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The climate and nature crises and rising displacement are no longer "future risks". With reducing aid budgets and increasing conflicts and displacement, we have to shift our practices now to become resilient to oncoming shocks. In these tables, you can see the increasing global temperature over time (in °C since 1850), stacked with figures showing increasing numbers of displaced people. These figures are from Our World In Data and UNHCR. But as the humanitarian sector, how do we move from crisis management to resilience building, Regenerative response? Re-Alliance has launched a new, free online learning course on the Humanitarian Leadership Academy’s Kaya Connect platform. The course takes two hours, and you’ll begin your learning journey on how to work with nature to build genuine climate adaptation and stronger communities. Why sign up? Get certified: Earn a certificate to showcase your expertise to your network! Grow your understanding: Explore core regenerative concepts in one sitting. Know where to find more information: This is the first step in your learning journey, and find some options for your deeper learning. Ready to start your learning journey? Take the course now! ➡️ bit.ly/regencoursekaya

Photo above: Evambe Thompson at his tree nursery in Vasingi Village, Cameroon. Photo by Boris-Karloff Batata Vasingi Village in Buea, Cameroon, sits near the biodiverse but ecologically threatened Mount Cameroon National Park. Farmer and apiculturist Evambe Thompson leads an ambitious project called “Green Village” aimed at reforesting Mount Cameroon by planting over 1,000 trees. Thompson has a nursery where he is nursing both fruit trees and ‘non-timber forest product’ species for distribution and planting. Within the space of one year, Thompson has already planted 200 trees and distributed 600 to neighbouring communities around Mount Cameroon. In order to generate nature-based livelihoods, Thompson integrates bee keeping into the programme. He trains local people on safe and bee-friendly apiculture, as opposed to wild honey harvesting which sometimes can threaten the biodiversity on Mount Cameron. According to Thompson, some people who harvest wild honey use fire to flush out the bees, which has led to wildfires spreading. Mount Cameroon National Park Forest Guard Ikome Nelson adds, “Every year, you see fire on the mountain. From investigation, it shows people have been collecting wild honey … and in the course of collecting this honey they abandon their fire in the forest and the fire goes wild.” Mount Cameroon is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in Cameroon, including  endangered forest elephants, chimpanzees, and the elusive primates called Drills. Thompson believes that nature-based livelihoods are essential for supporting forest-edge and forest dwelling communities. While not all beekeeping can be considered nature-friendly, Thompson believes that with good practice, apiculture can go hand-in-hand with reforestation efforts. Bees can thrive in a forested area, so alongside his 48 hives and 28 colonies, Thompson plants fruit trees and other trees, helping to buffer the edge of the forest and keep tree cover.  Thompson has seen how climate change is negatively affecting bee keeping activities. “During this era of climate change, there are seasons when before the bees [are able to] harvest enough nectar, the rains already come and knock the blossoms off the trees.” He goes further to explain that sometimes, due to the changing climate, the trees do not bloom at all. According to Ikome Nelson, since 2021, the Mount Cameroon National Park has supported 114 bee keepers with 1,000 bee hives. Within this time, the farmers have harvested more than 1,000 litters of honey, amounting to a profit of more than FCFA 5,000,000 (~ USD $9,000). As the climate keeps changing, communities must find ways to build resilience through mitigation and adaptation practices like Thompson’s Green Village project. With the necessary support, these projects can support communities to thrive while standing against the negative effects of climate change.

