Networks and Partner Organizations


Throughout our journey as an organization, dedicated to promoting sustainable development, we have established close relations with various entities. Here we present information about some of the International Networks where we participate and some of our partners we work together with.

The Global Ecovillage Network envisions a world of empowered citizens and communities, designing and implementing pathways to a regenerative future, while building bridges of hope and international solidarity. GEN builds bridges policy-makers, governments, NGOs, academics, entrepreneurs, activists, community networks and ecologically-minded individuals across the globe in order to develop strategies for a global transition to resilient communities and cultures.

CASA Latina is the Council of Sustainable Settlements of Latin America, coordinates and strengthens regional and national networks that promote, educate, investigate and disseminate sustainable lifestyles. CASA Latina seeks to create and visualize living examples that can inspire the change towards life patterns that rescue and regenerate the ecological, economic and social systems, which we consider vital to guarantee the permanence of the human species on Earth.

Transition is a movement of communities together to reimaginerebuild our world. The Transition initiatives try to response to the huge challenges (climate change, social inequality, economic decline and so on) throught techniques and methodologies which are atlocal scale.

NORWAY

“Omstilling Norge” is the Norwegian branch of the worldwide social movement called Transition Towns. They focus on enabling and communities to become more resilient by promoting independence from non-renewable energy sources, connecting with local governing authorities, and making the local living environment a healthier and safer place. Omstilling Norge inspires and supports Transition initiatives around Norway. For more information, please our webpage.

Sagene Community Centre is the urban districts Centre for Sustainable Development and Local Participation in Oslo. The district is one of Norway’s 20 pilot-municipalities for Local Agenda 21 initiatives and is one of the most dedicated and forward-looking political entities in Norway in the field of sustainable  development and citizen participation. CTW has been a partner since the founding of the centre in 2001, and since then we have proposed and implemented several innovative projects. One of them is the creation of multi-functional structures in public parks and squares, where we engaged young people to make food and flower-beds using recycled materials. This project has had a national impact. It gained recognition in the competition for green areas, Det Blomstrende Norge, and received an honourable mention by the environmental division in the City of Oslo. 

Sagene-Torshov’s LA21 Forum is a civil society initiative which connects the different actors in the districts; NGOs, businesses and individuals, and acts as a bridge to the local government. The entity strives for local sustainability by proposing policy changes, developing awareness and encouraging participatory actions from the population. CTW is on the Forum’s board. We have also established a friendship group between the Forum and a civil society organization in Santiago, Chile; El Ceibo and 4 Villas JAC, which created Chile’s first eco-neighbourhood.

Vennskap Nord / Sør [Friendship North / South, VNS] is an umbrella organisation which connects more 150 Norwegian entities such as municipalities, schools, NGOs and grassroots organizations with similar entities in the South. CTW has established a close relationship with VNS and several of the individual friendships groups.  We offer our services and support to the friendship organizations with regard to education, training and consulting on sustainability projects that take place in Norway and in the South. By joining our efforts we have establish a strategic alliance to strengthen the friendships.

Foldsæ Education Centre and Fyresdal Videregående Steinerskole [Steiner High School] is an establishement located on 2300 hectares of land in the Norwegian mountains of Telemark. They sustainably manage their forest as well as producing ecological and biodynamic fruits, vegetables, eggs, milk and meat. CTW manages the old aquaculture farm and are currently in the process of transforming it into the Telemark’s Inspiration Centre for Sustainable Development (TIBU). The project is designed through the application of permaculture principles and includes the creation of aquaculture systems, intensive cultivation techniques, water cleaning systems, renewable energy, natural playgrounds and buildings. For more information about TIBU, please go here.

Hurdal Ecovillage was the first formal ecovillage in Norway. CTW has contributed to the development the ecovillage with both technical and social aspects. We have also provided other contacts and resources to strengthen the process. Some of CTW’s founders lived in the ecovillage during its first formative years.

Idebanken [The Idea Bank] promotes sustainable development and democratic participation both at a political level and with the general public in Norway. They were also responsible for implementing the Local Agenda 21 programme in Norway. CTW has participated with the organisation in several areas; sharing experiences, providing ideas, proposals and contacts. Look to the data base with over 200 good sustainable examples her.

COLOMBIA

The Association of Women Heads of Households ASOMUCAF is an organization which seeks to provide meaningful employment for women. It is based on ecological principles and encourages more sustainable lifestyles. CTW has sponsored their project Ecovillage “Nashira – a love song”, which is considered as a pioneer for providing social housing with productive systems based on environmental (permaculture) principles, community and sustainability. CTW has been present in various training workshops and implementation of pilot projects with permaculture design, appropriate technologies, and various tools on sustainability, as well as organizing some solidarity travel with french employees of EDF. These projects have strengthened this innovative women’s organization.

