The ecovillage La Cité Écologique, is located in Quebec, Canada. Since 2015, the learning centre team has been offering an EDE course. Due to covid-19, the programme was adapted to online in 2020 and in 2021 they were ready to offer an official certified EDE.

Participants where coming from a various background, including professionals, students, and self employed. Some were interested in forming or joining a community. Two are now starting an internship on the farm, and two are ready to start their co-housing community. One participant was taking the course for a second time in order to eventually offer some community workshops and one designed her dream community. The facilitators where able to accompany them through the multiple facets of community life inspired by their unique ecovillage experiences.

Main highlights included workshops about fair-trade, organic farming and promotion but also the first week closing circle where they were able to share about their experience as if they were actually sitting together.

The fall 2019 Holistic Sustainability Semester was a 3-month experience in which students took classes three days per week in five sides of sustainability – personal, social, ecological, worldview and economic. They lived in the 30-year-old residential aspiring ecovillage for the duration experiencing what comes up as part of community life. Lost Valley runs one semester each year and having student energy onsite is a highlight for the 30-40 year-round residents.

Connections with the onsite community, as well as immersion in 35 hectares of lush Oregon woods, are a rich addition for students, part of what differentiates this program from most courses.

This particular semester went very smoothly and felt good to all parties involved (students, residents, organizer, and instructors).

Inkiri Piracanga is located in the south of Bahia, Brazil, and has about 150 inhabitants and receives an average of 2 thousand visitors per year for the various activities offered at the Centro Inkiri Piracanga. The intentional community has 33 people that are dedicated and committed to the Inkiri dream and work in diverse areas such as: Nature, Education, Arts, Self-knowledge and Food, through the development of 20 projects that make up a non-profit community organisation legally called Inkiri Institute. Among the practices carried out in the community, a highlight is the environmental management that has been developed.

The purpose of Gaia RS 2018, mentioned above was co-created with 7 women who started the dream of rescuing this movement in Rio Grande do Sul, after 7 years, where the last Gaia happened in the state. The 7-woman team process lasted 9 months, during which all administrative activities were carried out until the launching. After ten months there was a reflection considering several factors, and the team was restructured with only 4 members which led to closure with great fluency and dedication.

Our summer EDE course was, once again, a success! Offered by the C.A.P. Eco-Community team at the ecovillage La Cité Écologique in Quebec, the program ran from July 6th to August 6th. This month-long ecovillage immersive course optimally accompanied participants in the design of their project. Throughout the training, the concept of sustainability has been visited through practical workshops, theoretical classes and study time sessions. All learning was integrated into the development of a new ecovillage project: ‘Coeur d’enfant’, a village for multigenerational learning activities and explorations.

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El EDE es un viaje transformativo de un mes, dónde se activa una comunidad de aprendizaje en acción, un compartir de saberes y experiencias. Es un programa muy completo y bien diseñado partiendo por la ecoalfabetización con la dimensión ecológica, entendiendo y asiendo sentidos juntos de todos los sistemas que nos sostienen, aprendiendo a observar nuestros entornos, analizarlos para así a través del diseño poder transformarlos en un lugar de sinérgicas interacciones. Todo un desafío creativo, encontrando soluciones, conectado con el mundo de los patrones, conceptos y detalles de un diseño de paisajes.

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This 5-week programme includes the entire contents of the Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) and Earth Activist Training (EAT) from April 27 – May 13 with Starhawk and Charles Williams, which then is followed by another 17 days of immersed learning with Brandy Gallagher to complete the EDE curriculum. This course is designed and facilitated as an immersed learning experience. Participants are guided to co-create space in participatory lectures, discussions, videos, slide-shows, field trips, hands-on activities, co-design exercises and a final design project.

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This is the third EDE program we have hosted in recent years, each one under the name Holistic Sustainability Semester and granting the EDE and Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) upon completion. The host site is a non-profit sustainability education center, aspiring ecovillage of 29 years, and small conference center. The location is in a rural area 30 minutes outside Eugene, Oregon, USA.

Inla Kesh is an intentional community in the highlands of Chiapas, in the south east of Mexico. We dreamt of carrying out an Ecovillage Design Education Course and started a path of two years, contacting EDE trainers in our country and studying deeply the contents of the Gaia Education curriculum. Inla Kesh, the host site of the EDE course, with 17 Spanish speaking participants, 10 facilitators and 8 supporters, was our home for the program. People came from Nicaragua, Peru, Italy and all over Mexico.

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Inkiri Piracanga is located in the south of Bahia, Brazil, and has about 150 inhabitants and receives an average of 2 thousand visitors per year for the various activities offered at the Centro Inkiri Piracanga. The intentional community has 33 people that are dedicated and committed to the Inkiri dream and work in diverse areas such as: Nature, Education, Arts, Self-knowledge and Food, through the development of 20 projects that make up a non-profit community organisation legally called Inkiri Institute. Among the practices carried out in the community, a highlight is the environmental management that has been developed.

