What unites us is the vision and mission of the Avnø Oasis Ecovillage Project and the willingness to develop the project together. Some team members live at Avnø. Some are external. We still have room for more team members. These are the team members you will meet during the course. Besides that there is community members and volunteers doing a lot of work behind the scenes.
Kristiane was raised on a farm, and studied Mathematical-Economics at Århus University, when her body fell apart due to stress at the age of 21. Stress wasn’t understood very well 40 years ago, so she didn’t get any help until she learned that she could get her body-systems back in balance with food, lifestyle and meditation.
This was such an enlightening experience that it changed the course of her life. She left her studies before her masters degree to study food and lifestyle at the Kushi Institute of London.
After she completed her education as a macrobiotic teacher and counselor in 1982 and began counseling and teaching, she quickly realized, that it took more than a miraculous healing for people to be motivated for a healthy lifestyle. In 2001 she developed a new generation of dynamic, systematic and in-depth tools (AIMA) for personal transformation to support people in changing negative habits and mindset. The AIMA concept is based on her deep spiritual experiences and search of tools to recommend her students. They are capable of removing subliminal programming, such as negative self images and old patterns. Once they are gone, a person naturally returns to their innate positive and proactive mindset.
Everybody who has been introduced to the AIMA concept has been impressed, no matter if they have a masters degree in psychology or have been engaged in more alternative disciplines for personal and spiritual development.
Kristiane has primarily been teaching in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and USA. She has managed to make a living from what she loves to do, namely teaching diet, lifestyle and personal development.
Since 2017 she has studied, sociocracy, Ecovillage Design, Permaculture Design and actively in the eco-village movement in Denmark and Europe. She is the
She is a co-founder of Avnø Oasis Ecovillage as well as of Vitalitetsfonden, the foundation, who at the moment owns the property of the project.
Inner transition, Aima coach program, health, food, lifestyle, sociocracy, gardening, Gaia Education trainer, facilitator for Health, Happiness and Green Living
Olha Simon is a youth activist and a member of the GEN Ukraine core team. She focuses on NVC, leadership and facilitation skills, networking, and community building practices. A graduate of the EDE Ukraine 2020, since then she has been visiting eco-communities in Ukraine and across Europe to collect and share their inspiration and experience. Olha was also one of the organizers of the European Ecovillage Gathering 2022, a participant of several Erasmus+ projects and the TOT 2022 in Damanhur. In autumn 2022 she coordinated the Soft Skills course in Ukraine about healthy communication in communities.
NVC, leadership and facilitation, networking, community building, soon a Gaia Education trainer, çoordinator and facilitator for Health, Happiness and Green Living
Permaculture Diploma holder certified by Permaculture Association Britain.
Lou’s diploma portfolio is a compilation of some of the design work undertaken in the last 12 years that she has been working with permaculture, with designs from a broad range of categories. Land stewardship, personal sustainability, self-sufficiency, eco-building, teaching & education, and community building have all been focus points for her portfolio of work.
The diploma led to education opportunities such as studying under Aranya and Caroline Aitken on their PDC course at Heathercombe and the teacher training course with Graham Bell and Rakesh. The diploma also led to Lou becoming a
member of the board of Permaculture Denmark, where she worked for 4 years, organising events and fundraising. Lou also acted as secretary and spokesperson for the organisation, helping its members with general and specific questions about permaculture, education opportunties and getting involved in the permaculture community.
Lou works day to day as a viticulturist (wine-grower) and wine-maker for a small organic vineyard on Fejø island, here in Denmark. Her main responsibility is managing the fields of vines, but Lou also works in the winery with vinification of the grapes. The 4 acre vineyard makes some of Denmark’s best organic wines, which amongst other places are sold at the
Michelin starred restaurant, Kiin Kiin in Copenhagen.
She is currently building her own home – a tiny house from natural materials. She is passionate about personal sustainability, living soil and design theory, seeing permaculture as a design science and a great way to build community and have fun together!
Permaculture design, personal sustainability, living soil and design theory – Diploma holder and Facilitator of PDC.
Camilla Nielsen-Englyst has since its beginning in 2005 lived in Hallingelille in Denmark (the only ecovillage with its own zebra!). For the last few years, Camilla has worked as an international consultant in the Danish Red Cross Youth movement – running trainings and projects with volunteer groups globally. At the side, she has been engaged in the international projects run by the National Network of Ecovillages in Denmark, as the international project coordinator. Her professional background is within Educational Studies & Learning – and Communications. She has co-facilitated three different EDE’s after taking her own at Findhorn in 2011. Focus is in the social dimensions; visioning, conflicting, communicating, governing, deciding, coexisting. She is a certified GAIA Education trainer.
