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Southern Spring/Northern Autumn 2014

Gaian@s Spread their Wings , Globally! May East, Gaia Education Chief International Officer

It’s a warm summer’s evening in January 2006. An eager audience have gathered at São Paulo’s green heart - the Ibirapuera Park - to celebrate the opening of UMAPAZ - University for the Environment and Culture of Peace. The atmosphere is electric, buzzing with keen anticipation of some new unfolding. It was into this the field of pure potentiality which Gaia Education seeded its powerful DNA - the EDE fourfold mandala – in Brazil, giving birth to what later became know as the movement of Gaianos & Gaianas.

The Gaian@s includes people from different fields of service - social and health workers working in the peripheries of São Paulo, urban permaculturists, educators & head-teachers searching for transdisciplinary approaches, ethical entrepreneurs, spatial planners, architects and eco-building professionals, economists & philosophers, environmentalists and food growers. Some are at the centre of the municipal decisions, some at the cutting edge of the urban resilience. This transgenerational and multifaceted group is united in an unwavering willingness to redesign the human presence and the course of development of the Brazilian cities and megalopolis.

After the first EDE at UMAPAZ the programme in Brazil became known as The Gaia and its participants The Gaianos. Year after year groups 101 Gaianos have concluded their learning journey and given new impulses to the fledgling Brazilian sustainability movement. Over the years Gaianos have continued to spread the seeds ofGaia through eight Brazilian states and went onto to organise the vibrant Gaia Home participatory event space at the People’s Summit during the Rio+20 Earth Summit.

As Gaia Education approaches 10 years of transformational EDEs across 34 counties, we are celebrating generation after generation of Brazilian and worldwide Gaian@s and GEESE by launching a new campaign which not only acknowledges the power, gracefulness and fun of flying together, but also encourages further, wider, deeper collaboration across the globe.

Mãe dos Gaian@s

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Welcome to Gaia Education’s Gaian@s Programme! Julia Ramos, Gaia Education Communications Coordinator

WHAT ARE GAIANOS AND GAIANAS?

1. GAIANOS AND GAIANAS have taken part in a certified Gaia Education programme like an EDE or GEDS, where they have found a source of inspiration, and wish to support it as representatives in their own communities.

2. GAIANOS AND GAIANAS are those who are willing to promote a holistic approach to education for sustainable development by doing outreach work to promote Gaia Education programmes and values.

3. GAIANOS AND GAIANAS are change makers that are redesigning the human presence in the world. They inspire others through their actions.

WHAT DO GAIANOS AND GAIANAS DO?

Write articles and blog entries for our different communications channels like Gaia Education Information Newsletter (GIF), magazines, newspapers, blog posts, and web pages.

Give talks on Gaia Education’s programmes and 4 dimensions of sustainability. For this action, Gaia Education assists with materials like presentation cards, Power Point slides, brochures, posters, videos, etc.

Attend sustainability and educational events or conferences to represent Gaia Education, deliver Gaia Education´s brochures, and/or display its publicity at a booth.

Be part of the organising team for an Ecovillage Design Education programme in any country.

Recommend people for GEDS online or EDE on-site courses.

Promote any of Gaia Education’s publications or manuals.

Share Gaia Education´s info and posts in popular social media channels, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, etc.

For more information on how you can become a Gaiano or Gaiana, please visit Gaia Education’s web site.

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Gaia Education launches its Design for Sustainability online courses on its own e -learning platform October 2014 sees Gaia Education enter a new and exciting phase of development as it launches the Moodle platform that hosts its online Design for Sustainability courses in English. This comes after a very successful pilot program in Portuguese, just completed this summer (see story in separate article).

The new platform builds on the experience and success of the same course offered through the Open University of Catalunya (UOC), which will offer it as a Masters Degree program in Spanish in coming years. Gaia Education has administered the English track of the course since 2009. The plan is to also make it a MA degree program at the UOC after the Spanish program is established. More languages will be added as materials and instructors become available.

