Launch and Thrive - Awakening the networks

<< Background >>The Launch & Thrive project responded directly to a need and situation in which ecovillage networks within Europe felt the need to strengthen themselves. Some countries have national ecovillage networks that are thriving, whereas other countries have no national network, or its network are stagnant and uncoordinated. Until recently, there have been no systemic approach to the development of national ecovillage networks. Therefore, guidelines (manuals), assistance (tutoring), and coordination (ICT platform) were identified as useful tools and materials, but it was also essential to make visible the significance and impact of national networks (videos), their successes and challenges (exchange). GEN Europe, as the lead organization, proposed this project in order to better support national networks in a diversity of stages. For this reason, the project had the general objective of helping national networks across Europe to launch and prosper (Online Learning Package), thus strengthening European cooperation in the field of ecovillage development. The Launch and Thrive project was a project between 7 European countries, from the north (Sweden, Denmark), the south (Spain/Italy), the east (Ukraine), and the west (Germany/Switzerland).<< Objectives >>The project had an OVERALL OBJECTIVE to assist national ecovillage networks throughout Europe to launch and thrive, thereby strengthening European cooperation in the field of ecovillage development, localization of the SDG’s and advocacy capacity through coordinated, legitimate and representative national ecovillage networks. The project thus pursued the following immediate objectives and goals: •The creation of a qualitative framework for setting up functional and thriving national ecovillage networks, through a MANUAL to guide the process.•The development of a MENTORSHIP PACKAGE, creating and piloting twinning and exchange schemes between national ecovillage networks.•To set up an ICT PLATFORM to systematize provision of information, knowledge exchange and problem solving to strengthen cooperation.•To showcase ecovillage networks on a national scale through SHORT VIDEOS promoting networking activities for active citizenship.•To set up a OLP (Online Learning Package) fusing the different educational resources and training materials made available through this project, showing the current state of the art and innovation that the already thriving ecovillage networks have to offer.<< Implementation >>The project activities were centered around three transnational meetings and the production of three intellectual products: a manual for networks, an ICT platform (including videos), and an Online Learning Package to transmit the gathered knowledge. All these outputs will be described in detail in this report. A twinning process between with exchange between some of the partners was directly integrated as a trial mentoring package, as an innovative action learning process. Both the partners in Switzerland and Ukraine went through many of the processes on which the manual was based, thus testing the manual at the same time as it was being produced. The more national focused activities included answing surveys for the manual, holding seminars/events in each partner country, dissemination of the results, and video production for the ICT platform. • All partners organised local MULTIPLIER EVENTS, which were hosted in each partner country to promote and present the project results and materials as well as assess the benefits of its methodology in the non-formal education sector. This was a particularly important moment to disseminate the project's results locally and involve national stakeholders/actors that would not have the chance to be involved otherwise. • The EXCHANGE PROGRAM between the twinned partner organisations allowed for an in-depth exchange of good practice and peer-to-peer learning from both organisations. It also allowed for close collaboration on the project's intellectual outputs and served as a practical achievement of the overall objective of the project. • The TRAINING OF TRAINERS came to form a key part of the project. The training contributed to equipping participants working towards the objective to build capacity and empower national ecovillage networks to Launch & Thrive. This included networking and regional cooperation, including civic engagement, how to influence policy makers (as a network), social mapping, use of the online tools for cooperation, as well as principles of public relations and dissemination. The training is also replicable throughout the GEN Europe network (and beyond) and served as the basis for testing and finetuning of especially the IO3, the Online Learning Package. Since the ToT, a project application has been submitted for a KA1 training, using and exanding on the ToT model. << Results >>The project is named 'Launch and Thrive,' and that is what it can offer to the long-term vision, that civil society need to organise in networks to gain more voice and impact, in order to promote active participation of citizenship in the climate debate, initiatives focused on the SDGs, and showing a citizen path to European cooperation on these issues.The Launch and Thrive project took its shape as an explorative process, based on the interchange between the national ecovillage networks that participated as pilots for mentorship and setting up a system of providing substantial inputs for the manual, exploring both challenges, success stories and illustrative examples. The guidelines in the manual were thus derived from a straight experience/action learning approach throughout the project. The expected results of the project included, as outcomes in the long term: • Empowerment of national ecovillage networks to become increasingly functional, strong, and active, not only nationally, but also in the European network of networks. • A systematic approach to networking and establishing support structures. • Higher success rates for national ecovillage networks and their ability to mobilize, impact, and thrive.On a shorter and more concrete note, the immediate results are naturally linked to the goals and objectives, following the description of the Intellectual Outputs pursued. The tangible results include the following:A) An online accessible NETWORKING MANUAL (IO1), as a qualitative framework for how to set up national ecovillage networks and ensuring that they continue to thrive. Included in the manual is a format of text, examples and guiding questions, how to put the manual into action and set up functional and thriving national networks. It is both produced in a downloadable form (PDF) and as a Wiki. A mentorship aspect was experienced throughout the project, with partners teaming up with Denmark/Ukraine, Switzerland/Italy, and Baltic Ecovillage Network/GEN Europe Spain as designated mentorship teams. This mentorship model was reinforced through an exchange of key persons from each partner organisation, allowing for both in-person mentoring and support from the more experienced national networks to experiential learning from the upcoming national networks, resulting in long-lasting, trusting bridges between the participating organisations. It was the first time to experiment with this model and it has proven quite succesfull and definitely something to pursue in other projects. B) Setting up an ICT PLATFORM (IO2) to systematize the provision of information about different kinds of national ecovillage networks, but also knowledge sharing and problem solving, to strengthen cooperation on the European level and minimize the distance between the national and the European level, through the use of online and digital tools. Information Technology was one of the core elements that enabled the European Ecovillage Network to remain active. To be able to achieve and keep that desired level of connection, enabling different online services was used as at strategy to cater to national ecovillage networks' needs. It is also strongly believed in the partnership that self-hosted, Free Open Source Software was the best way to cover those needs. The use of the tools was gone through systematically throughout the project, at the meetings and at the ToT. C) Showcasing national ecovillage networks through SHORT VIDEOS promoting networking activities for active citizenship, with a European component strengthening national efforts. All the project results were disseminated through the GEN Europe website, on its own ICT platform where there were previously no resources or facilitation of national network building. The project has therefore contributed significantly to close this gap. D) An ONLINE LEARNING PACKAGE (IO3) focusing on thriving ecovillage networks and the use of the developed teaching resources. By reaching out to hundreds of ecovillage enthusiasts, the Online Learning Package (OLP) has complemented and reinforced the IO1 and IO2 while it can contributeto the sustainability of the project's results. The platform serve as a reference point for life-long learning about creating and sustaining successful networks and can be used way beyond the project duration. The OLP serves as an example of truly cross-cutting disciplines in teaching and learning, as an inovative tool for the project partners who were new to this form. The OLP was trialled and developed further through the Training of Trainers event, where future OLP trainers were immersed into the project results and could take ownership to the OLP.