GAIA Education Trainer with focus on social dimensions; visioning, conflicting, communicating, governing, decisionmaking, coexistance
I have no education (on paper) and my main job for the last some 20 years, has been looking after our children (handicapped daughter), keeping our home, building on our house and doing the garden. I had a cafe, at my parent’s store, for about 6 years where I also made ecological ice cream. I am interested in healing herbs, what we can eat in the wild, nature, spiritual / Nordic shamanism / star families / healing / connecting / vibration – what ever should I call it! In my world everything is connected. I love to create and decorate, using all kind of Teknik’s, especially with things from the nature and secondhand items. I’m also interested in food and cooking. Healing and helping and I love being in nature. I have been working in a tourist information, at the coastguard (NOT like on films, on land looking out through binoculars), art shops and the cafe that I had. I love my life and people in general, and think we live on a marvelous planet.
I’m married to Bernhard Schwegler. We live in a small village on Falster, we bought our house in 1999 and have been building
on it since then. We build with straw and clay, a kind of cop techniq, but lighter than most people know, it’s our 3. house now, and all have been build this way. Rikke’s mom and brother also live in our small village (20 houses) and we help each other out. Mom makes ceramics and has a smaller shop at home. We have 2 daughters, one is now 22 years, and the other became only 21 years old (she died in 2019). We have always lived Permacultur’ish, although we didn’t know that before we got in contact with other people living/thinking likethis. We have a big garden witch we are trying to give some structure after permaculture principals. We have been living in Germany, in Greenland and are now in Denmark. In the wintertime we dance Folkedans ones a week. Bernhard is an architect and we enjoy helping others on how they can fulfil their dream, to build a sustainable home that are just as they want their home to be. In general, we see the world as our friend, and do what we can to make sure, that we all thrive by thinking about what, and how we do things.
Cheramics, upcycling / sewing clothes, ecological building
Victoria Mouton is a young French artist and designer, graduated from the Beaux Arts de Marseille in 2021. She works in the field of the living, the vernacular and in the cosmology of an environment. Her territory of creation consists of imaginary aesthetics, mixed with her observations of the world around her. Hybrid universes are thus developed where reality and fiction meet. She creates shapes that tell stories, and stories that create shapes.
In her workshop “Creating new worlds”, participants will be invited to collect and gather ideas, drawings, photographs or even videos to illustrate and share the ecovillage of their dreams. This way you will be able to explore a sensible and reflexive approach of yourself and the world, but also express your creativity, and start building your project.
Creating new worlds, a design process
Alicia Noemi Carreiro Kon has more than 25 years experience in the Natural Health area: she is a Macrobiotics counsellor, a
qualified massage therapist (Wadô-atsu) and holistic practitioner including Moxibustion, Kinesiotaping, Movements for Healthy Adults and Kids, Breathing and Meditation techniques, Trance Dance, and Biodanza. She likes to keep her work fresh and up to date with further courses, experiences and independent research.
“I have a passion for natural health and well-being, with a particular interest in the relationship between mind, body and spirit. I strongly believe that each person is unique and therefore so is every session. My intuition and natural sensitivity allow for the treatments to be adapted to the individual’s needs. Sessions (in person or online) promote the body’s self-cure at many levels: physical and psychological healing are the outcome as well as restoring energy levels and stimulating circulation. Depending on the nature of the problem, you may need a course of sessions to be able to see long-term effective changes. It is worth it, you deserve it!”
Health, movements, breathing, meditation, dancing
www.shiatsumacrobiotique.com
Shiatsu
I’m educated as an architect from Stuttgart (danish MAA). I’ve always been interested in sustainability and ecological
methods, how nature “works” and how it’s all connected. I have been a member of LØB (national association for
ecological building Denmark), Chairman since 2022. I like to make wooden sculptures and jewellery out of biobased
materials. I also build furniture’s for our home and weld steel if it’s needed. My way to understand the world is to
explore a lot of areas and try to learn more. I ́m keen to develop my knowledge and use it for better understanding our life.
I’m married to Rikke Schwegler. We live in a small village on Falster, we bought our house in 1999 and have been building
on it since then. We build with straw and clay, a kind of cop technique, but lighter than most people know, it’s our 3. house now, and all have been build this way. Rikke’s mom and brother also live in our small village (20 houses) and we help each other out. Mom makes ceramics and has a smaller shop at home. We have 2 daughters, one is now 22 years, and the other would have been 21 years (she died in 2019). We have always lived Permacultur’ish, although we didn’t know that before we got in contact with other people living/thinking likethis. We have a big garden witch we are trying to give some structure after permaculture principals. We have been living in Germany, in Greenland and are now in Denmark. In the wintertime we dance Folkedans ones a week. Bernhard is an architect and we enjoy helping others on how they can fulfil their dream, to build a sustainable home that are just as they want their home to be. In general, we see the world as our friend, and do what we can to make sure, that we all thrive by thinking about what, and how we do things.
