Welcome

Welcome to the GEN Europe forum! Please take a moment to read about the forum and our guidelines.

This is a work in progress - thank you for joining us on the adventure! Please note that this is a new platform for us and we are learning as we go and we may encounter some hiccups on the way. Thanks for your patience and please let us know if you encounter any issues!

At present, the forum is only open to members of GEN Europe member communities (full and aspiring), supportive members, working groups and projects. As the forum develops, we also aim to create spaces that anyone can join and learn about ecovillages.

What is this forum for?

We welcome open discussion about all subjects related to ecovillage living and we hope this will be an inspiring, enriching and welcoming space for all those who join. We encourage you to share resources on community-building, tell stories from your ecovillages or visits to communities, ask questions and offer answers. Your input will help us create a valuable and constantly-evolving resource for both ecovillagers and those seeking regenerative ecovillage lifestyles - all on a self-hosted platform, away from corporate social networks.

Conduct in the forum

We know that in the virtual world, at times we address others in ways we might not do if they were standing in front of us, and we hope you will help us to create a virtual space where we see others in all their humanity - not just as pixels! As ecovillagers, we seek to meet each other with compassion and a willingness to understand despite our differences. We invite you to engage in conversations from this standpoint.

Moderation

We trust in the good judgement of our members and users to keep this a safe space; however, we will moderate the forum for, and remove content (or links to content) or users who repeatedly post content that…

  • Promotes racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise discriminatory views
  • Is deliberately designed to provoke or offend
  • Represents any form of bullying, harassment or otherwise threatening behaviour
  • Is off-topic content except in designated spaces
  • Shares private or personal information that may compromise the safety of others

In cases where users post such content, they will receive a warning from the Moderation team. If the case is serious the user will be removed directly.

Please note our statement of tolerance:
We are tolerant of the diversity of viewpoints within our movement; however, we condemn and distance ourselves from any group or individual that intentionally harms, or promotes harm to, other individuals or groups. Examples of initiatives we actively distance ourselves from are:

  • Far right and extremist political groups/movements
  • Individuals or groups that practice or espouse discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, sexuality or gender identity
  • Individuals or groups that engage in anti-democratic practices

If You See a Problem, Flag It

If you see content that you believe infringes our guidelines or requires moderation, don’t reply - rather please flag it. If enough flags accrue, action will be taken, either automatically or by moderator intervention.

Keep It Tidy

Make the effort to put things in the right place, so that we can spend more time discussing and less cleaning up. So:

  • Don’t start a topic in the wrong category.
  • Don’t cross-post the same thing in multiple topics.
  • Don’t post no-content replies.
  • Don’t divert a topic by changing it midstream.
  • Don’t sign your posts — every post has your profile information attached to it.

Rather than posting “+1” or “Agreed”, use the Like button. Rather than taking an existing topic in a radically different direction, use Reply as a Linked Topic.

Post Only Your Own Stuff

You may not post anything digital that belongs to someone else without permission. You may not post descriptions of, links to, or methods for stealing someone’s intellectual property (software, video, audio, images), or for breaking any other law.

Powered by You

This site is operated by members of the GEN Europe team and you, the community. If you have any further questions about how things should work here, open a new topic in the site feedback category and let’s discuss! If there’s a critical or urgent issue that can’t be handled by a meta topic or flag, contact us via the staff page.

Terms of Service

Yes, legalese is boring, but we must protect ourselves – and by extension, you and your data – against unfriendly folks. We have a Terms of Service describing your (and our) behavior and rights related to content, privacy, and laws. To use this service, you must agree to abide by our TOS.