If you are seeking to deepen your commitment to the European ecovillage movement, and would like the chance to become involved in shaping its future, why not consider joining a GEN Europe working group?
We want to help unlock the gifts of our members in service to our shared vision of a widespread and vibrant network of urban and rural communities & ecovillages all across Europe.
We invite members to join working groups to forge deeper connections with the network and collaborate on exciting projects to help our movement grow. There are working groups growing across all aspects of the organisation, so there are many chances to share your skills.
Membership of the groups is on a voluntary basis and offers the chance to deepen your involvement in GEN Europe and be part of shaping and delivering our strategy.
Governance
The mandate for the GEN Europe Governance Working group is to come up with different strategies and proposals on how to implement and practice sociocracy in GEN Europe. If you have practical experience with sociocracy, join the Governance group to help us shape a truly collaborative, effective organisation.
Policy and Advocacy
Do you want to be on a team that is working for greater impact of ecovillages on European society? Do you see a unique role of GEN Europe in the global ecovillage movement? Do you have contacts, experience and/or energy for working with and influencing governments, politicians, the UN and EU structures? If so, this is your chance to connect with like-minded ecovillagers from around Europe, and use your skills to help influence power structures with GEN’s message on the wider world.
Communications
Are you passionate about spreading the word about ecovillages in Europe? Do you have ideas about how we can better connect our members? Are you the one who’s always taking photos at every community event, or bubbling with ideas to write an article afterwards? If so, this is your chance to connect with like-minded ecovillagers from around Europe, and use your skills to help spread GEN’s message and improve how we connect with our members and the wider world. Join the Communications working group, and help GEN's story soar.
Projects
For many organisations, projects form the building blocks of the work they do - and GEN Europe is no different! Almost everybody at some point in their lives has ‘rubbed shoulders’ with a project, whether they know it or not. Perhaps they have experienced first-hand the buzz of doing actual project work, or that light-bulb moment when an idea springs to mind, or even just by leisurely clicking through the GEN Europe website; then you’ve had an encounter with a project. Projects shape our lives, some would say. But if projects are everywhere, why are they so hard then? We have all heard stories of the stress, deadlines, lack of resources, communication meltdowns and everything else that can and often go wrong in a project. We at the Projects Working Group would like to think differently about the projects we do, how we do them and how we activate their potential to transform the people who work on them as well as the organisations and movements they are for. In some ways, we would like to re-imagine projects as the uplifting, and empowering pow-wow’s that they ought to be.
We want to come up with strategies that will make us hand-pick and go for the best ideas, and to decide on methods for their most efficient delivery and greatest impact, while matching them up with the needs of the network. If you are the creative type and you have that bright idea that’s yearning to come to life, then the Projects WG is the place for you. And if you are a people person and know how to motivate, organise, give structure, plan and execute, and troubleshoot, then let this be your light-bulb moment to join the Projects Working Group too!
Our proposition is to build up GEN Europe’s capacity to identify project opportunities, apply for funding, allocate the necessary resources and coordinate and manage the workload and deliverables, and monitor and evaluate project impact. We would like that WG members feel empowered through continuous and supportive development, for both technical and interpersonal skills.
Youth
NextGEN Europe is a youth centered 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 are actively looking for more involvement from youth within the GEN family to be part of one of the following circles that comprise the working group.
National Networks
Get involved in a platform for supporting GEN Europe's national networks and promoting collaboration. Our goal is to strengthen the National Network structure within GEN and in the countries, for both existing and emerging networks; to cultivate the art of conscious collaboration in networks; and to promote a sense of belonging, shared values, experiences, challenges and successes.
Fundraising
The Fundraising group has the exciting task of creating a strategy to enhance GEN Europe's financial sustainability and ensure participation of the widest possible range of people in GEN Europe activities. Are you up for the challenge?
Events
Would you like to help GEN Europe members organise GEN Europe Events? Do you like helping to plan and promote events or providing support to others who work in the organisation of local events? We are a team who supports GEN members by giving consultancy, advice and ideas to help create new events or align already existing GEN Europe Events within a common framework, according to GEN values.
IT
Would you like to improve GEN Europe's IT infrastructure? Are you tech savvy or would you like to learn and offer your time and energy? GEN Europe promotes Open Source, self hosted software.
