This picture-led booklet advises on seasonal food growing in refugee camps, made by Re-Alliance's partner SOILS Permaculture Association - Lebanon, in partnership with German Development Cooperation - GIZ, Mercy Corps, and the World Food Program. Translated from the original Arabic with permission from SOILS Permaculture Association - Lebanon. < Back Seasonal Food Growing in Refugee Settlements This picture-led booklet advises on seasonal food growing in refugee camps, made by Re-Alliance's partner SOILS Permaculture Association - Lebanon, in partnership with German Development Cooperation - GIZ, Mercy Corps, and the World Food Program. Translated from the original Arabic with permission from SOILS Permaculture Association - Lebanon. Donate to Re-Alliance Stay updated with our newsletter Download for free: English, Arabic & Greek

< back Date of completion: 1 Mar 2023 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. Sporos Regeneration Institute and Konstantinos Tsiompanos have been working with displaced communities to regenerate urban spaces in in Athens and on Lesvos, Greece, with a strong focus on enhancing biodiversity and building climate resilience. Sporos brought together people from 13 different nationalities and regions to co-design and maintain agriculturally productive ecosystems to feed people and nurture biodiversity. The project aimed to empower participants to grow their own resources independently. Through a hands-on learning approach, the initiative supported participants to learn practical regenerative agricultural skills. They learned about soil composition, home composting, water conservation, and seed-saving. Participants also gain experience in compact cultivation methods such as lasagna-bed making, composting and vermicomposting, which supported them to create productive gardens even in limited urban spaces. A key highlight of the project was the creation of a rooftop garden. Using reclaimed wood for raised beds and upcycled pallets for structure, the team demonstrated adaptable, resource-conscious methods perfectly suited to the urban environment. Learn more about Sporos Regeneration Institute at www.sporosinstitute.org .

< Back Ruth Andrade Chair of the Trustee Board Ruth has more than 10 years of experience in environmental project management and development in the business sector and two decades experience in education. In the last 10 years, Ruth has been involved in community development, sustainable livelihoods, collaborative project design and participatory governance processes. Ruth’s focus is in building and energising networks to create a bridge between industrial growth and a new culture that can sustain complex life on the planet. Ruth gives her time to designing, developing, testing and learning strategies, patterns and worldviews that can support this new flourishing culture. She has an MSc in Advanced Environment and Energy Studies.

< Back Jackie Kearney Network & Membership Lead Jackie is a researcher, network facilitator, and project coordinator with an MA in Global Development and Humanitarianism, whose work focuses on localised climate resilience, ecosystem restoration and forced migration. Dedicated to supporting grassroots organisations working for a shift towards more equitable approaches to disaster, displacement and development, much of her work involves facilitating the formation of partnerships and amplifying marginalised voices through various forms of storytelling.

