Oceania & Asia hold many of the worlds climate vulnerable nations. With dense populations and great social and political divides, many countries already face challenges prior to the COVID19 pandemic and will face more vulnerabilities and challenges ahead. There is an urgent need for regenerative projects on the ground which both embody traditional wisdom and have a holistic and appropriate approach.
In 2020 the first REGEN-Nations course was run from September 2020 to March 2021 and welcomed 16 teams from around Asia and the Pacific, with 11 countries represented, Australia, Japan, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Each team joined with two lead members and several supporting members. They started with a project in either ideation or scaling stage and applied the learning from this program to develop and deepen their project design.
The program offered a wide range of online sessions from check-in calls, to leadership, mentorship, and coaching sessions, to workshops and webinars on the areas of regeneration of ecovillage design. In addition to the cohort of 16 teams (49 team members in total), the program REGEN-Nations reached over 120 participants through its open webinars and workshops in each dimension.
Through the ReGEN Nations program, GENOA was able to also engage a network of thought leaders, trainers, activists, ecovillages and kindred spirit organisations from the region. These were founders and spokespersons from Ahimsagram, Pun Pun Organic Farm, Moonshadow, Ecosystem Restoration Camps Gaia Education Course, Wellnessland Health Institute, Gaia Ashram, Permaculture Education Institute, Bahay Teknik, RetroSuburbia, Sunshine Ecovillage, Narara Ecovillage, BHW Lands Trust, the Good
Market Global, Transition Network, Slow Food Asia-Pacific and Regeneration International.
It was special to feature topics that ranged from Buddhist and Maori perspectives on right livelihood and economies, interfaith peacebuilding from Sri Lanka, Filipino innovations in disasters, to Permaculture design, popularized by Australians to offer more applicable solutions to the complex realities of countries in the region ranging from poverty, conflict, and the climate crisis, among others.
By the end of REGEN-Nations 2020/2021, 10 prototype projects- covering areas of permaculture, community gardens, food forests, regenerative agriculture, peace-building, health and well-being, community education and social enterprise- were incubated and we’re able to grant seed funding for 3 teams to supplement the development of their project.
Hear from some of the teams who joined the REGEN-nations prototype cycle in 2020
The next cycle of REGEN-Nations is about to start, with new speakers and flexible access. Find out more here:
“Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back and reasons to stay.”
The Dalai Lama
