Our projects

The Baltic Ecovillage Network works through international projects that bring communities together to learn, share and build practical tools. Below you will find our current projects, followed by our past work.

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Ben’s Network

Current and upcoming projects

FinEthiCom

Financial Ethical Capacity for Community Initiatives.
Erasmus+ adult education partnership,
September 2026 to October 2027.

FinEthiCom is a 14-month Erasmus+ small-scale partnership in adult education, coordinated by BEN with LOES (Denmark), RIVE (Italy) and GEN-NL (Netherlands). The project runs from September 2026 to October 2027. It aims to make ethical and solidarity finance more accessible to community-led initiatives (CLIs) and ecovillages, especially those in disadvantaged areas or run by young adults.
The work has four stages:

Mapping existing solidarity finance options and stakeholder needs, with a pilot database;
Collecting case studies and drawing up recommendations for starting ethical finance networks;
Producing webinars and an open online course (MOOC);
Running a pilot in-person Design Lab

The project also builds a community of practice to link CLIs with ethical finance organisations across borders.

FREE-IT

Erasmus+ adult education partnership, starting 1st November 2026 for 14 months.

Free-IT is a 14-month Erasmus+ adult education partnership starting in November 2026. GEN Europe coordinates it with RIVE (Italy), Coopérative Oasis (France) and BEN as partners.
The project aims to strengthen digital skills and ethical digital choices across the ecovillage movement by promoting free and open-source software (FOSS), digital sovereignty and the environmental responsibility of digital use.
The project plans to:

train a core group of 13 adult educators, IT managers and network coordinators;
produce a vademecum on FOSS and digital ethics;
hold three recorded webinars led by expert educators;
Run workshop at four national and international gatherings.

Free IT expects to reach about 200 direct participants in person and online, with wider reach through open online materials. The partnership will agree shared digital standards and support migration to FOSS tools.

Community Lab: Learning to Live Together

Erasmus+ youth exchange for young people aged 18 to 30, Earthbound ecovillage, Sweden, June 2027.

Learning to Live Together is a ten-day youth exchange for young people aged 18 to 30, hosted at Earthbound ecovillage in Sweden in June 2027. It is the second edition of the 2021 Community Lab exchange. The programme focuses on three connected themes: personal growth, which helps participants find a more satisfying way to live with themselves and with sustainability; conflict transformation, which helps them work through the differences that divide people and prevent communities from lasting; and community living, which gives them first-hand experience of a healthy, sustainable community in daily life at Earthbound.

Past projects and partnership

2025

Launch and Thrive MORE

(Hallingelille, Denmark, November 2025)

Launch and Thrive MORE was a follow-up Erasmus+ seminar for national ecovillage networks, held at Hallingelille in Denmark in November 2025. It built on the 2022 to 2024 Launch and Thrive partnership coordinated by GEN Europe. BEN applied for the seminar in 2025 in partnership with the Danish network LOES, and the seminar was also a BEN seminar. The organising team included Matteo Zampatti (BEN chair), Camilla from LOES, and Steffen and Riccardo from GEN Europe, with the ESC team at LOES. The seminar’s purpose was to turn the earlier project’s tools and insights into action. Each national network chose a topic, a “Thrive” chapter and a tool from the online learning package, and drafted a PACT action plan (Purposeful, Actionable, Continuous, Trackable). Participants formed peer groups for follow-up meetings. The BEN action plan was presented on the last day. Participants received individual Youth Passes, and the seminar was funded by Erasmus+, with travel reimbursed on submission of participant reports. The organisers planned a follow-up webinar for January 2026 to review the national plans and gather material for the final report.

Warming up a holistic twist to the climate crisis

(Erasmus+ training course, DOPE, Germany, 22nd June to 2nd July 2025).

Warming Up was a training course for Youth Workers and Educators that addresses the urgent need for a holistic response to climate change. Based on discussions with partner organisations and current observations, we have identified the urgent need for a deeper understanding of climate change, the development of an appropriate mindset and the acquisition of practical skills to address the current crisis.

Objectives:

Knowledge: To increase participants’ and young people’s knowledge of climate change based on scientific facts.
Attitude: Change attitudes towards climate change by seeing it as a threat to the whole planet and not just to humans, and promote a new relationship between humans and nature.
Skills: Developing specific skills and providing appropriate tools that contribute to a positive impact on climate change.

