The words this project used

Glossary

ECOSystems ran on a particular vocabulary — some of it from the Erasmus+ programme, some of it from eco-community practice. These are the terms as the project itself defined them, taken from the e-Handbook.

The four key concepts

These four carry the project's whole argument, and are reproduced here in the e-Handbook's own words.

Eco-communities

Intentional communities that integrate ecological design, sustainable livelihoods and participatory governance into everyday life. They provide real-world learning environments where theory and practice are closely connected.

e-Handbook · key concepts

Non-formal education (NFE)

Participatory, flexible and learner-centred approaches. It supports active citizenship, co-creation, and the development of practical skills alongside values and ethics.

e-Handbook · key concepts

From sustainability to regeneration

Regenerative approaches go beyond sustainability by focusing on restoring and strengthening ecosystems, communities and cultures. This perspective sees sustainability as an evolving and systemic process.

e-Handbook · key concepts

Youth engagement

Young people play a key role in sustainability processes. Engaging them in eco-community settings supports leadership development, collaboration and active participation in shaping regenerative futures.

e-Handbook · key concepts

The four dimensions

The e-Handbook is built on Gaia Education's Four Dimension Framework. Each dimension addresses one aspect of sustainability, and each carries its own set of methods.

SocialBuilding inclusive and empowered communities
  • Nonviolent Communication (NVC)
  • Patterns of Engagement
  • Disconnection Methodology
  • Outreach to Local Communities
  • Non-Formal Games & Dynamics
EcologicalSustainable and regenerative resource management
  • Climate Fresk Cards
  • Waste Management
  • Compost Activity
  • Eco-Workshop
EconomicBuilding sustainable and resilient economies
  • SDG Multipliers Methodology
  • Vertical Gardening for Entrepreneurship
  • The Wheel of Impact
  • Economic Systems Simulation
  • Step Into Our Reality
WorldviewCultural, spiritual and transformative connection
  • Youth in Transition
  • Ecovillage Design Education Curriculum
  • Gaia YES!
  • CLIPS
  • Flower of Permaculture

Words you will meet in the results

Terms that recur across the portal, the local actions and the seminar series.

Open Communities

The portal the project built: a searchable map and directory of eco-communities in Europe, so that a young person looking for one can find it.

The portal

Local learning action

A short activity run by a partner with its own community, using a method from the e-Handbook. Each partner ran five, in five countries.

Local actions

Score for Swampmapping

A facilitation script written in Brussels for reading a wetland with a group: a sequence of prompts for sensing, entering and becoming the swamp.

Belgium · the Marais

Holacracy

The distributed governance model the consortium used to run itself, organising work into circles with their own authority rather than a management line.

Project governance

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

Learning that equips people to act on sustainability. The frame the project was written in, and what the e-Handbook serves.

Erasmus+ · the application

Young people with fewer opportunities

The Erasmus+ term for participants facing obstacles — economic, geographic, social or educational — that limit their access to mobility and learning.

Erasmus+ · the programme

Youthpass

The European certificate that records what a participant learned in a youth activity, described through the key competences.

Erasmus+ · the programme

KA220-YOU

Cooperation Partnership in the youth field: the Erasmus+ action that funded ECOSystems, for organisations working together to build and share results.

Erasmus+ · the programme

Nothing here matches that. Try a shorter word.