WER WIR SIND UND WAS UNS ANTREIBT Wiederherstellung des Planeten, der Menschen und des FriedensDie Menschen fliehen vor Dürre, Hunger und Krieg. Sie bringen enorme Kräfte auf, um bessere Lebensbedingungen…
On October 28th, 2024, Generation Restoration e.V. organized a roundtable with 17 participants from various organizations online around a key question:
The Challenge: Repairing Planet, People and Peace People flee from droughts, hunger and war. They generate enormous forces to find better living conditions. A refugee camp is always seen as a stopover – but the onward journey is risky, costly and hard. A high percentage of people will never leave the camp again. Globally, there are about 79.5 million forcibly displaced people including refugees. At the same time, more than 75% of Earth’s Land Areas are substantially degraded. This undermines the well-being of almost half of the world’s population. The annual costs of land degradation are more than US$ 231 billion.
On August 19th, 2024, Generation Restoration e.V. organized a roundtable with 30 participants from various organizations at the Social Innovation Academy (SINA) in Mpigi, Uganda. Generation Restoration e.V. aims to actively serve as a bridge builder, connecting and supporting the inspiring initiatives that exist within marginalized groups, including both refugees and host communities. Harnessing the experience of grassroots actors, combining common approaches or objectives, framing those for standard-setting, and – ultimately – approaching international organizations for policy definitions are at the forefront of Generation Restoration e.V’s efforts. «What if we could transform refugee camps into regenerative communities?» The first in-person roundtable marks the beginning of a series of discussions eagerly dedicated to bringing this vision to life. Hence, the question, «What if we could transform refugee camps into regenerative communities?» is not merely preceding its question mark, it is a provocative statement of which its positive effects have been identified and seized to grow by all participants present at the roundtable.
Restoring the planet, people and peace People flee from drought, hunger and war. They generate enormous strength to find better living conditions. A refugee camp is always seen as a stopover – but the onward journey is risky, costly and hard. A high percentage of people will never leave the camp again. What if this place transforms from a place of misery and uncertainty to a place worth living with real hope? What if we could transform refugee camps into regenerative communities for people’s health and wealth, for people’s peace, for the ecosystem’s regeneration? Together we could transform the landscape of the world’s refugee camps from a desert into a flourishing, nourishing oasis. We would create the soil for peace, well-being and a secure environment. Generation Restoration Initiative The Generation Restoration initiative started in 2021 when co-founder and facilitator Tina Teucher initiated two global roundtables on the visionary question: What if we transformed refugee camps into regenerative communities? What if they could contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals? More than 150 people from over 40 countries joined the conversations to discuss how to multiply and scale existing but small grass root projects and build new standards for a regenerative refugee camp design. The needs detected in these dialogues were scaling, funding, guidance and networking.
Restoring the planet, people and peace People flee from drought, hunger and war. They generate enormous strength to find better living conditions. A refugee camp is always seen as a stopover – but the onward journey is risky, costly and hard. A high percentage of people will never leave the camp again. What if this place transforms from a place of misery and uncertainty to a place worth living with real hope? What if we could transform refugee camps into regenerative communities for people’s health and wealth, for people’s peace, for the ecosystem’s regeneration? Together we could transform the landscape of the world’s refugee camps from a desert into a flourishing, nourishing oasis. We would create the soil for peace, well-being and a secure environment. Generation Restoration Initiative The Generation Restoration initiative started in 2021 when co-founder and facilitator Tina Teucher initiated two global roundtables on the visionary question: What if we transformed refugee camps into regenerative communities? What if they could contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals? More than 150 people from over 40 countries joined the conversations to discuss how to multiply and scale existing but small grass root projects and build new standards for a regenerative refugee camp design. The needs detected in these dialogues were scaling, funding, guidance and networking.
Turning refugees into change makers – that is the goal of the Unidos Social Innovation Centre. In the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in South West Uganda the refugee-led organisation aims at empowering young refugees with entrepreneurial skills. 44 % of young Nakivale refugees unemployed and underserved It is becoming increasingly important to empower refugees as external support decreases. The World Food Programme (WFP) progressively reduced food rations for refugee settlements in South-West Uganda to 40% in 2021 (compared to 2019). According to Unidos, the ongoing drought is further exacerbating the consequences by decreasing the refugees’ own harvests. That’s why the organisation’ founders decided to re-write their own story: By inclusive education and the dissemination of entrepreneurial skills they aim at establishing food security in their refugee settlement. Through the application of permaculture these determined refugees do not only regenerate soil and ecological environment but also their own lives and the community.
Regenerative Learning Center: YICE Uganda empowers people, conserves biodiversity, scales up sustainable solutions, and promotes collaboration. When Noah Ssempijja founded YICE in 2012, he would not have dreamed of the successes the Youth Initiative for Community Empowerment celebrates today. The organisation implements practical regenerative farming activities in rural Uganda. The team has impacted over 1,500 smallholder farmers, raising their incomes by 20-46%. Thus, the jointly saved almost 12t of CO2 with regenerative practices. Their focus target group is last mile smallholder female and young farmers, including displaced people and host communities.
How can refugees achieve food sovereignty? The team from Rwamwanja Rural Foundation is building better livelihoods with permaculture. The Rwamwanja Rural Foundation Ltd. (RRF) is a grassroot organisation in the south-west of Uganda. Bemeriki Bisimwa Dusabe, a refugee from Congo, started the organization in 2015. It is run by refugees and aims at defeating malnutrition in the settlement. By educating their neighbours about permaculture, the foundation empowers refugees to grow their own food and to take a first step in leading a self-determined life. RRF emphasises that refugees should start growing their own food – even if their garden or plot is very small, because regenerative farming practices like permaculture can get a lot out of it. Participants and team members are mainly youth and women
