We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the members who joined us for ECOLISE’s annual General Assembly held online on Friday the 12th and Saturday the 13th of May 2023.

After an intense journey since 2021, we have learned a lot and are moving forward with renewed positive energy. There is a sense of spring, of new opportunities opening. We are very excited about the new pathways presenting themselves!

During the GA, the network came together, approved all the necessary documents, and welcomed four new member associations into our collective adventure:

• ECON; European Community Organizing Network
• Ripess Europe; the European branch of the Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of the Social Solidarity Economy
• Jalotus; Kestävän elämän yhteisö, the Transition Hub Finland
• CEI-Iscte; the Center for International Studies, a multidisciplinary research center of the University Institute of Lisbon

Thank you very much to all those who have contributed to our shared adventure over the past. Your dedication and support have been essential in our development and success!

During the General Assembly, we also held our formal voting session for the Council election. Four current members retained their seats, and we had three candidates for 1-3 available positions. All candidates were approved and bring in a stronger feminine leadership. Please join us in welcoming the (re)newed Council members (find profiles on the website) and wishing them a wonderful collaborative experience:

• Kate Munro from Scottish Communities Climate Action Network - newly elected
• Merushe Zeneli from PVN Albania - also newly elected
• Leonor Afonso from GEN Europe - elected to serve for a second term

and expressing our gratitude for the service of continuing Council members:

• Mieke Elzenga, co-president, from GEN Europe and Liberta Care Foundation
• Claudian Dobos, co-president, from Romania in Transition
• Justin Stevens from Arkbound Foundation
• Lina Cirvinskiene from Baltic Ecovillage Network

We are continuing the ECOLISE’s policy flagship project, the 10 theses towards transformative community-led local development policies, and are calling you and your organization to advocate for community-led initiatives to localise and improve the European Green Deal. You can find an overview of the consultation process and more information in the policy event slides. 

• Become a partner for the 10 theses say "yes" to the consultation process (as outlined in the partnership concept) and commit to communicate ECOLISE’s main policy event (online/hybrid), which is planned for the end of October 2023 (date TBC) amongst your members and networks via mailings, social media posts and website. Fill in the partner form here.
  
• Participate in the deepening phase of the 10 theses to identify key leverage points and shape political demands and messages towards European policy makers to strengthen multi-level governance, localisation, and community-led action. This entails 4 online co-working calls of 2 hours each, in June and September, altogether 8 - 12 hours time investment. 
  

Friday, 9 June 1 - 3 pm CEST (key arguments & political demands)

Wednesday 14 June 3 - 5 pm CEST (key arguments & political demands)

Wednesday 6 September, 4 - 6 pm CEST (key narratives)

Thursday 14 September; 4 - 6 pm CEST (concluding workshop)

We are also happy to announce that the editorial board of the #10theses process is ready - with a strong representation of ECOLISE members who will contribute to the key messages and key demands which we will present at our main policy stakeholder event in October (time TBC, online).

Join us for an engaging online workshop where we will explore the power of digital strategies in fostering and nurturing communities.

We are thrilled to have Chacho Puebla as a guest speaker. A visionary creative director and artist, he has made an indelible mark on the world of advertising. With his exceptional talent for blending artistic creativity with the power of digital innovation, Chacho has significantly reshaped brand strategies in the digital era. He has recently undergone an ideological transformation, aiming to leverage mainstream tools to promote and communicate initiatives and projects that foster a fairer world in harmony with nature, which he does from Felicidad Collective.

During this interactive CfF session, we will use this year's European Day of Sustainable Communities as a case study. We will reveal the campaign video and strategy, as well as techniques to attract, engage, and retain community members in the digital landscape.

You will discover innovative approaches to leverage social media, content creation, and storytelling to cultivate a sense of belonging and foster authentic connections within your online community.

This workshop is a must-attend for nonprofit professionals and anyone passionate about community-building. Don't miss this unique opportunity to learn from Chacho Puebla and gain the knowledge and inspiration to take your community engagement to new heights.

ECOLISE members attended the Beyond Growth Conference, both in person and online, which ECOLISE was delighted to be a supporting partner of. The event was held at the European Parliament from the 15th to the 17th of May. This groundbreaking event, initiated by 20 Members of the European Parliament, brought together over 5,000 esteemed researchers, passionate activists, engaged citizens, and visionary politicians.

Called by some the "Woodstock of E," the conference boldly challenged the prevailing paradigm of endless economic growth and highlighted the urgent need to transcend GDP growth as the sole measure of societal well-being. Instead, it advocated for a profound shift toward prioritizing collective well-being, recognizing the existence of planetary boundaries and the need for social justice to drive transformative change.

For a comprehensive overview of the conference's most notable highlights, an array of valuable resources, and an exploration of the next steps, we invite you to read the full article. Discover how this historic gathering not only sparked crucial conversations but also laid the groundwork for community-led transformative policies that can shape the trajectory of our societies.

The European Commission has proposed a new law to restore ecosystems for people, the climate and the planet... Help is needed to make it happen.

The European Commission has proposed a Nature Restoration Law, with binding targets for nature restoration and protection within the EU - a historic first and a crucial necessity. It is meeting resistance. A strong alliance of non-governmental organisation and other non-state actors are demanding this law goes through. ECOLISE calls for action on this critical area.

Why is this so urgent now? This pioneering proposal is now under discussion on EU levels, in a “trilogue” between Council, European Parliament and the Commission – with the aim of reaching a final decision by the end of this year.

And here are the bad news: Two out of three European parliament’s responsible committees for the discussion have said “no” to the proposal, without even considering “only” changing details (as it is usually the case): The Committee on Fisheries as well as the Committee on Agriculture rejected the proposal – driven by the conservatives.