One great advantage of the new platform is that Gaia Education can offer the course at considerable discounts to participants, while maintaining complete control of content and delivery of the curriculum and activities for learning. As a first offer, people who registered before the August 31st deadline received a 10% discount on tuition. Late registrations will not be penalized; instead the regular price for the course will apply.

Students can register for the full course, offered in two semesters of two modules each, or for independent modules that address the student’s personal interest and growth as a sustainability expert. In order to receive a certificate of completion, students are required to register for the full two semesters and four modules of the course. The virtual campus activities include a team design project based on student presentations followed through all four modules.

Fall classes star on October 21 for the first semester, covering the Social and Ecological modules of the EDE curriculum with instructors Giovanni Ciarlo and Ezio Gori respectively. The second semester starts on February 23 and covers the Economic and Worldview modules with Jorge Mello and Rona Ribeiro.

For more information and to registration visit www.gaiaeducation.net/index.php/en/sustainability-online

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Online Gaia Education Design for Sustainability - GEDS The distance learning course GEDS is based on the four core dimensions of Gaia Education’s Ecovillage Design Curriculum: the social, worldview, ecological and economic dimensions of sustainability.

Drawing on experience and expertise developed in a network of some of the most successful ecovillages and transition settings across the Earth, GEDS is offered by Gaia Education in collaboration with the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.

Whether you’re a student or educator, involved in urban or rural community development, a permaculture enthusiast or an interested business leader, GEDS is of relevance to you.

Gaia Education Design para a Sustentabilidade Programa On-Line em Português Aprenda design para sustentabilidade com experts dos mais avançados laboratórios de sustentabilidade, ecovilas e iniciativas de transição do mundo! Adquira visão sistêmica e competência prática para o redesenho de seu projeto e organização através da comunidade

de aprendizado "Gaiana". Gaia Education on-line em Português oferece módulos em Design Social, Econômico, Ecológico e visão de Mundo enriquecendo as habilidades de agentes de mudança social atuando em contexto urbano ou rural.

Educación a distancia para la Sostenibilidad El curso de educación a distancia de Gaia Education Diseño para la Sostenibilidad, GEDS, está basado en las cuatro dimensiones fundamentales del Programa de Diseño de Ecoaldeas de Gaia Education: las dimensiones social, económica, ecológica y de visión del mundo.

Basado en la experiencia y conocimientos desarrollados en una red formada por algunas de las ecoaldeas y lugares de transición más exitosos del planeta, el curso GEDS se ofrece en colaboración con el Campus por la Paz de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya- UOC.

Ofrecido en inglés como diploma certificado por Gaia Education y en español como curso oficial de posgrado de la UOC, el curso en línea GEDS se puede hacer desde cualquier lugar del mundo y con suficiente flexibilidad para adaptarse a tu estilo de vida.

GEDS English Oct 2014 – Sep 2015 geds@gaiaeducation.net

GEDS Posgrado Español Oct 2014 – Jul 2015 geds@gaiaeducation.net

GEDS Português Out 2014 – Jun 2015 geds-portugues@gaiaeducation.net

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People power in the climate change age May East, Gaia Education Chief International Officer

“Today rain is rarer, weather is hotter, and we have stronger winds and shorter time to grow vegetables…”

This is how a woman addresses the impact of climate change in the Moundouwaye Village in Northern Senegal.

I am in the Podor Region of Senegal on the border with Mauritania, conducting a series of scenario planning activities with the communities of Guédé Chantier, Lahel, Moundouwaye and Diarra for the launch of a three-year food security project. Supported by the UK Government, its purpose is to develop 150 hectares of community land to produce more food more efficiently, and increase the communities’ resilience and capacity to adapt to the advancing effects of climate change. It will directly benefit over 3,000 community members, especially women, by enhancing their agricultural and economic knowledge and skills.

