Self-Sustaining Communities Competitors

Habitat for Humanity is a movement of people in your local area and around the world, working together to build more prosperous and vibrant communities by making sure everyone has a safe, affordable place to call home. Since our founding in 1976 as a Christian organization, together we have helped more than 62 million people in countries around the world build their futures on their own terms through access to decent housing. We’ve done that by working alongside people of all walks of life to build, repair and finance their homes, by innovating new ways of building and financing, and by advocating for policies that make constructing and accessing housing easier for everyone. Together, we build homes, communities and hope. To learn more, visit habitat.org.

Bioneers is a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world's most pressing environmental and social challenges. The shift is hitting the fan. In this time, we’re all called upon to be leaders. Bioneers connects people with solutions and each other to create a revolution from the heart of nature. Our acclaimed national and local conferences are complemented by media outreach, including our award-winning radio series, The Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature. We serve as a source for media makers such as Leonardo DiCaprio’s film The 11th Hour and Michael Pollan’s best-selling book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Our media materials are used in schools and curricula. As a community of leadership, Bioneers acts as a media amplifier for many respected leaders, a hatchery for young and emerging leaders, and a connection point for engaged citizens dedicated to making a difference. As an interdisciplinary network of networks, we span the arc of the human endeavor to reconcile the interdependence of human and natural systems. Our programs are: · Changing the Mindscape: Public Education & Media Outreach · Education for Action · Everywoman’s Leadership · Resilient Communities · Indigenous Wisdom · The Bioneers Community of Mentors Bioneers illuminates the leading edges of transformational change and “the greatest people you’ve never heard of.” We provide a platform for communities of color, indigenous peoples and women leaders whose voices may seldom be heard elsewhere. Now in its 28th year, the Bioneers conference (c. 3,000 people annually) is a perennial wellspring of cutting-edge content and dynamic, diverse voices that supply the primary source for our public education and media outreach a focal point to build community and collaboration.

The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) is an international network of sustainable communities and initiatives on every inhabitable continent. GEN serves as umbrella organization for ecovillages, intentional communities, transition towns and ecologically-minded, community-driven individuals worldwide. People and communities meet and share their ideas, exchange technologies, develop cultural and educational exchanges, directories and newsletters, and are dedicated to restoring the land and living a cooperative sustainable lifestyle. Network members include large networks like Sarvodaya (2,000 active sustainable villages in Sri Lanka); the Federation of Damanhur in Italy and Nimbin in Australia; small rural ecovillages like Gaia Asociación in Argentina and Huehuecoyotl, Mexico; urban rejuvenation projects like Los Angeles EcoVillage and Christiania in Copenhagen; permaculture design sites such as Crystal Waters, Australia, Cochabamba, Bolivia and Barus, Brazil; and educational centres such as Findhorn in Scotland, Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, Earthlands in Massachusetts, and many more.