Western Europe Ecovillage & Eco-communities Network

News

Building Thriving Sustainable Communities: New Erasmus+ Project Empowers Grassroots Initiatives

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The desire for community living is on the rise, with a strong emphasis on sustainability. However, many of these bottom-up initiatives struggle to navigate the planning stages and achieve their vision. This new Erasmus+ project aims to bridge that gap.exclamation

Cooperative Oasis had launched succesful online trainings for years. GEN-NL and Samenhuizen dreamt of such a tool for their audiences. Together they applied for a Erasmus+ grant to realise this.

The Challenge: From Dream to Reality

While the motivations are strong – fostering social connection, tackling environmental challenges, and creating a meaningful life – only one in ten community projects succeed. Challenges include navigating complex regulations, building strong communication with local authorities, and fostering inclusive decision-making within the group itself.

The Solution: Empowering Communities

This project aims to empower individuals and groups with the tools and methods needed to turn their sustainable community dreams into reality.

An Online Toolkit for Success

The project will create a comprehensive online course packed with resources:

  • Curriculum on how to create ecological and sustainable projects
  • Videos and training materials
  • Online forum for knowledge sharing

This wealth of information, informed by the expertise of the project partners, will guide participants through every step of the process.

Building a Network of Thriving Communities

The project goes beyond simply providing information. It aims to:

  • Inspire people to take action and create viable communities
  • Develop a curriculum for online training courses
  • Facilitate the creation of new learning tools
  • Support existing communities in flourishing

The ultimate goal is to see a significant increase in successful sustainable community initiatives across Europe.

Beyond the Project: A Ripple Effect

This project has a broader impact. By empowering citizen-led initiatives, it encourages active participation in public discourse. Additionally, the focus on sustainability aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), promoting a positive environmental and social impact.

This Erasmus+ project is a powerful step towards a future where thriving sustainable communities become the norm. It will launch September 2024 and run until February 2026. A test run of the online training is expected in fall 2025.

CLIPS-WE training big succes!

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On Sunday, September 24, 2023 we arrived in Stokershorst to follow the CLIPS training.

CLIPS stands for Community Learning Incubator Program for Sustainability. There are twenty-five of us living in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany, who received an invitation to participate through the five participating organizations Habitat & Participation, GEN-NL, Cooperative Oasis, Samenhuizen and Miethäuser Syndicat.

The training was divided into different layers: from the I to the We, and via Intention to Structure and Practice. Time flew by quickly. That’s how it works in a driven group of people who want to learn from each other. One thing was certain: the cook was the secret glue. His meals made everyone happy.

By half way through the training we had become a united cohesive group. Our shared Dragon Dream had taken care of that. We dreamed of communities working together for a sustainable world. That same day we entered into a dialogue with a plant or animal through an exercise from deep ecology. Sociocracy then gave us a clear structure that, in addition to efficiency, transparency and equality, also honors every individual.

On Thursday we received great tools to manage conflicts. They sometimes say that conflict is an invitation to forge deeper bonds. Well, these tools turned out to prove the statement right.

It was an intensely beautiful week with a fantastic final party. So many talents and so many possible follow-up projects!

This was a week that longed for more, that brought hope and courage for the future. Thank you all. See you later!

Sofie Baeke

Grant application for e-learning course submitted

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Before you can make the real magic happen… you sometimes have to write grant applications! During the last months, Samenhuizen, GEN-NL, and Coóperative Oasis worked together on a proposal. We want to build stronger communities by creating an online course for effective community building, similar to the MOOC that Coóperative Oasis already has.

The application was sent today, more than 12 hours before the deadline, so that was a first success! In June we’ll receive news if this project is selected.

Un observatoire scientifique pour mesurer l’impact des oasis

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Auteur: Journal Oasis, by Coopérative Oasis
Le 10 novembre dernier, la Coopérative Oasis lançait avec l’ADEME son Observatoire scientifique de la vie en écolieu en proposant 4 études inédites sur les oasis dont voici quelques résultats :

Le Bilan Carbone de la Vie en Écolieu (Cabinet BL évolution)
Info-clé : Les personnes qui vivent en oasis émettent 2 fois moins de CO2 qu’un français moyen.

RCI-E, indicateur de Capacité Relationnelle appliqué au écolieux (Campus de la Transition)
Info-clé : 85% des membres des écolieux font confiance à la plupart des gens contre 30% dans la population française générale.

La contribution des Oasis au Mouvement des Communs (Anne Lechêne)
Info-clé : Les oasis explorent des pratiques innovantes pour incarner le paradigme des communs, notamment sur le rapport à la propriété, le respect des générations futures et de nouveaux modes de gouvernance.

Les résultats complets de tous ces travaux sont disponibles en ligne.
Découvrir l’ensemble des études: https://cooperative-oasis.org/observatoire

CLIPS training selected for funding!

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Earlier in 2022 the partners from GEN-WE, together with Mietshäuser Syndikat applied for a Erasmus+ grant to organise a CLIPS training in the Netherlands. This project was not selected immediately, but we just received news there is some reserve budget left! Of course we still want to make this happen.

We will first look for a community that can host 28 people for this event and then plan the programme. Each partner can select 5 participants for this training. More details later.

Already curious about CLIPS? Have a look here!

Trainings should be fun!

Partner meeting in the Netherlands

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From 5 to 9 October, all the partners from the ‘WESEEN’ Erasmus+ project will meet for an evaluation meeting in the Netherlands.

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