As I travel the region I am advised to read the insightful article by Binyavanga Wainaina on How to Write About Africa, an irreverent take on western attitudes towards Africa and our perceptions of a dark continent ‘hot and dusty with rolling grasslands and huge herds of animals and tall, thin people who are starving.’ My experience reveals nothing of the sort. On the contrary I meet groups of empowered women and farmers proud of their culture, valuing simplicity and extending generosity beyond family links. They cook from the same cooking pot and eat from the same communal bowl. However their once fertile land is drying out…

An elder who holds the memory of the past shares her thoughts with me: “We used to have thick forests with lions, hyenas and elephants behind very tall grass, the rivers were full of crocodiles and we needed company to walk under the stars. Today the forest looks like a skeleton and the animals have left us”.

The agricultural viability of small scale producers in Podor is under threat mainly due to the transfer of the most productive land, from food production for local needs, to export for consumption by the global consumer class. Misguided agricultural policies over the decades have turned their fertile soil by the River Senegal into a barren wasteland resembling a lunar landscape.

But despite the state of the land and the threat posed by climate change, through a series of future scenario gatherings, villagers articulate a positive vision for food and livelihood over the next decades.

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“Conventional agriculture should be completed forgotten, we need to get rid of fertilizers. We want to be free from banks and rely only on our strength”.

The resolve of the president of Guede Women’s Farmers Association reminds me of the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, who once remarked: “Freedom is acquired by conquest, not by gift. It is rather the indispensable condition for the quest for human completion.”

In the industrialised north we are so removed from the land and food that sustains us; consumerism is king. But for the women of Podor, prosperity comes from encouraging self-reliance. Mastering old and new skills to work out the changing patterns of their not so productive land is paramount for their life journey.

We came together in dialogue in order to gain a better understanding of their situation. Community members, including those marginal to decision-making, took part in their visioning for the future. As the conversation deepens, a series of transformational action steps emerge and the flame of empowerment is awakened. For them it is clear, unless they change direction, they are likely to end up on a path of no return.

“If you support people in their livelihoods you give them wings!” says a farmer in Diarra. In his vision, the skills and worldview of the peasant farmer and small-scale artisan are not a problem to be solved by the development planner but an asset to be cherished.

Our task, supporting the communities, is to introduce agroforestry and permaculture approaches, combining both traditional and modern land-use systems in which trees are managed together with crops and/or animal production systems in agricultural settings. Agroforestry in Podor may also enhance ecosystems by storing carbon, preventing deforestation, increasing biodiversity, protecting water resources and reducing erosion. Villagers want to revert the trend of progressive destruction of their life support systems. They want to harness their creative efforts to enable their lands to withstand floods and drought, and climate change. For this to happen the young will collect seeds, men will start fencing, women will engage with soil restoration, communities working together to reclaim their land.

I leave the region with a fresh perspective of Senegal. While in the Global North some are obsessed with consumerism the villagers of Podor carry all the power they need inside themselves to reshape their lives; they have the power to imagine and deliver a better future. And they are richer for it.

Project Based Learning Updates Orissa, India View the Grow Your Own Food presentation of our 2½ year food security project in Orissa, India. Click here!

Banshita, Bangladesh Download the case study: Application of Vermiculture for Community Development: A Case Study of East Khejuriya, Banishanta. Click here!

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EDE Damanhur 2014: An Exciting Learning Adventure Macaco Tamerice

This year the EDE in Damanhur was a very “young” course. Five participants out of 14 were younger than 30, seven from 30-40 and two in their forties. As the last years it was a very international course, people coming from Brazil, Usa, Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Greece, Germany and the Netherlands. Many of the participants had already a very good background in the “green” movement. The people had experiences in the ecovillage world (from participating actively in GEN International and Gen-Europe to periods in different ecovillages) or had a permaculture or spiritual background.