ECOLISE has joined a strong alliance of non-governmental organisation and other non-state actors demanding this new law is made. Take action:

• Sign the manifesto and write an email directly to your MEP.
  
• Join the conversation about #RestoreNature on Twitter
  

Decolonizing the Solidarity Economy and Commons: Enacting the “Pluriverse”
Venue: Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisbon, Portugal
Date: 8th to 10th of November 2023

The main theme for the 2023 edition of the international conference “Social and Solidarity Economy and the Commons” is the emergence of a “pluriverse” in the fields of solidarity economy and the commons. This results from the aggregation of diverse epistemologies, narratives, and strategies for social transformation that criticise and deconstruct the downsides of modernity as a social project. For Mignolo and Escobar (2010), these include a “disembeddedness”, resulting from a “marginalization of place (the here and now of social action) in the definition of social life” (p. 36). It also includes a “domination and disenchantment that came about with secularization and the predominance of instrumental reason to the normalization of life and the disciplining of populations” to “the extreme economization and technification of the world”.

We invite researchers and practitioners to submit proposals for contributions to the conference. We aim to promote interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives at both theoretical, conceptual and methodological levels. Submissions might be based on formal research or on concrete activist, economic or public policy initiatives.

In Barcelona Anna Louise Gurney offered the first of two training sessions on Doughnut Economics with the "SPARK a change" project two weeks ago. The sessions with the local community in the Poble Sec neighbourhood look at the best examples of how cities are using the model and what is happening in Barcelona. In the first session16 people shared ideas about what a Regenerative economy can look like, including ideas of distributive design, ecological design, and where circular economy fits in.

Last weekend the training was delivered at a gathering of ecological organisations in a rural permaculture project outside of Barcelona. In the group of 20 there were people from Extinction Rebellion, Ecologistas en Acción and other groups. After the introduction session this training focused on the questions about how businesses can use the model and the deep questions that are asked using the “Power to Act” tool. There were passionate discussions about how best to use the model, and the idea of community level change compared to a feeling of urgency to bring down capitalism.

The most important element of these trainings is that more and more people know and understand this model, see it in action and recognise that the alternatives and tools exist.

Next step - The same training adapted to schools and education! Anna is running the training with groups of International Baccalaureate (IB) students in mid-June.

There were thousands of applications for the EU SDG Award 2023. A public vote reduced that number to 91 finalists and on 25-5-2023 17 winners were chosen by a thorough jury. ECOLISE member Ecodorp Boekel was chosen as the winner of SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities.

That is an incredibly great honour and a clear recognition that eco-villages are the forerunners of the sustainable transition.

#AtlasOfUtopias OUT NOW! The #TransformativeCities compilation of local utopias from all across the globe has been revised and updated: 40 communities from 34 cities and 23 countries. Check it out!

Transformative Cities is a platform facilitated by several international partners of international civil society organisations and social movements, that includes ECOLISE.

“Utopia lies at the horizon. When I draw nearer by two steps, it retreats two steps. If I proceed ten steps forward, it swiftly slips ten steps ahead. No matter how far I go, I can never reach it. What, then, is the purpose of utopia? It is to cause us to advance.” 
- Fernando Birri, quoted by Eduardo Galeano

Global Degrowth Day 2023 happened on June 3rd. Again, many different public events all over the world were organised to share alternatives to a growth based society. They want to show: A good life for all is possible! This comes soon after the recent “Woodstock moment” Beyond Growth Conference in the European Parliament, which had a very large Degrowth contingent.

All people, groups, organizations and movements that feel connected to the idea of a good life for all were asked to participate. local actions and events were created that showed alternative ways and ideas leading beyond a society that relies on economic growth. The Degrowth community want to make these ideas visible for as many people as possible. This global action day helps to connect different existing initiatives to be part of a colorful and diverse movement for degrowth. Degrowth Portugal’s Lisbon event happened in Linda-a-Velha.

Together with Gaia Trust, GEN developed the Hildur Jackson Award, a €3,000 annual prize that supports and honours projects around the world that demonstrate regenerative best-practices in all dimensions of sustainability.

The prize is awarded to projects bringing the most impactful inspiration about ecovillages/ecovillage lifestyles to a broad audience.

The “ReGENerative Communities for All” (ReGEN4All) Project's first colloquium happened on May 30th. It was a fantastic event full of both practical stories and much emotion. Rosemary Morrow (Permaculture for Refugees - P4R), Iryna Kazakova and Anastasiya Volkova (GEN Ukraine - Green Road project), Camilla Nielson-Englyst (Hallingelille Ecovillage - Danish Ecovillage Network), Dorthe Varning Poulsen (University of Copenhagen) and Kadjosi Matabishi (Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya) discussed the topic of Ecovillages and Refugees, sharing their work and life experience.

Questions explored included;

• How can one bring Permaculture design and Ecovillage practices to refugee camps?
• How is the experience of hosting refugees in Ecovillages OR being a refugee in an Ecovillage?
• What about conducting academic research on these topics?

ReGEN4All partners are GEN Europe (represented by GEN Research), ISCTE-IUL (Center for International Studies / University Institute of Lisbon), ECOLISE and LOES, the Danish Ecovillage Network. 

Tickets are now available for this year’s Festival of Permaculture (22-24th September) and Educators’ Gathering (22nd September) at  Lambourne End Outdoor Learning Centre in Essex. 

The Festival of Permaculture is organised by Permaculture Association Britain and is their annual national gathering to celebrate Earth Care, People Care & Fair Shares. Join them for a weekend of practical workshops, talks, activities and music to inspire change and find solutions using permaculture ethics, principles and design tools. 

We invite you to visit the resources section of our website, where you will find very valuable information and learning materials. From publications and webinars to podcasts and courses, these resources will keep you up-to-date and will be useful for your ongoing development.