The history and origins of the EREV Institute

 

The Earth Rights Eco-Village Institute Senegal (EREV) has operated as a non-profit teaching and learning center for young American, European and Senegalese students, interns and volunteers since its foundation as EcoYoff n 1996. That year, the Yoff EcoCommunity Program (EcoYoff) was born during the Third International Ecocities and Ecovillages Conference, which brought representatives from more than 30 countries to the ancient fishing village of Yoff, Dakar.

In 1997, EcoYoff began an on-going program of local government website development combined with computer literacy training. In 1999, a part of EcoYoff became the NGO CRESP (Centre de Ressources pour l'Emergence Sociale Participative) Senegal, an affiliate of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy (CRESP) of Cornell University and the organization started its first academic sustainable development course with Kalamazoo College. Over the years, programs with UNITAR, the World Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO, OSIWA, USAID and other major donors followed.

In 2002, EcoYoff became a Living & Learning Center of the Global Ecovillage Network, and facilitated the creation of the Senegalese Ecovillage Network (GEN Senegal), which promotes and assists holistic sustainable community development and has accredited 32 Senegalese eco-villages using environmental and community assessment forms created by GEN Senegal’s founding member villages. GENSEN’s training center in Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) enrolled its first class of American and Senegalese students in 2004, offering January, spring and fall academic semesters accredited by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in partnership with Living Routes Study Abroad in Ecovillages Program. This program’s learning laboratories are ecovillages and villagers are its co-learners in microcredit, ecotourism, alternative energy, reforestation, and cultural protection.

The EcoYoff Living & Learning Center merged with the US-based non-profit Earth Rights Institute (ERI) in 2009, becoming at last the Earth Rights Eco-Village (EREV) Institute. Since 2004, Earth Rights Institute (ERI) has been working with the Center in promotion of eco-village projects, but now as an international representative of their work, Earth Rights aims to strengthen and enhance their many programs. In 2009 the EREV Institute and GENSEN also entered into partnership with the Senegalese Government’s new National Ecovillage Agency (ANEV), which has a mandate to develop 14,000 ecovillages.

As a West African-based subsidiary of the Earth Rights Institute, the EREV Institute continues to work in close partnership with the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) and CRESP Senegal, and remains an integral part of the Gaia Education “family.” Its Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) programs continue to adhere to Gaia Education’s criteria for accreditation as Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) programs, which are Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) accredited by UNESCO.