In refugee and IDP settlements across the world, a mobile phone can be a lifeline for the people who live there. But keeping phones charged in these contexts can be costly, unreliable, or even unsafe. That’s where the Wind Mobile project steps in, blending local ingenuity and resources, renewable wind power, and global collaboration to create real-world solutions that work where they’re needed most. An exploded diagram of a design using timber blades that can be built using recycled components Launched by School of the Earth  and supported by Re-Alliance , Wind Mobile set out to tackle a deceptively simple challenge: how can communities in refugee camps charge phones and power small devices using locally made, low-tech wind turbines ? Rather than developing a one-size-fits-all product, the project adopted a phased, community-driven design approach , working with four different networks across Africa and Europe: Wind Empowerment  (West Africa) – For early technical R&D using salvaged hoverboard magnets. Africa Maker-space Network  (East Africa) – To adapt and prototype turbines using recycled loudspeaker magnets. Habibi.Works  (Greece) – For hands-on, refugee-led manufacturing workshops. Re-Alliance Network  – To extend and test designs for diverse humanitarian contexts. One of Wind Mobile’s most inspiring aspects is its commitment to appropriate technology by building what’s needed, using what’s available. Whether it was hoverboard magnets in Côte d'Ivoire or speaker magnets in Uganda and Kenya, each turbine design was shaped by what local communities could find and fabricate themselves . E-waste proved a reliable source of magnets while the skills of simple carpentry and car mechanics could be transferred to manufacturing the turbines. Upcycled speaker magnets were used in the East African designs in Kenya and Uganda Designs were carefully tested, including in university labs and international competitions, proving that hand-crafted turbines made with salvaged parts  can deliver meaningful energy outputs, up to 500 watts in some cases! In October 2024, the Wind Mobile vision came to life in a makerspace near the Katsikas refugee camp  in Greece. Participants from Kenya , Uganda , and Ghana  joined local and refugee makers for a week-long workshop at Habibi.Works . They built turbines, exchanged skills, overcame language barriers, and left with the tools and confidence to replicate the work in their home communities. The event became a melting pot of ideas, cultures, and practical know-how - exactly what the project hoped to achieve. Read the full end-of-project report below.

Discover the partnerships and programmes which are showcasing regeneration in action alongside communities. Projects & Partnerships Re-Alliance works alongside trusted partner organisations to co-create and implement regenerative projects throughout the world. Re-Alliance's role is usually in strategic design, project co-design and management, research, as well as producing educational materials, M&E, and disseminating information. See below for more information on some of our recent and current projects and collaborations. Special thanks to our generous funding partners from the public as well as Trusts and Foundations, including but not limited to Treebeard Trust , the JAC Trust and Lush Cosmetics. Regenerative Refugee Settlement in Nakivale Uganda Co-designing and building a Regenerative Settlement with 20 households in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda + In partnership with: YICE Uganda, Arup, Re-Alliance Regenerative Camps and Settlements: Piloting Interventions Partnering with Re-Alliance members to showcase regenerative interventions in displacement contexts. + In partnership with: Re-Alliance Members Gardening in Small Spaces in Cox's Bazar Evaluating the impacts of home gardening in small refugee dwellings in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. + In partnership with: BASD; Asian University for Women Mobile Wind Power Community designed micro-wind turbines for camps and settlements. + In partnership with: School Of The Earth Growing Mushrooms in Reusable Buckets Minak Projects trialled mushroom growing in reusable, upcycled containers in a refugee settlement. + In partnership with: Minak Projects First Response to Trauma Psychosocial support and community building for trauma healing. + In partnership with: SACOD Building Wicking Beds in Tongogara Building water-saving growing beds in a water-scarce refugee settlement. + In partnership with: Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre Vermicomposting Toilets In Bekaa, Lebanon, Farms Not Arms built three vermicompost toilets for refugee families. These innovative toilets use worms to convert human waste into compost. + In partnership with: Farms Not Arms Urban rooftop garden in Al-Buriej Refugee Camp Growing food gardens on rooftops in Gaza, showcasing urban growing in places with limited access to land. + In partnership with: Gaza Urban & Peri-Urban Agriculture Platform (GUPAP) Regenerative Urban Agriculture MOCGSE led a project focussed on supporting conflict-affected areas with regenerative urban agriculture demonstration and education. + In partnership with: Mount Oku Center for Gender and Socioeconomic Empowerment (MOCGSE) Regesoil: Community Composting Collective community composting sites in Nakivale Refugee Settlement. + In partnership with: Unidos Social Innovation Centre Ecosan Composting Toilets Urine diversion, dry composting toilets in a barrel, enriching soils for more nutrient-rich crops and healthier people. + In partnership with: YICE Uganda Reimagining Urban Ecosystems in Greece, with Sporos A community-led initiative transforming urban spaces in Greece into resilient, biodiverse ecosystems through regenerative design and education. + In partnership with: Sporos Regeneration Institute Building Treebogs in Kakuma Refugee Settlement FHE built several twin Treebog composting toilets in Kakuma Refugee Settlement. These are raised composting toilets which feed 'humanure' directly to perennial plant roots. + In partnership with: Farming & Health Education (FHE) Lime-Stabilised Soil Building in Cox's Bazar Disaster resistant eco-buildings made from locally sourced materials in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. + In partnership with: Bee Rowan & International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Non-Digital Communications for Capacity Building Analogue learning materials for regenerative food growing in refugee camps and settlements. + In partnership with: Kajulu Hills Ecovillages, Green Releaf Grey Water and Rain Water Harvesting for Food Growing in Syria Piloting Grey water and Rain water harvesting and irrigation for food growing in Syria. + In partnership with: Syrian Academic Expertise, Malteser International Re-Alliance Members' Film Collaboration Participatory filmmaking to share stories of regeneration in action. + In partnership with: Re-Alliance Members