Based on the successful experience of the partners who has been working with climate change for years, we have opted for the 3H model (head – heart – hands) to ensure a holistic and complex approach to the topic. BEN took part as a partner organisation, sending 2 to 3 participants.

Beyond Inclusion training

(Lakabe, Spain, 21 to 26 May 2025).

Erasmus+ training within the Yes to Sustainability network. From May 21st to 26th, a diverse group of 20 participants gathered in the inspiring community of Lakabe, nestled in the Basque Country, for a profound exploration of inclusion, gender, privilege, power, discrimination, and oppression. This training, titled Beyond Inclusion, brought together individuals from Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Kosovo, Serbia, Sweden, and Portugal to examine the intersection of sustainability and LGBTIQ+ inclusion in a world shaped by cisheteropatriarchal systems.

The training held a special focus on cisgender privilege and the trans experience, guiding participants through both theoretical knowledge and lived understanding. Using Process Work methodologies, we explored the dynamics of internalised oppression and uncovered pathways to reclaim personal power. We examined the cycle of discrimination—how it perpetuates and how we can actively disrupt it—while also addressing key themes such as:

Conscious and accessible language
Privilege, power, and rank in different contexts
Strategies to confront oppressive dynamics
Identifying and addressing transphobic aggression
The richness of trans* experiences and history

This training sparked essential conversations about the need to engage with oppression and privilege within the ecovillage network and beyond. It highlighted how these issues resonate with today’s global situation and the urgent need to unlearn dehumanisation. Moving forward, we recognise the importance of translating theoretical frameworks into community practices that embrace collective responsibility.

Youth Work and Ecovillages for Peace

(Cloughjordan, Ireland, 2025)

BEN took part in an Erasmus+ partnership building activity of Yes To Sustainability at Cloughjordan ecovillage in Ireland, hosted with Cultivate.

Surrounded by over 70 varieties of native Irish apple trees that were nourishing us during every break, from 3rd to 11th of October 2025, 24 youth workers and young people representing 15 different organisations gathered in Cloughjordan Ecovillage.

We came together to explore two main themes:

Peace Education – learning and experimenting with methods and practices to support groups in exploring peace, inspired by the work of Otra Escuela.
Network Building – creating new partnerships and collaborative projects for future peacework within and beyond the ecovillage movement.

Inspired by stories of hope, peace and resilience, we turned our reflections into tangible project ideas to further nurture a culture of peace within the ecovillage movement and beyond.
Emerging ideas included supporting well-being and preventing burnout in youth work and activism, through methods for regulating the social nervous system and ecosomatics. The need to share and amplify stories of hope and peace inspired to create a Youth Exchange on artivism and creative expression. Finally, the wish to share new methodologies and tools for peace education, and to learn from other movements, organisations and ecovillages across Europe, led to the dream of a cooperation partnership for peacework.

2024

Bridgedale training (Arterra, Spain, 18 to 23 September 2024) In September 2024 BEN took part in the Bridgedale training at Arterra, an ecovillage in Spain, as an Erasmus+ partner. BEN sent two participants.
Partnership Building Activity (Lakabe, Spain) From 31 October to 7 November 2024 BEN attended a partnership building activity at Lakabe, Spain, organised within the Yes to Sustainability network of youth workers. Its purpose was to build new Erasmus+ project partnerships. BEN sent two participants. The meeting prepared the partnerships that led to the May 2025 Beyond Inclusion training at the same venue.

2023

National Network Gathering Italy, Torri Superiore

Almost the entire BEN team met in the beautiful ecovillage of Torri Superiore, Liguria, Italy. The meeting had at least a double purpose: it was a working meeting of the international team working on the Launch and Thrive project designed to support national and trans-regional ecovillage networks. It was followed by a beautiful meeting of representatives of the national ecovillage networks and the GEN EUROPE council to discuss the activities of the organization in different regions of Europe, look at the similarities, differences and challenges, and join forces in successful projects. An important element of the meeting was the work on improving the management and organization of GEN Gathering to make it more friendly to those for whom the price is a challenge.

