Dear friends,

We hope by now you have seen our first invitation to join the 2018 GEN Europe Conference: The Wisdom of Conscious Communities. In the inspiring surroundings of Lilleoru, Estonia, hundreds of representatives of communities – as well as those curious to learn more about our way of life – will come together to share their wisdom, to network, to dream new projects and create lasting bonds. We hope to see you there!

As every year, the conference is a co-created event. That means that absolutely everyone is warmly invited to take this special opportunity to share their gifts, be it a hands-on bioconstruction workshop, an ecstatic dance session, a forum for debate…

This year the thread that will weave together the many strands of this exciting gathering is our theme: The Wisdom of Conscious Communities. We know that ecovillages are some of the richest veins of creativity, practical knowledge, and spiritual wisdom in the world today, so we invite you to consider how your workshop could really bring out this theme. But you don’t need to be an ecovillager to give a workshop!

The programme will also have a strong connection to the four dimensions of sustainability – the social, economic, ecological and cultural – so consider how what you can offer links to one of these dimensions.

Ready to submit your workshop? Fill in the form now!

The deadline for submitting workshops is April 1st. Please be prompt in submitting your workshop – we cannot guarantee a place for everyone in the programme!

Ecovillage Sustainable Technology Expo – ESTExpo

As in previous years, we also invite members of ecovillages to bring, and/or give a presentation or a workshop about technologies from their communities that they are using to tackle local or global problems. Last year we saw a biogas digester, solar charging station, home-built wind turbine, and more! If you would like to join E.S.T.Expo please fill this form as well.

What else can I do?

If, like us, you can’t wait for July, there’s plenty of ways to get involved in the meantime! Besides planning a workshop, you can also…

• Spread the word: the conference is for everyone – from community members, to those who have never visited an ecovillage, but are curious about different ways of living and caring for one another and the planet. So let’s spread the word as far as possible – why not share one of our graphics or posts on social media?

• Use your connections: do you know of a large event happening in your country where people might be interested to hear about the conference? Do you have connections with newspapers, magazines, blogs or websites who would publish an interview or article? Contact us and find out how we can connect!

• Prepare for Meet the Ecovillages: after the success of last year’s Meet the Ecovillages event (check out a little video taster here), we hope this year to have an even richer taste of ecovillage life from across Europe. Will you bring produce from your community, a dance, a play, an art exhibition? Start thinking about how you can showcase your community now.

• Get ready for the eco-market: we know ecovillagers are a talented group of makers, craftspeople, writers, chefs… so once again we’ll be running the daily eco-market, a chance to gift, sell, buy or trade handmade items, books or information material from your ecovillage. What will you bring?

Warm regards,

Mariana, Ave, and the GEN and Lilleoru conference teams

PS: if there’s one thing you can do right now: forward this message to your community and your networks – let’s tap into the wisdom of conscious communities!

You can also invite your friends on Facebook.

The post Call for workshops: An invitation to co-create the European Ecovillage Conference appeared first on P2P Foundation.