This fact allowed to reach an incredible depth in a very short time and a profound learning experience in all four dimensions, skipping many phases that are usually needed to create a strong group. The social aspect has shown in the previous EDE’s to be the base for a creative and fulfilling learning environment for all four dimensions and this year’s EDE proved this even stronger.

The program saw intensive group processes, explored many social tools from conflict solving to decision making, leadership presence and personal growth. There were a visit and meditation in the Temples of Humankind, the contact to the community of Damanhur through visits, dinners in some nucleos, a brunch with Damanhurians and the presentation of participant’s projects in a Damanhian nucleo to share the participant’s experiences with the hosting community.

One of the highlights was a two day community building experiment in the woods, where the group had to break the former group balance to create a new one and explored what it really means to live and act as a group.

In Damanhur art is very important and the program offers the possibility of self-expression through different forms of art, to experience what it means to create art not only on your own and but also collectively.

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The participants also really enjoyed two field trips, one to see the practical collaboration of a community with the bio region, how an intentional community can interact and share its experience with the wider community, bringing energy and revitalizing abandoned areas with services and art, valorising the tradition often forgotten of the original place. The second trip was accompanied by a wonderful sunny day into the nearby mountains of the Alps to see and try how many eatable plants there are, to understand about their properties and the importance of diversified, local nutrition highlighted by a jump into the waterfall and climbing on the rocks.

Permaculture, appropriate technologies and renewables, alternative building, especially strawbale building, with hands-on experiences both in permaculture and strawbale building were an appreciated counterpart to theoretical learning.

The economy session told us about macro and micro-economy, the importance of complimentary currencies and local economy, talked about green and blue economy and explained how a more fair economy can be created in a community linked to solidarity.

All the different theoretical lessons were followed by design sessions in three different groups, created through a Dragon Dreaming circle that worked on real projects. Several evenings were dedicated to active leadership where the participants held presentations about their projects.

This year the EDE saw a marriage, as two participants celebrated a Damanhurian marriage and the group organized a most creative marriage party.

For many of the participants the EDE in Damanhur was a life changing experience!

The images above are from the stunning, inspiring, brilliant presentation by Leia Marasovich, a participant of Damanhur´s EDE! Learn about Dragon Dreaming, collective wisdom, Sociocracy, Spiral Dynamics, Fundraising and many other interesting topics! View the presentation here: www.slideshare.net/GaiaEducation/ecovillage-design-education-in-damanhur-2014

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Gaia Rio! Diogo Alvim

Between February and August 2014, Terra UNA held the fifth EDE RJ in partnership with the Botanic Garden of Rio de Janeiro and the National School of Tropical Botanic. The class was attended by 60 participants from various Brazilian states.

In 2014 the process has brought a strong sense of belonging as a support to take risks towards the changes each one needs to start in order to unleash their leadership potentials. It seems that’s an important step for us to see Gaia Education principles to spread through actions.

The fifth program has been receiving a positive feedback and a reliable tissue of Gaianos is growing strong. After a sabbatical year, in 2013, we feel that Gaia Education return was very expected and represents a necessary “back home” journey experience for the days we are facing.

However, we are still dealing with the nonexistence of a bridge that can connect the Gaianos after the program has finished. We want to see how the competences acquired during the EDE are becoming new instruments of action and partnerships. We know the EDE impacts deeply everyone as a mile stone in their lives, but yet is unknown how they are weaving the conditions for the long term changes pursue.

Our team is renewed to keep creating the conditions we need to be partners. Our personal and collective spiritual development is a common ground we share and look after. Long life for Gaia Education and thanks for the blisses we are accessing as humans alive nowadays.

GaiaEducation Webinars

Shifting the Global Economy towards Sustainability

Webinar Date: 30 September 2014, 17:00 to 18:00 UTC+2

In this free webinar, Ross Jackson, author of the book Occupy World Street and chairman of Gaia Trust, will put forward an alternative international political/economic model that could deal with the dilemma facing the world community and a concrete strategy to implement it. This webinar will give you:

1. An understanding of the dynamics of global economics and its challenges. 2. An understanding of local economies and strategies for bringing about change in local communities.