This meeting was also a kind of celebration of cooperation so far, as well as a space to express love, emotion, sadness, fear, relief, joy, and excitement. BEN established new contacts and renewed cooperation with members of organizations working around the Baltic Sea.

2022

Launch and Thrive: Awakening the Networks (Erasmus+, April 2022 to January 2024) was an Erasmus+ adult education cooperation partnership coordinated by GEN Europe, the European branch of the Global Ecovillage Network. BEN was one of the partners. Its aim was to help national ecovillage networks across Europe launch and thrive. The project planned to produce a manual for setting up functional national networks, a mentoring package with twinning exchanges between networks, an ICT platform for sharing knowledge with short promotional videos, and an online learning package.
Launch and Thrive partnership arranged two-month exchanges between networks in Spain and Sweden and in Ukraine and Denmark.
BEN’s responsibilities were to reach emerging networks in its region, gather data for the platform, deploy the survey tools, and contribute IT expertise to the online learning package. Partners included the Danish ecovillage network LOES and GEN-Ukraine.

2021

BEN seminar “Make Youth Work Green” (Hallingelille, Denmark, November 2021)

From 10th to 14th November 2021 BEN held its Erasmus+ seminar, “Make Youth Work Green” at Hallingelille Ecovillage near Ringsted in Denmark. Partner organisations from across the Baltic Sea Region joined the serminar.
The seminar combined three aims:

connecting ecovillage-style initiatives around the region,
teaching how to apply for and run transnational youth projects under Erasmus+, and using those connections and skills to design strategic projects. Sessions covered the Erasmus+ programme guide, how to present ecovillages as green organisations, and digital tools for cooperation. Participants walked through a project application together and visited a nearby ecovillage on the third day. Each partner was asked to bring at least one project idea. The course was the second in the “Make Youth Work” seminar series, following the 2019 “Show It Erasmus+”.

2019

BEN seminar in Denmark (September 2019)
In September 2019 BEN held a five-day seminar in Denmark for its members. The seminar was funded by Erasmus+ and was built around the programme as a tool for exchange between member countries. It was designed for young people: each partner was asked to bring a young person and a youth worker with organisational experience and project-writing skills.
The Council saw the seminar as crucial to BEN’s future. Its central question was what the network wanted to engage in, and the aim was to build capacity within Erasmus+ and form working groups that would produce applications supporting BEN members and the network.
The seminar followed the model of previous gathering where members created new youth projects together such as “Make Youth Work Green (2021)”

Show It Erasmus+ (graphic facilitation for youth, 2019 to 2022)
Show It was an Erasmus+ youth mobility project (KA105) built around graphic facilitation, the practice of visualising discussions, plans and ideas. It aimed to teach young people in ecovillages and communities how to use these methods for environmental, social and sustainable development work. The project was coordinated by GEN Europe and BEN joined as a partner organisation.
BEN’s role was to bring its network of ecovillages, youth and educational centres to the project, as well as its experience in non-formal education.

2018

GEN Conference (Lilleoru, Estonia, July 2018)
In July 2018 the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) held its European conference at Lilleoru, an ecovillage in Estonia, with about 300 participants. BEN was more visible as a network there than usual. Two workshops were held on BEN’s behalf, led by Alisa Sidorenko and Robert Hall. A strategic session on BEN projects drew about 30 people from across the region. Two project ideas came out of it: a youth exchange or training on historical trauma in the region, and a larger Baltic and Northern project on piloting community-led solutions for sustainable development, developed under the ECOLISE and BEN umbrella.
Many new or renewed contacts between communities and BEN came out of the conference, and the newly formed national network of Ukraine was present.

Hawilla (Share the Vision! sailing tour, 2018)
In 2018 BEN developed “Share the Vision! Sailing for a sustainable future of the Baltic Sea” with the Hawila Project of Copenhagen. The project used the historic sailing vessel Hawila as a floating platform for a two-month tour of the Baltic Sea. The tour ran from Copenhagen on 29th June to 21th July 2018 and visited ports in all Baltic countries.
At each port it offered a travelling exhibition, field trips to local examples of best practice, workshops, public talks and cultural events. The aim was to raise public awareness of the sea’s environmental problems and of the solutions that ecovillages and other civil society groups are developing.
Activities also included an opening conference in Copenhagen on 1 and 2 June 2018 and a presentation at the European Ecovillage Conference at Lilleoru, Estonia, in July.
The project was intended to help prepare a Baltic eco-community development programme.

