The Social  Innovation for Resilient Communities (SIRCle) project uses adult education to address one of the most pressing needs of our time, namely how to marry our love for the planet with our capacity to thrive financially.  It helps communities meet the challenges set out in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Climate Agreement reached in Paris in 2015.

Adult learners will acquire the skills needed to set up social enterprises, or transform existing workplaces, both to reflect their unique sense of purpose and to contribute to the resilience of their region. In this way, they will both flourish as people and will support the development of a new economy based on the creation and distribution of the goods and services needed to deliver a sustainable future.

The SIRCle Project was born in a close collaboration between the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) and the Findhorn Foundation (FF) and brings together a diverse range of organisations from Austria (Plenum), Belgium (AEIDL and Still Consulting), Romania (Asociatia Romania in Transizie), Spain (Altekio) and Portugal (FFCUL).

Together, we have created the highly experiential and innovative curriculum: ‘The Evoneers Journey’ that uses a core story of change that unfolds over nine stepping stones. This core framework can be adapted to different timescales, online and offline formats, and to the context and needs of participants. Participants, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, will journey individually and together into finding a way to express their contributions to local and global sustainability.

The curriculum is supported by links to 130 learning patterns and teaching videos that point the way to addressing the challenges and issues that will inevitably arise on the journey.

The eight partner organisations were granted €446.285,00 under ERASMUS+ to implement the project over a three-year period, from September 2014 to September 2017.

The curriculum will be translated into seven languages to meet the needs in each Partner country.