The Darién Foundation is an NGO working in conservation of biodiversity and Sustainable Development headquarters at the Sasardí Integrated Reserve which was one of the first natural reserves created by civil society in Colombia and the country’s first eco-village. It is located in the tropical rainforest in one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. A member of CTW is also one of the Darien Foundation’s founders, which has created a close relationship between the two organizations from the beginning. CTW has contributed to lobbying, fund-raising and networking, as well as with practical technical and social assistance to strengthen projects and initiatives in the local communities.

FUNDAMOR is a non-profit institution that since 1992 is working for children and adolescents who are in high socio-economic risk and suffer of the HIV virus/AIDS. They bring them attention and integral protection in the following areas: health, education, housing, nutrition and leisures within its country headquarters in La Viga Pance in the city of Cali. CTW has supported the stablishment of Mandivá Ecovillage in Santander de Quilichao. 

La Aldea is an ecological residential park located at the Estrella Municipality, close to Medellín, designed with elements from permaculture and Feng Shui. CTW has participated by constructing some multi-functional structures with productive eatable garden. Additionally, we have advised the founders on the adoption of appropriate technologies and composting toilets, and have assisted them with some social techniques and methodologies.

El Pueblito Acuarela together with the Mercado Campesino at Mesa de los Santos, Santander is another piolet proect in order to create a sustainable settlement. CTW has been involved in the planning, design and implementation of the sustainable settlement that aims to bring together different social and cultural aspects. We have also developed a comprehensive proposal to achieve local sustainable development.

CHILE

El Ceibo NGO and then the Junta de Acción Comunal has developed Chile’s first eco-neighbourhood in Villa 4 Alamos, at Maipú Municipality in the Metropolitan Área. The area’s 3,000 inhabitants have expressed their interest and desire to reform and revitalise their neighbourhood through active citizenship participation and voluntary work. CTW has provided this exciting project with advice on the concepts and principles of urban eco-villages. We have also assist with several practical training through workshops and courses. CTW  helped to establish a North / South friendship with the Transition Iniciative at Sagene in Oslo, Norway.

GUATEMALA

Kabawil Paysants Association works for paysants and indigenous people’s rights, cultural and ethnical values. They are aware of the importance of creating innovative solutions to meet people’s needs for development within nature’s limits. CTW has trained and exchanged experiences with members of the organization. We have also been a part of the original plan to establish a training and demonstration centre for the Escuela Popular Campesina organization. Additionally, we have coordinated the North / South friendship between Kabawil and Fyresdal Videregaende Steinerskole with a focus on education in organic production and sustainable management of natural resources.

The Educational Program for Boys, Girls and Adolescent Workers (Spanish abbreviation as PENNAT) educates boys and girls who work and live in market places, streets, parks, avenues, settlements and rural areas of the department of Chimaltenango, Guatemala. The program attends 1500 children and youngsters in 23 centers with a good learning environment.

Fundated is a Guatemalan non-governmental entity since 1984 supporting groups and communities to improve their standard of living, fulfilling the Christian mandate of solidarity, promoting local participation and use of own resources of the whole process of change and development, based primarily on respect for the dignity and human rights. Its scope covers the following areas: Education, Health, Infrastructure, Economy and Relationships.

SENEGAL

AAJAC [African Association of Agricultural and Cultural Youth] at Casamance is a farming cooperative consisting of more than 350 villages and towns which have been working for sustainable development for over 30 years. CTW has cooperated with this entity since our visit in Senegal in 2003 by providing training, consulting and international support in order to strenghten local development proposals for the cooperative. We invited the leader of the entity to participate as a lecturer at the Social Forum in Norway in 2003. In conjunction with AAJAC, we are working for the creation of South/South exchanges for grassroots organizations that specialize in sustainability solutions.

GEN African eco-village network supports Senegalese eco-village initiatives. CTW had the opportunity to participate as workshop leaders at a seminar with representatives from several eco-villages around Senegal. We have kept the connection by opening avenues of financial support to implemented projects. We expect to return to Senegal to conduct training programs and monitor sustainable system designs in the future.

GERMANY

Art, Ecology & Education (AEE) establishes connections between art, ecology and education to inspire new ideas and pathways and provide interdisciplinary access to knowledge that enables people to create healthy and life-sustaining futures. The organization participates in the development and integration of an ecologically conscious and integrated worldview.
Its main focus is on the exploration and use of methods, resources and expressions of various art-forms, as well as providing access to knowledge in order to support the paradigm shift towards an ethical-ecological consciousness.