Download the report here

This month-long ecovillage immersive course optimally accompanied participants in the design of their projects. Throughout the training, the concept of sustainable development has been visited trough practical workshops, theoretical classes and study time sessions. All learning were integrated into the development of two concrete new ecovillage related projects: “Ainés-Écolos”, a village for elderly, and “AcuaPROnie”, an aquaponic coop.

O Bairro Demétria surgiu a partir do primeiro projeto de comunidade de agricultura biodinâmica no país. Hoje é um complexo que envolve iniciativas e condomínios residenciais que abrigam cerca de 1000 habitantes. Para atender os pioneiros e os filhos dos agricultores que chegaram em 1974, surgiu, em 1984, a Escola Aitiara, que pratica a educação Waldorf e atende em torno de 400 alunos, do bairro, das regiões vizinhas e da cidade de Botucatu.

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After the success of last year’s EDE, The Cité Écologique in Québec, Canada, was proud to host their second EDE, where courses were given in French. Notre programme en Éducation au Développement d’Écovillages (EDE) a de nouveau été ouvert au public francophone lorsque La Cité Écologique au Québec a tenu sa deuxième série de cours, entre le 8 juillet et le 8 août 2016. Ce parcours d’un mois d’immersion en écovillage a pourvu les étudiants d’un accompagnement optimal lors de la réalisation de leurs initiatives éco-communautaires.

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The first EDE offered in French was carried out in Canada. Le premier cours francophone en Éducation au Développement d’Écovillages (EDE) du Canada a été offert par le CAP Éco-Communautaire à la Cité Écologique du 10 juillet au 10 août 2015. Cette immersion d’un mois en écovillage a donné la chance aux participants d’être outillés afin de réaliser leurs initiatives éco-communautaires.

The Ecovillage Design Education programme at Gaia Ecovillage took place in February 2015. The course was organised in 18 days of theoretical and demonstrative presentations and practices to integrate theory, covering a total of 144 hours. It involved 28 people of different ages from the most varied backgrounds. The Gaia Ecovillage works as an egalitarian community with a consensus systems government and shared economy. It functions primarily as a Living and Learning Centre, where people from around the world come to incorporate practical tools clues about permaculture.

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The veteran programme Ecovillage Design Education EDE took place in El Manzano, Chile in January 2015. There were 19 participants from seven different countries who gathered together willing to co-create a course, as well as a new temporary community and a new way of learning. Since its inception, the EDE has stood for a profound transformation in a time of change. This is an opportunity to learn and unlearn everything in order to get back to the real world, reborn.

The Ecovillage Design Education programme at Gaia Ecovillage took place in February 2015. The course was organised in 18 days of theoretical and demonstrative presentations and practices to integrate theory, covering a total of 144 hours. It involved 28 people of different ages from the most varied backgrounds. The Gaia Ecovillage works as an egalitarian community with a consensus systems government and shared economy. It functions primarily as a Living and Learning Centre, where people from around the world come to incorporate practical tools clues about permaculture.

The Ecovillage Design Education programme at Gaia Ecovillage took place in 2014. The course was organised in  days of theoretical and demonstrative presentations and practices to integrate theory, covering a total of 150 hours. It involved 55 people of different ages from the most varied backgrounds.

Programa multidimensional de aprendizaje activo, que involucro un grupo comprometido y muy diverso, compartiendo experiencias que los  inspiro a rediseñar sus vidas.
Desde una perspectiva sistémica para la evaluación, el planeamiento y desenvolvimiento de la sustentabilidad integral, ofrecimos ejemplos de diseño regenerativo y modelos de vida sustentables aplicables a distintos hábitats, proyectos en marcha, emprendimientos colectivos y comunidades en zonas urbanas y rurales.
Involucramos y ampliamos redes que unen gran cantidad de nodos de sustentabilidad desde Buenos Aires a toda Argentina y su bioregión.
Los Proyectos realizados en los Grupos de Diseño fueron implementados durante el desarrollo del EDE con gran impacto y valoración en los tres casos.
Generamos clases extracurriculares abiertas a toda la Comunidad, para compartir la sabiduría de los educadores internacionales y difundir valiosas herramientas innovadoras.

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Ecovillage Design Education programmes, often referred to as ‘EDEs’, take place in 50 countries in settings ranging from tribal and traditional communities to intentional ecovillages, from urban slums to universities and training centres. The duration of these programmes are around 125 hours over a full month, although this may vary slightly depending on where and when they are taken. The EDEs provide participants of all ages with the knowledge and practical skills to design a society which uses energy and materials with greater efficiency, distributes wealth fairly and strives to eliminate the concept of waste.