ESC: Practicing and promoting sustainable lifestyles in Eco-village

Progetto Gaia Terra (PGT) is an experiential educational center on for sustainable construction, environmental regeneration, personal and relational growing. It organizes courses and events to educate on all forms of sustainability. It is open to include new members and new skills through association and volunteering. It has is venue in Friuli department, in the middle of green countryside of northern Italy. It is a multicultural environment, thanks to the interaction of members, teachers and volunteers coming from different countries. The main objective of PGT is to practice and disseminate sustainable lifestyles on various levels: environmental, relational, working/educational to contribute to society transformation. To accomplish this goal: - started an ecological village project as an experiential space and ongoing workshop in eco-sustainability and community building. - relates to local, national and international networks to collaborates with partners who have the same goals. PGT is young but is growing rapidly. The activities in PGT location started in 2017, the actual operational group joined in 2018, by subscribing their association to the Italian Network of Ecological Villages, the Articles of Association was legally registered in 2019. The core of 5 founders carries out the activities and receive new members and volunteers since 2017, moreover individually they are active from decades in the sectors of education, social work, sustainable cultivation, bio-construction. OUR TARGET The association welcome all interested people, without discrimination of age, race, sex, religion, nationality, language or social status. Moreover, activities are designed for specific groups: children, youth and elder; venues and activities are available for people with disabilities, facilitation are available for people with economical obstacles. PGT also offers activities for the participation and care of people with mental health problems, as one of the founding members are trained and experienced in psychotherapy and one in education. PGT make efforts on youth participation to foster their role of actor of social change and achieve together an healthy planet and a fair society. The association count on a multicultural and multilingual environment, as members, volunteers and teachers come from all over the world. REGULAR ACTIVITIES: _OPEN DAYS: opening of the Gaia Terra Project to the public. _EDUCATIONAL(courses and workshops in): - Bio-Building - Dance and arts of movement - Natural food - Eco-sustainable agriculture - Personal growth and relationship management - Non-Violent Communication - Sociocracy - Volunteering-learning periods (also for people with special needs). _CULTURAL AND ARTISTIC: - Cultural evenings - Local and foreign artists exhibitions - Good practices sharing in eco-sustainability - Cultural and artistic associations collaborations _NETWORKING to support international, national and regional networks: - Eco-sustainability and education network meetings organization and host. - Fair purchasing networks, solidarity economy and waste reduction association participation. - European projects participation (already C.L.I.P.S. and started a collaboration to host Youth Eschanges E+). OUR INSTRUMENTS AND POLICIES: The consolidation of the founding group and the association legal register, are the result of a year of dialogue and cooperation among the members, until the maturation and merging of common objectives. The solidity is ensured not only by the commitment to the principles and activities of the association, but also by the constant monitoring and facilitation by Italian and foreign experts convened for the purpose (including Riccardo Clemente, president of the Italian Network of Ecological Villages, and Manja Vrenco from Sunny Hills community in Slovenia, both facilitators and youth European projects experienced). Facilitation and sociocracy are applied as methods to growth, to consolidate the group and for horizontal decision-making, to assure equality, dignity, solidarity and well-being of the individual and the community to all members and volunteers in PGT. PGT ADHERES AND COOPERATES TO THE FOLLOWING NETWORKS - Rive (Italian Network of Ecological Villages). - Municipal administration of Rivignano-Teor. - Solidarity Purchasing Groups. - Movimento della Decrescita Felice (Degrowth Movement). - Terraè - Officina della Sostenibilità. - Pratichiamo il Futuro: centro educativo Montessori e sostenibilità ambientale - GEN (Global Ecovillages Network). - WWOOF, Workaway and local networks: PGT has been welcoming volunteers from all over the world from at least one year. - Zero Waste, a national association on reduction of waste via reusable utensils. - Local cultural association about environmental activism, gender equality, and racial inclusion. To share activities, networks collaborations and experiences with volunteers, PGT has a website (Italian-English) and main social networks account.