Three Gaia Youth alumni in their 20s presented their experiences at the first Asian meeting of the Ecoversities Alliance, held September 13-16, 2022, near Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. The occasion was the invitation of the As One Suzuka Community to the Ecoversities meeting in Asia, the start of a global educational movement that began in 2015 to “review higher education and create new learning,” where the community’s experience was not only introduced, but also where learning was developed on the basis of the community’s experience. The event was held at Wongsanit, the venue of the meeting.
The Wongsanit Ashram was the venue for the event, with a total of about 35 participants from the Philippines, Singapore, Bhutan, Vietnam, Thailand, and Europe. As they each watched videos showing sincere and concrete practices, they were reminded of how effective ecovillage and community-based learning can be in concrete ways.
We were also impressed by the strong future potential of the Gaia Youth youth as they were warmly welcomed into the Alliance’s circle, spontaneously connecting with and learning from international practitioners.
Some participants from the U.K., India, and Thailand have expressed interest in participating in the Gaia Youth next March, and international exchange among young people has begun anew.
Ecoversities Alliance is a community of learning practitioners from around the world who are working to reimagine higher education, community, ecology, local economies, and community-based learning spaces that foster a sense of community, ecology, and nostalgic homeland for a regenerative and humane society. Many of these are connected to various grassroots movements, social movements, ecological movements, indigenous communities, and more.
