The first European Day of Sustainable Communities: 23rd September 2017

15 May, 2017

This event will showcase the many groundbreaking initiatives from across Europe that are leading the way towards a low-carbon, ecological future.

Ecovillages, Transition Towns, permaculture projects and many other citizen and community-led initiatives are at the forefront of developing and testing new and innovative approaches to sustainable living, covering a wide range of themes; community energy, local food chains, local currencies, sustainable mobility, eco-construction, education for sustainable development and more.

Now is the time to share this experience and to engage a much wider public (citizens, communities, policy makers, researchers, the business community, etc..) in building momentum towards a citizen-engaged, community-led transition.

Achieving the ambitious climate targets agreed by governments, preserving natural resources and biodiversity and creating a fairer and more equitable society requires a fundamental shift in behavior patterns and societal structures. This process is already underway. Thousands of communities across Europe are transforming themselves from the bottom up and in so doing designing the blueprint for a much wider societal transformation.

Let’s share this experience and help kick-start a global citizen-engaged, community-led transition.

EDSC Objectives:

Promote awareness of community-led action and initiatives on climate change and sustainability in Europe in order to support their development and replication;
Encourage and provide opportunities for more citizens and communities to move from awareness to action;
Engage with policymakers and other stakeholders (researchers, businesses, etc..) at all levels with a view to creating and strengthening horizontal and vertical linkages.

Who can participate?

The invitation to register and be part of this European Day is open to all those who are interested in supporting local, community-led action on climate change and sustainability. From small rural villages to the streets and districts of large urban centres, individuals, groups or organisations are invited to organise expositions, workshops, open days, debates, or other activities that help to share experience and create possibilities for greater engagement and participation in local action on climate change and sustainability.

The overall theme for the event is: Small steps, giant leap: how can citizens and communities turn a planetary crisis into an evolutionary bounce?

Possible sub-themes might include:

Community Resilience

However, participants are also free to organize events based around other topics linked to the main theme.

Source: Social Innovation Community (www.siceurope.eu)