Register your participation here: www.fuzemeeting.com/webinar/register/1028438

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Myanmar "Inspired by” EDE Programmes Jane Rasbash

The Tamarind Village and the Lonhaw Village “EDE Inspired by” programmes were carried out in Myanmar. As the country is in a transitional period, people are looking for positive change and responsiveness to sustainable living and sustainable development. With the collaboration from local organizations in Myanmar and the support from Ecovillage Transition Asia (ETA) in Thailand, these courses were organised so that participants would learned about 4 dimensions, Social, Economic, Ecological, and Worldview, of the Ecovillage Design Education curriculum.

The Tamarind Village course was intended to be an experimental program to promote sustainable living in the fields of organic food production, holistic health, green building, conflict facilitation, communication and networking, and sustainable economy.

The Lonhaw Village programme was a short introductory course about Ecovillage Design Education and Eco-Farming with the intention to raise awareness about ecovillages and sustainable ways of living for trainers and alumni of Inle Lake Watershed Project under Kalyana Mitta Development Foundation in Myanmar.

Download the full report from this outstanding programme here.

Organise an “Inspired by” EDE in your country! Visit our Certifications page.

Support GaiaEducation

Inspired by EDE programmes are an abridged version of the EDE programme which explore the feasibility & application of localised EDE material in a region.

It is the generous financial support of people like you which enables us to share our dynamic educational and culturally enriching resources with thousands of people worldwide. Your donations support Gaia Education in its mission to produce and deliver quality curriculum content that prepares participants to undertake the long and challenging road of designing and inhabiting a new human presence on the Earth.

Together we can create a global community of sustainability practitioners made up of diverse voices, collaborative models, and engaging innovative solutions that will help us all achieve a more just and regenerative world.

I want to support the long-term sustainability of the Gaia Education!

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Alumni Case Studies Gaia Education Design for Sustainability - Portuguese (GEDS-Portugues), 2014

Ecovilla Vale Sagrado

Location: Vale Sagrado, Brazil Project Type: Rural ecovillage Students: Antoni Camps, Dilenia Lara Pinto, Iliana Fabrin, Liz María Abi, Mariana Sivieri

A Ecovila Vale Sagrado pretende ser um grande laboratório, uma semente para a nova humanidade que está emergindo. Se queremos criar algo novo é novo e foge aos protótipos existentes, sendo realmente um grande exercício de fé e entrega. Nossa visão é a de viver conforme as leis da natureza, dentro de padrões de justiça, amor, respeito e altruísmo, interagindo de forma harmônica com todos os reinos. Nossa missão é a de criar uma comunidade, nos moldes de uma unidade ecológica auto‐sustentável, contribuindo para o desenvolvimento do Ser Humano integral, promovendo a expansão de talentos, habilidades esabedoria, buscando o equilíbrio sustentável entre as atividades humanas e as necessidades do ecossistema.

Ecovilla Urbana Eliseos

Location: Vale Sagrado, Brazil Project Type: Ecovilla urbana Students: Renata Quelhas, Gabriela Conti, Murilo Simplicio, Fabio Paris

Uma comunidade intencional, sustentável. Traz os conceitos e design de uma Ecovila para um grande centro urbano. Um lugar que é possível usar melhor da nossa energia para trabalhar pela comunidade e para a transição para uma vida sustentável. Um lugar de disseminação, uma Nova Visão de Mundo através da educação. Uma comunidade que busca desenvolver a consciência, aprendizado e respeito ao próximo, encontrando através do consenso, caminhos pertinentes ao bem estar comum, sem afligir a individualidade dos envolvidos. Viável ambientalmente, ecologicamente e economicamente, respeitando a identidade local.

