NextGEN Europe
NextGEN Europe is the youth branch of the European Ecovillage Network (GEN), which connects young people around the planet with ecovillage solutions, education, projects, and regenerative living practices
About
NextGEN Europe is a youth-centred platform – the coming together of the younger generations of the ecovillage movement in Europe. It is not only for young people but for anyone who wishes to work with the next generation, also by connecting to the other NextGEN initiatives in all the other GEN Regions.
We see ourselves as a group of young people who are on a journey of learning and acquiring the skills required for the implementation of a sustainability culture in Europe.
We do this through a combination of networking and the initiation and manifestation of new projects.
Our work in 2023
2023 was a busy year for us, during which we…
Helped creating the European Ecovillage Gathering in Germany, co-organizing 4 youth-led workshops & presenting NextGEN at the “Meet the ecovillages” session.
Held an interactive NextGEN workshop to spread our work among youth.
Underwent a powerful Team-Building process using the Dragon Dreaming approach to set our visions and goals for the next years.
Kept growing our Sharing Circle community by hosting monthly calls, moderating a Whatsapp group with over 350 members and sending out occasional newsletters to our Mailing list.
We increased increase our capacity and inaugurated two new positions: the “National Network Coordinator” and the “Project Coordinator”.
Supported the creation of several National Networks around Europe (in Belgium, Germany, Netherlands & Switzerland).
Applied two Erasmus+ projects and started organising our first gathering alongside Yes To Sustainability, which will hopefully become reality in 2025!
Activities and Projects
- Yes To Sustainability is a project that aims to bring together young people from different regions of Europe by organizing Youth Exchanges and Mobility for Youth workers (training courses, seminars, etc.) in various Ecovillages and ecofarms, funded by Erasmus+.
- Sharing Circle: This is an open and safe space for young people interested in GEN to connect. In this Whatsapp group, we share events, projects and knowledge to build a strong European network of youth-focused projects and people promoting the Ecovillage model. We also organize monthly Zoom meetings to connect and explore specific topics around regeneration and ecovillages.
For more details, check the description of the
- Each year, we are present at the GEN Europe Gathering. Our goal is to create opportunities for young people to attend and actively participate in the gathering. Check out this year’s webpage!
We support the creation and development of NextGEN National Networks across Europe:
- Italy: RIVE Giovani is a group of young Italians who met at the RIVE summer gathering in 2017. After that, they decided to write an Erasmus+ Youth Exchange together. They still meet online monthly and are always open to carrying out small projects together.
- Netherlands: NextGEN Netherlands now has its own Instagram account! Youth in the Netherlands are doing amazing work by organising Ecovillage tours, workshops and presentations.
- Community Biogas Moldova (ComBioM) is a project which was developed in partnership with NextGEN Europe. The objective is to develop actions and events for the introduction and adaptation of small-scale community biogas in rural Moldova.
You can support NextGEN Europe with a donation!
It’s very easy:
1) Make a bank transfer to GEN Europe using the following bank coordinates:
Bank details:
RECIPIENT: Global Ecovillage Network of Europe e.V.
IBAN: DE11 1001 0010 0007 6811 05
BIC/SWIFT: PBNKDEFF
REASON: Donation for NextGEN Europe
2) Send a short email to ngen.europe@ecovillage.org to let us know you donated.
In this way, we can add you to our mailing list and show you our gratitude!
Thank you for your support!
Meet Our Team
Luna
Youth Council Link
Tiziano
Communications Coordinator
Alex
Sharing Circle Coordinator
Dijana
Network Coordinator
Julio
GEN Office Link
Filippo
Finance Coordinator
Matteo
Projects Coordinator
Organisational structure
How to get involved ?
You can join our Sharing Circle (request access by emailing ngen.europe@ecovillage.org), our Yes To Sustainability Facebook group and follow our NextGEN Europe Facebook page and Instagram account. To not miss any updates, join our mailing list!
For any further questions or volunteering opportunities, please write to us at: ngen.europe@ecovillage.org.