< back Date of completion: 1 May 2025 Gardening in Small Spaces in Cox's Bazar Evaluating the impacts of home gardening in small refugee dwellings in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Between 2022 and 2025, Re-Alliance, in collaboration with the Food Security Sector in Cox's Bazar and Rohingya student researchers at the Asian University for Women, conducted a research project to evaluate the impacts of home gardening in small refugee dwellings. By interviewing 159 households and 14 organisations, this project explored the intersection of food security, health, and psychological well-being within a displacement context. The Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, face severe food shortages. In 2023, standard food assistance was reduced to just $8 per person per month, leaving families with a significant nutritional deficit. Despite the constraints of limited space and harsh conditions, the community’s food security response began to fill some of the gap, as over 1,000 gardening initiatives were recorded in 2022 alone. Our research found that 93% of gardens remained productive for 7 to 11 months after establishment, with Permaculture and Regenerative farms the most successful. Households reported multiple benefits, including improved food security and reduced dependence on external aid, with some harvesting up to 195 kg of fresh produce in the growing season. Beyond nutrition, respondents noted a genuine improvement in mental health. Some households even sold their surplus, earning up to 25,000 Bangladeshi Taka. Re-Alliance recommends a shift toward a regenerative approach inspired by Permaculture. This includes prioritising native and non-GMO seed saving, community composting, perennial plant growing (eg food forestry), and climate-adaptive techniques. We advocate for integrating the traditional agricultural knowledge of the refugees themselves, who bring deep farming expertise to the camps, and supporting the transition of this to cultivating kitchen gardens and working in small spaces without synthetic inputs. For some this is a leap, but for others, particularly women who may have been involved previously in vegetable gardening rather than open field farming, have a lot of valuable knowledge to share. Involving women farmers in supporting others to grow can be a more effective use of resources than employing external workers. It's important to note that people cannot be self sufficient through small kitchen gardens in refugee settlements. These spaces are a valuable supplement to limited food availability, and if cultivated well, can provide surplus to sell and cash to buy other food stuffs. But with limited space, they cannot provide the majority of people's nutritional needs. Home gardens in Cox’s Bazar have proven to be more than just a means of food production. They empower individuals, provide nutritional and economic benefits, and restore a sense of dignity. Transcript from video below: "This is my tiny permaculture garden. I do not have extra space for gardening. I got Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) from BASD and started gardening. My neighbours also followed me, observing my garden. I didn't know much about gardening earlier, but now I know its importance, what good food is, and what poisonous food is. I planted some plants of bottle gourd, sweet pumpkin, brinjal, chilli, and tomato in a very small area. My family members and I enjoy food from our garden. I do sell a surplus of vegetables. I give thanks to BASD for giving us such beautiful training." - Siraj of Camp 19 at Cox's Bazar shares his garden and experience of working with BASD

Meet the team who support and facilitate the thriving Re-Alliance network of Regenerative practitioners. Meet the team Core Facilitation Team Correspondents Trustees Volunteers Directorship Ruth Andrade Chair of the Trustee Board Read More → Communications Team Ansiima Casinga Rolande Correspondent and Regenerative Settlements Storyteller Read More → Core Facilitation Team James Atherton Permaculture Lead, Communication & Storytelling Lead Read More → Communications Team Batata Boris-Kaloff Correspondent Read More → Directorship Gisele Henriques Trustee Read More → Core Facilitation Team Jackie Kearney Network & Membership Lead Read More → Directorship George McAllister Trustee and Safeguarding Focal Point Read More → Core Facilitation Team Mary Mellett Research, Content & Compliance Lead Read More → Directorship Peter Mellett Trustee Read More → Core Facilitation Team Juliet Millican Coordinator Read More → Directorship Geoff O'Donoghue Trustee and Finance Circle Read More → Communications Team Sunjae Yun Research & Communications support Read More →