Architect, ecological building
Ross Jackson is chairman of Gaia Trust, a Danish-based charitable entity he co-founded in 1987 to promote a more sustainable and spiritual world. Gaia Trust has financed hundreds of sustainability projects in over 30 countries as well as several “green” start-ups in Denmark, and continues to support two major international NGO initiatives—the Global Ecovillage Network and Gaia Education.
Ross has for many years been an innovative leader in both the business and NGO worlds and has functioned as a management consultant in several industries and financial institutions. His business career has been as an independent consultant and software designer, later specializing in international finance.
Ross is currently developing a novel type of computer model for a modern economy that challenges the conventional thinking about how the economy really works.
Ross’ undergraduate degree was in Engineering Physics in Canada, followed by a Master’s degree in Industrial Management at Purdue University and a PhD in Operations Research, the science of problem solving, at Case Western Reserve University in the USA. Born a Canadian, he has since 1964 lived in Denmark, and became a Danish citizen in 1972.
Shifting the global economy to sustainability
Has graduated in Communication, with a Master in Semiotics. Started travelling to experience different ways of living and different cultures after university. She came to Avnø Oasis Ecovillage in the autumn 2021. There, she discovered her interest in healthy lifestyle and the importance to connect with nature. So, she decided to create her own career based on travels, sustainability and self development. Since then, she kept travelling, discovering, experiencing and practicing different ways to connect with nature and how to bring this to people.
The experience in Avnø Oasis Ecovillage gave her solid bases to understand and develop this interest. Especially, how reconnecting with nature can be powerful for health and personal development. She is also really fascinated to reconnect to origins of human life, how people lived with simplicity according to natural law and natural cycles, that has been forgotten by years.
Besides that she is an excellent cook and a leading member of the kitchen team on Avnø Oasis.
Reconnection with nature.
Alexandra Hasdorf is a facilitator within leadership and change processes. With a background as Kaospilot, she has deep experience with practices that cultivate our inner intuitive leader and deepen human relations. And then she believes in the power of asking beautiful questions as one of the greatest means to foster systems change.
Kaospilot. Facilitator within leadership and change processes.
Ecovillage economics and social alchemy of communities.
Ditlev have been involved in the ecovillage movement for 23 years, from 2010-2015 as the chairman for the Danish Ecovillage Association. He lived in Freetown Christiania from 1993-2006 and again since 2020. He have been a member of Karise Permatopia since 2014, and moved into a new build house in August 2018.
Ditlev have served quit a lot of the Danish ecovillages as a facilitator and a teacher with focus on community building, co-creation, participatory processes, conflict management and green economy. For 12 years he was a teacher and consultant in the Danish Center for Conflict Resolution. Now he runs Levende Lokalsanfund (Living Communities), a consultant business that brings the wisdom and knowledge from the ecovillage movement out to traditional residential areas.
Vibrant Local Social Economies, 8 forms of capital, Green marketplace
Rakesh has been designing and teaching permaculture to individuals and communities since 2009, and has taught hundreds of permaculture, forest gardening, eco village design and related courses. His design portfolio ranges from farm scale forest garden and permaculture designs to many urban community food growing gardens, private farms and back gardens as well as designing collaborative businesses, urban water retention systems and even computer software and documentation systems.
Permaculture design, forest garden, yoga, homeopathy and reggae.
Helena was a member of the board of the association “Permaculture in Ukraine”. Since 2016, she has been designing smart and sustainable gardens that are regenerative and self-sufficient. One of her biggest hobbies are growing trees from seeds.
Permaculture design, land management and cadastre engineering.
Johan is 27 years old and is studying at the Art and Design School of Marseille (INSEAM) in France. Throughout his childhood he worked with wood with his father, who taught him how to think through the material. He was 16 years old when he trained as a glassblower in Strasbourg in France and then as a neonist in Paris at 21 years old. In 2016 he participated in the ERASMUS+ program to introduce high school students from different European countries to molten glass. Today, when he has time he does terracotta sculpture. He has always sought to better understand the material that surrounds us and he is deeply convinced that it is endowed with emotion. His aim at the Art School is to expand his knowledge of metal.