Download this and other alumni Case Studies: www.gaiaeducation.net/index.php/en/case-studies.html

Download this Case Study: http://littlere.wix.com/ecovilaurbana

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Gaia Education Partners Introducing you to some of our long standing and some of our newly formed partnerships with organizations working on sustainable solutions and local community empowerment.

www.gaia.org

gen.ecovillage.org

www.nextgenna.org

outreach.un.org/ngorelations

www.ecolise.eu

www.transitionnetwork.org

www.earthdeeds.org

www.localfutures.org

www.ecohabitar.org

Gaia Education Partner Feature: Permanent Publications Permanent Publications creates practical books full of information to help people create energy efficient, low carbon houses, gardens, farms, ecovillages and communities. With over 50 books in print, from a variety of authors including David Holmgren, Sepp Holzer, Ben Law, Patrick Whitefield, and of course, editors of Gaia Education’s Four Keys to Sustainability - Jonathan Dawson, Ross Jackson, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Kosha Joubert, Maddy Harland, Will Keepin, Robin Alfred, Max Lindegger and Chris Mare. Permanent Publication’s books are available throughout the world in print and all digital format. Permanent Publications are also the publishers of the Permaculture magazine – practical solutions for self reliance.

Purchase Gaia Education's Four Keys to Sustainability, published by Permanent Publications. www.gaiaeducation.net/index.php/en/publications/4keys

www.permanent-publications.co.uk

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GENOA International Conference: Orissa, India 31 Oct to 7 Nov 2014 GEN Oceania & Asia

We are happy to announce that GENOA (Global Ecovillage Network, Oceania & Asia) will hold an International Conference in Orissa, India in November 2014. This is the first regional conference that GENOA organizes and the theme of the conference is Ecovillages for Sustainable Development: A Model for Climate Change Adaptation.

Please join this conference or share this information with your Asian or Oceania friends and networks.

This special event includes 1. NextGEN Gathering: October 23rd - 30th

2. GENOA Conference: October 31st to November 2nd

3. Exposure Trip to indigenous villages: November 3rd

4. Inner Dance Retreat: November 4th - 7th

Details & information: http://genoa.ecovillage.org/index.php/13-news/69-genoa-international-conference-2014

GaiaEducation Certifications

The Certification Round for 2015 EDE Programmes is Open!

Ecovillage Design Education programmes are life changing!! To date, over 190 EDE programmes have been formally Certified or Re-certified in more than 34 countries on six continents since 2005. But still, there are many people wishing to learn more about the holistic approach to sustainability in its 4 dimensions: social, economic, ecological and worldview.

Join the group of empowered Gaianos and Gaianas organising EDE programmes around the world! Visit www.gaiaeducation.net/index.php/certification.html for further information

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Upcoming Gaia Education Programmes around the World Check out the below current and upcoming programmes, plus far more for 2015 on www.gaiaeducation.net!

Gaia Education Online Programme English: Oct 2014 - Sep 2015 Spanish: Oct 2014 - Jul 2015 Portuguese: Oct 2014-Jun 2015 www.gaiaeducation.net

Brazil, Gaia Brasilia 31 Jul - 20 Dec 2014 www.gaiaeducation.net

Argentina, Buenos Aires 16 Aug – 30 Nov 2014 edeargentina.wordpress.com

Denmark, Odsherred Kommune 18 Aug - 15 Nov 2014 www.anandagaorii.dk

Switzerland, EDE Maison Verte 6 Sep - 28 Nov 2014 www.maison-verte.ch

Scotland, Findhorn 4 Oct – 7 Nov 2014 wwww.findhorncollege.org

India, Siddharthvillage 15 Nov – 12 Dec 2014 www.siddharthvillage.com

The Park, Findhorn Forres, IV36 3TZ Morayshire, Scotland United Kingdom

administrator@gaiaeducation.net Phone: +44 131 225 3407 NGO Associated with the Department of Public Information of the United Nations. Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in Scotland No 353967 Scottish Charity No SC040839

www.gaiaeducation.net