partners Arterra Bizimodu and Torri Superiore. To learn more, visit the project website.

WESEEN: EU Networks for Sustainable Future (2020-2022)

European Networks for Sustainable Future is a project for exchange of good practice and peer to peer learning between national networks that connect sustainable communities and community led initiatives from seven European countries. The objective of this partnership is to connect on the regional level and explore possibilities for future regional cooperation.

The aim is to connect these networks regionally to better serve their member organisations by providing high quality trainings and mentoring programs on socio-economic, environmental and cultural topics of sustainability. Each member organisation has valuable experience and expertise in some area that can inspire others. Exchange of experience, knowledge and examples of good practices that will happen during this project will mutually inspire partners to be able to offer even better and more holistic support to their members.

This connection will happen in two separate and fairly diverse European regions. One regional network will be created between GEN Netherlands, Oasis France and Samenhuizen from Belgium. Two organisations from Luxembourg will join this project as associate partners interested to join this new regional network once it will be formed. Another regional network will be formed between three partners who represent countries that are geographically placed on the junction between South and North, and East and West Europe: Permaculture Croatia, Felkelo Nap Hungary and Sunny Hill Slovenia. One Serbian organisation will join as an associate partner in the formation of this regional network.

EcoGamer: Engaging the next generation in sustainability through play (2018-2021)

Find the ecovillage impact assessment and tools for the Game of Regeneration here!

ECO GAMER is an Erasmus+ funded strategic partnership for youth, in the area of cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices. Our consortium is made up of 5 partner organisations, GEN – the coordinating partner – based in Scotland, GEN Europe – Spain, Damanhur Education – Italy, FCIENCIAS.ID – which is a part of the University of Lisbon – Portugal, and Sekem Development Foundation – Egypt.

The project seeks to give young people from diverse backgrounds improved skills and accessible ways to map and assess their local communities with sustainability in mind, and to design, implement and celebrate regenerative local solutions, projects and social enterprises together.

The Ecovillage Game playfully ignites, transforms and activates young change makers to engage in meaningful pathways towards regenerative communities and livelihoods. With creativity, interactivity and active engagement at its heart, ECO GAMER uses an innovatively playful approach to activate and connect youth to build community ‘where they stand’ in ways that also contribute to their sense of purpose and self-esteem. At the wider level, we seek to provide clear access points and resources for young people and sustainable communities working together to identify and implement solutions for a brighter future. Watch out on our website and social media for opportunities to get involved!

BLOOM: Sparking public conversations on the bioeconomy (2018-2021)

BLOOM is a major EU Horizon 2020 project designed to boost European citizens' awareness of the bioeconomy through research and outreach. It brings together partners from across Europe to debate, communicate, and engage the public in the potential of bioeconomy, as well as examine preferences and pathways for the kind of circular bioeconomy we want to see in future.

GEN Europe is the dissemination partner in the consortium. You can learn more about BLOOM on the project website.

Sustainable Communities Incubator Partnership Programme – an Erasmus+ Good Practice Example

Now in its second iteration, the CLIPS programme has become one of GEN Europe's flagship projects. You can read the full project report of CLIPS I on the Erasmus+ website.

A growing number of civil initiatives and grassroots movements all over Europe are creating innovative community-led sustainable projects and new lifestyles in their transition to a more just, sustainable and resilient future. Creating a low carbon society needs active engagement of civil society. This project aims to assist and support groups starting community-led sustainable projects with an adult education response, especially in terms of social skills as it turns out that many projects are failing due to lack of the necessary social and group communication skills. It is created in response to a need for such increased levels of awareness and collaborative practice to spark change and development in a specific, sustainable direction. The project addresses the need for an integrated approach in Education for Sustainable Development that blends ecological, economic, social and cultural aspects in a balanced way.

Bridgedale 360: Toolkit for youth workers

Bridgedale360 is a fun and free online toolkit for youth workers to help inspire young people to live sustainably and become active responsible citizens. It includes games, interactive workshops, experiential activities and much more - a one-stop shop for sustainability education.
Inspired by the knowledge and experiences of the global ecovillage movement, this EU-funded project connected seven partner organisations from seven countries to create an online toolbox to promote youth involvement in sustainability initiatives.

Aims of the tool
We aimed to create activities that are engaging and experiential as well as educational, addressing the ecological, social, economical and cultural sustainability and are building up a capacity for resilient living.

Description of the tool
The design of Bridgedale360 has been largely inspired by the by the experiences and knowledge of the global ecovillage movement, political communes, and many different activist solidarity initiatives. . It covers four dimensions of sustainability: Worldview, Social, Ecological and Economic. Bridgedale360 provides 4 modules (imagine this being a broader theme) for each dimension of sustainability, in total 16 modules. Each module gives the youth worker a short description in a storytelling way of what the theme is about and then provides a list of activities that youth workers can do with their youth group. We aimed to create activities that are engaging and experiential as well as educational. Bridgedale360’s 16 modules are presented as tangible locations and concepts - enter the ‘The Bank’ to explore ethical financial solutions to the current financial crisis, or ‘The Garden’ for sustainable agriculture models. In ‘The Beehive’ you will find systemic approaches to current global challenges.

Offering over 80 experiential activities with which youth workers can inspire youth toward sustainable living and active citizenship, we are addressing the following topics:

ECONOMY
1. Global economy
2. Local economy, economic resilience
3. Share and gift economy
4. Right livelihood

ECOLOGY
1. Waste and closed cycles
2. Energy and construction
3. Food systems and soil
4. Water systems and cycles

WORLDVIEW
1. Body, mind and soul
2. Coming back to nature
3. Art, music and theater
4. Integrative systems design and collective intelligence

SOCIAL
1. Communication and conflict resolution
2. Decision making and meeting tools
3. Community building and group dynamics
4. Leadership, empowerment and education

You can find out more on the project website.