United Nations, ECOSOC and GEN
GEN's consultative status with ECOSOC
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Since 2000 GEN has United Nations ECOSOC consultative status and is represented at regular briefing sessions at UN Headquarters. UN Ecosoc is the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. (see history of GEN, 2000-2001) |
 UN Photo #106192C |
The Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC means GEN has a special competence in, and is concerned specifically with some of the fields of activity covered by ECOSOC. This status gives GEN the chance to join in the work of various committees relevant to its concerns to promote sustainable communities and practices worldwide. |
GEN's activities at UN level in 2006/ 2005
 left to right first row Angus Robertson MS Donald Lunan Planning and Development Manager of Moray Council May East CIFAL Findhorn Project Director Bernard Hoarau UNITAR/ CIFAL Network Programme Director back row |
Spring 2006
United Nations Training Centre for Moray, Scotland Findhorn has had a long association with the United Nations Institute of Training and Research (UNITAR) and is now in the |
| July 2005 New Education for Sustainable Development Partnership By the shores of the South Atlantic, at the recently inaugurated Gaia Village Training Centre in Garopaba beach, Brazil, a memorandum of Understanding and Partnership has been signed between the Global Ecovillage Network, the Findhorn Foundation and the University of Extremo Sul Catarinense (UNESC). This is the result of a synergetic year of curriculum development with Brazilian sustainability educators and practitioners as well as UNESC teachers led by May East, Director of International Relations of GEN. Over the next 12 months UNESC will be aligning financial and institutional support for the first Brazilian University led Ecovillage Training to start in July 2006. |
 from left to right: May East/Findhorn Foundation, Carlyle Menezes/ UNESC, Marcelo Todescan/ ENA Brazil, Franco Werlang/Gaia Village |
 Official launch of the UNDESD, March 1, at the United Nations New York headquarters |
March 2005 GEN in the launch of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) 2005 It is expected that the DESD would be implemented in thousands of 'on the ground' local situations, involving the integration of the principles of sustainable development into a multitude of different learning situations, including formal and informal education. In this context over the next ten years we in GEN expect to be working closely with UNESCO, and assist in setting standards for the decade. Some of the planned programmes include our Ecovillage Designer Education (EDE). This curriculum is intended to serve the purpose of educating for the transition to a globally sustainable culture. Under the umbrella of the DESD, one of the first pilot programmes is intended to take place in Cuba later this year. |
| December 2004 GEN is represented at the Club of Budapest World Wisdom Council The Club of Budapest World Wisdom Council meeting December 2004 reached a high note of inspiration and inquiry. It is a privilege for the ecovillage movement being represented in the dialog of some of the leading edge thinkers of our time. May East is representing the GEN as ambassador of the World Wisdom Council. download: World Wisdom Council, the Budapest declaration: Wisdom at the Tipping Point (pdf 104kb) |
 May East (GEN) is one of the ambassadors of the Club of Budapest World Wisdom Council representing the ecovillage movement. |
Click here for reports from GEN events in recent years at UN level:
- 2000
- 2001
- 2002
- 2003
- 2004
- sidevents and more…
These reports sorted by year are a partial narrative of GEN’s participation in the work of the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies, major conferences and other meetings, activity carried out in cooperation with the bodies and specialized agencies of the UN and initiatives undertaken by the organization in support of the overall goals and objectives of the UN.
