Regeneration: Living in an Ecovillage opens with a foreword by Kosha Joubert, then Executive Director of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), the world’s leading network of ecovillages. Her contribution situates community-led initiatives within the broader context of today’s global challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and the urgent need to transform the way we live.

For Kosha Joubert, ecovillages are not marginal alternatives but living laboratories where practical responses to global crises are being developed at the local level. In a world facing unprecedented disruption, she argues that resilience will emerge through stronger human relationships, cooperation, and the capacity of communities to imagine and create new ways of living together.

Foreword to Regeneration: Living in an Ecovillage

Ecovillage Strategies: Community-Led Transformation in a Changing Climate

By Kosha Joubert
Executive Director, Global Ecovillage Network (GEN)

“If we aspire to live together ethically, we must develop visions for the future based on the necessity for humanity and the Earth to coexist. Reimagining our shared future requires new ways of living together that are democratic, enriching, and respectful of our fragile planet. The ecovillage model offers one such vision: fulfilling our innate desire for community while creating sustainable ways of life grounded in ecological principles.”

— Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland

We are living in a remarkable moment in history. As a global family, we are slowly awakening to the realization that the borders we have created are, in many ways, an illusion. We are travelling this path together, shaping our common future as one humanity—for better or for worse.

No one can be left behind. No one can escape. Climate change does not stop at national borders. It does not distinguish between countries, corporations, or the individuals most responsible for burning fossil fuels, nor does it spare those who bear the heaviest consequences of climate disruption.

At its core, climate change challenges us to cultivate a deeper sense of compassion and connection with all forms of life on Earth. It challenges us to rebuild community.

The pressure to fundamentally transform humanity’s presence on this planet touches every aspect of our lives. As early as 2009, Mohan Munasinghe, then Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), emphasized the essential role of citizens in climate action:

“Change must come from the grassroots, simply because the establishment moves too slowly.”

As schoolchildren around the world take to the streets demanding climate action, each of us is called to ask whether our daily choices and lifestyles make us part of the problem—or part of the solution.

Given the complexity of the challenges we face, none of us can know with certainty whether we will succeed in reversing current trends. Perhaps our greatest contribution is to embrace that uncertainty while continuing to act together.

Once we embark on this path, we naturally discover the transformative power of community. By building networks of mutual support and cooperation, we can create systemic change that extends far beyond our individual sphere of influence: urban gardens, food sovereignty initiatives, community microgrids, car-sharing, ecosystem restoration projects, ecological housing cooperatives, and social enterprises.

All these initiatives flourish when they are rooted in meaningful human relationships and thoughtful community design. Together, we can unlock our collective capacity to care for the Earth.

Founded in 1995, the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) is an international organization that celebrates and catalyzes the power of communities to build a regenerative future. GEN connects rural and urban, traditional and intentional communities, many of which actively contribute to carbon sequestration and ecosystem restoration.

Ecovillages address global challenges through locally grounded solutions. By combining contemporary innovation with deeply rooted traditional knowledge, GEN has become a global reservoir of practical wisdom for sustainable living.

The network operates through five continental organizations across Africa, Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific, connecting nearly 10,000 communities in 114 countries, including more than 5,000 ecovillages and eco-projects listed in its international database.

We are all being called to find our way home to this planet. Every village, neighborhood, and city has the potential to become a center of regeneration for the social, ecological, economic, and cultural dimensions of sustainability.

One of GEN’s greatest challenges today is determining how the ecovillage approach can be scaled up without losing its core values or the strength of local ownership.

Thank you for joining us on this journey.

Thank you, Marc, for distilling into this book practical solutions and inspiring models from which we can all learn. May these pages inspire readers, in ways both large and small, to express their care, compassion, and responsibility toward the wider community of life.

“We are entering a world where the need for resilience is increasing rapidly. That need is best met by people who live with awareness of themselves, one another, and nature. Ecovillages nurture this alignment by encouraging us to live more intentionally, in ways that reflect our highest values, deepen authentic relationships, and foster greater respect for the planetary boundaries upon which all life depends.”

— Christiana Figueres, Costa Rican diplomat and former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)