GEN-Europe is the European ecovillage association promoting social resilience, environmental pro­tection and restoration of nature through the concept of ecovillages as models for sustainable human settlements. We actively support the de­vel­opment of ecovillages and networks in Europe.

Trees for Cities is an independent charity, which inspires people to plant and love trees in cities worldwide. Set up as Trees for London in 1993, Trees for Cities’ aim is to create social cohesion and beautify our cities through tree planting, community-led design, education and training initiatives in urban areas that need it most. We manage projects across the UK as well as internationally in cities such as Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Kigali, Ica and La Paz. Our work supports urban tree planting initiatives particularly in deprived areas of cities. Community-led design is an integral part of our landscaping projects. Involving local residents, schools and community groups helps ensure the sustainability of green spaces. 

In 2011 Gaia Education began to implement a processing fee for all EDE certification applications. This fee was to go to a fund to help improve the certification process. It directly benefits the quality of courses certified by Gaia Education. It was set at a reasonable rate of £200 for new certifications and £100 for re-certification. Realizing that even these small amounts were creating blocks for some course organizers in impoverished areas of the globe, the management team created a certification fund along with a “certification fee waiver policy” to help those courses that could not pay the fee. However since many sites continue to ask for the waiver, Gaia Education finds itself in a difficult position for managing the certification process and generating a benefit to all EDEs.  We believe that running an EDE is a legitimate way to contribute to reducing CO2 emissions on the planet’s atmosphere. Therefore we are establishing a fund that can be replenished with contributions from people wishing to onset their emissions by contributing to the fund and encourage courses in sites that meet the criteria for affecting key social, economic and environmental shifts in the local population.