2017

BEN seminar “Making Youth Work” (Hallingelille, Denmark, September 2017)
From 15 to 21 September 2017 BEN held an Erasmus+ seminar, “Making Youth Work,” at Hallingelille in Denmark. It brought together 22 participants from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Estonia and Germany. The seminar had two aims: to bring active BEN members together for strategic discussion, and to design and prepare project applications within the network. The strategic discussions covered why BEN works together and how to find more resources for the network. Participants then drafted several project ideas, including youth exchanges on historical trauma between the countries, a strategic Erasmus+ KA2 project to strengthen BEN, and an educational sailing project around the Baltic Sea. The sailing idea led to the first contact with the crew of the historic ship Hawila, which later sailed the Baltic Sailing Tour in 2018.

2016

Living Sustainably EVS training (2016)
From 7th to 13th May 2016 BEN and GEN Europe ran a training course on how to set up European Voluntary Service (EVS) projects at Suderbyn ecovillage on Gotland. BEN was the lead partner and handled administration, documentation and reimbursements.
Ulrike Schimmel of GEN Europe coordinated the course, and Robert Hall of Suderbyn co-facilitated it with her. Twenty participants from ecovillages in seven European countries took part. The course combined practical and theoretical sessions: what EVS involves, how to write applications, Youthpass, project management, and how to find partners. Participants drafted their own project ideas, and the course also covered wider Erasmus+ opportunities.

By the end, participants had outlined about a dozen new projects, including EVS placements, a youth exchange, a study tour of accredited ecovillages, and a shared network reunion. About two-thirds of participants planned to apply for EVS accreditation with their national agencies. Feedback was very positive about the facilitators, the venue and the hosting atmosphere.

The course was funded through BEN’s Erasmus+ KA105 youth mobility grant, reference 2015-3-SE02-KA105-001302.

2015

2014

SIBREC (Social Inclusion in the Baltic Sea Region through Ecovillages and Communities, 2014 to 2016)
SIBREC began as a Swedish Institute seed funding project for 2014 to 2015. The application was submitted by RELEARN Suderbyn, with Maxim Vlasov as contact person, and it was titled “Social Inclusion in the Baltic Sea Region through Ecovillages and Communities.” The project responded to growing social exclusion across the region, including among people far from the job market, older people, immigrants and people with disabilities.
It proposed ecovillages and community-based organisations as places where people could take part in productive, nature-based work, gain practical skills and be included in community life. Its long-term aim was to build learning and living environments in ecovillages that would support inclusive, sustainable development in the Baltic Sea Region.
The seed project was to bring together decision makers, researchers and social-innovation providers, collect existing approaches from across the region, and develop a systematic model that community organisations could adapt.

2013

REALS: Resilient and Ecology Approaches for Living Sustainably (Swedish Institute thematic partnership, 2013 to 2016)
REALS was a three-year thematic partnership funded by the Swedish Institute. It ran from September 2013 to August 2016. It grew out of PreREALS, a pilot that the Swedish Permaculture Association and partner organisations launched in October 2012 with Swedish Institute funding.
REALS aimed to strengthen local resilience and sustainability, cooperation across sectors and dialogue across the Baltic Sea Region, in line with the Baltic Sea Region strategy and the Council of the Baltic Sea States’ sustainable development work. The lead applicant was Permaculture in Sweden. The academic and civil society partners included CEMUS at Uppsala University and several research and NGO partners from across the region. BEN was one of the associated partners, alongside the Swedish Ecovillage Association (ERO), Transition Järna and the Council of the Baltic Sea States. The partnership organised a Resilience Forum each summer, planned for 2014, 2015 and 2016, and held steering meetings.

2010

Ecovillages for Sustainable Rural Development (2010 to 2013)
This project was led by the Lithuanian Institute of Agrarian Economics, with BEN as an associated partner. Its activities ran from September 2010 to December 2013. BEN’s role was to help promote the results through events, newsletters, its website and its meetings.