Voices of transition portrays extraordinary projects of community led initiatives showcasing the qualities of one of the 32 ecovillage priciples in the Map of Regeneration. Each of them is a role model and unique contribution towards a more resilient and regenerative Europe. The range of their achievements stretches from setting up a forest kindergarden for immigrant children on the Island of Lesbos in Greece all the way to regenerating the watercycles in the eroded and dry hillsides of the Alentejo region of Portugal. It includes the example of an extremely succesful regional currency in the Chiemgau region of Germany as well as that of the abundant and deep creativity in the temple of human unity in th Piedmont hillsides of Northern Italy.
In total 24 interviews were conducted with the founders and representatives of these initiatives to show how people can successfully unite their efforts by integrating their wish for personal development with the common good of their communities as well as with the needs and limits of our planet. All speakers especially refer to their personal experiences and learnings in the cooperation with local, regional and national municipalities and governments. While many of them have established trusting and supportive relations, there are also those that have suffered from their confrontation with the status quo.
All interviews are presented in the course lessons with a 3-5 min summary as well as a 45 min extensive version of each interview, which enables you to make a personal choice about the depth of exploration.
Some of interviews that were conducted are used for research only useful for research, while the ones in the course lessons are for you to get inspired 🙂
The interview series is part of the Ecovillage Transition Toolkit which is one of the outputs of the Erasmus+ funded Ecovillage Transition in Action project which explored how ecovillages, community-led initiatives, local government and local academic institutions can better collaborate to scale both horizontally and vertically in order to catalyse regional sustainability innovation.
Click here to read more about the project and to view the other project outputs!
Disclaimer: The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