< back Date of completion: 30 Jun 2028 Regenerative Refugee Settlement in Nakivale Uganda Co-designing and building a Regenerative Settlement with 20 households in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda. This project tests the proposal that those closest to the challenges - refugees themselves - are best placed to create effective, dignified settlements that regenerate the lives of the people who live there and the land on which they depend. It aims to showcase localisation in action, shifting power, resources and decision making to local people and organisations. It also aims to demonstrate the value of diverse organisations working together to enhance the regenerative impact of local action so that learnings and experience can be shared between the local and international levels. It is a unique opportunity to combine the many regenerative approaches already tried and tested in Nakivale into one integrated settlement. What is an Integrated Regenerative Settlement? A regenerative settlement includes closed-loop systems that cycle resources back into the environment to build up the capacity of the people and their land. This can include water management techniques that capture rainwater and grey water systems to reuse water, sanitation systems which turn food and human wastes into a resource to feed the soil and growing practices that cycle nutrients back into the soil and build biodiversity. It should make use of renewable energy, local, natural building materials and the skills and resources of local people. Systems should be designed to be maintained by the community to ensure the continuation and development of the settlement. Communal space, including space for livelihood activities, should be planned for and participatory governance supported to help foster the connection of local people and build strong relationships and resilience within the community. C losed-loop systems cycle resources back into the environment to increase the capacity of people and the land Description of this project Google satellite image with site marked 3 acres of land within the Rubondo zone of Nakivale Refugee Settlement have been allocated to this project by the Ugandan Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). After shortlisting by OPM, 20 households from Rubondo volunteered to take part in a participatory design for a regenerative settlement on the site together with YICE, the implementing partner, and other local groups. After designing the site, householders will help to build their homes and gardens and live together in their ‘village’. The design will aim to include: Housing built by local people in traditional styles using local natural materials, adapted where needed to increase comfort and resilience to climate change. Integrated closed-loop solutions for water, sanitation and waste management Food growing and livelihood zones Renewable energy provision for cooking and lighting Tree and bamboo planting The design process will be informed by permaculture design principles, the GEN ecovillage design process and Sphere Unpacked’s guidance on nature based solutions. It aims to use an action research approach to facilitate a community-led design process that will be documented to benefit community groups in other places. The project will run from June 2025 - May 2028 Project Partners Community Participants: designers and future residents are a group of 20 households from the Rubondo district of Nakivale who volunteered to join the project after being shortlisted by the Ugandan Office of the Prime Minister and UNHCR. Each family brings their own skills to the project and will help design the site and housing. Each family has their own unique perspective of how the settlement should be shaped to help enable their hopes for a secure future. YICE Uganda are the primary implementing organisation who will lead this project in Nakivale, hosting participatory design workshops and supporting the community who will design and live in the settlement. YICE provides sustainable and actionable agricultural services to rural smallholder farmers—especially women, youth, and displaced people. Through innovative solutions and long-term support, YICE helps farmers conserve the environment, improve productivity, and increase incomes, enabling them to build resilient and thriving livelihoods. Re-alliance will capture and present the stories and learnings from this project in freely accessible formats for community-level use. They have assembled a volunteer reference group, bringing in expertise from those with experience working on the Sphere Nature Based Solutions guide, the Ennead Master Plan approach, participatory design experience and humanitarian emergency response expertise. Arup is a global firm giving pro-bono technical support to this project. They will develop the plans, which have been co-designed locally, into a masterplan document with design codes, guidance and construction phasing advice. Arup help shape sustainable, safe, inclusive, and resilient communities by pioneering innovative approaches to the built and natural environments, prioritising environmental regeneration, biodiversity, resource conservation, economic growth, and social value. Meet the core team Noah Ssempijja Director of YICE Uganda, Noah will head up the Ugandan team providing oversight and strategic direction and liaising with key local, national and international stakeholders. Bless Shimirwa is YICE’s Nakivale-based Project Manager, he will be the main point of contact for the local participants, community designers and stakeholders and support with the participatory workshops. Naswirah Nalukwago is the director of Basattu Innovations, a YICE partner organisation based in Nakivale. Naswirah will lead on training and construction management. Driven by a passion for community-led innovation, resilience, and empowerment, Naswirah is committed to developing solutions that restore ecosystems while supporting displaced communities. Rolande Ansiima is the Nakivale Communications Correspondent for Re-Alliance. Rolande, a permaculture practitioner and trainer, is passionate about understanding and communicating the diverse perspectives of the people within her community. She will provide regular updates on the project including videos, photographs and voice recordings. Juliet Millican and Mary Mellett from Re-alliance will lead on documentation and knowledge sharing (See Re-alliance team pages for more details). Paul Broeker and Joana Ferro will lead the Arup involvement and technical support. A Volunteer Reference Group will Advise the project, bringing in expertise from those with experience working on the Sphere Nature Based Solutions guide, the Ennead Master Plan approach, participatory design experience and humanitarian emergency response expertise. Context Photographs from Nakivale

< Back Juliet Millican Coordinator Juliet is an educationalist who has worked for 25 years in international development, humanitarian response and the field of conflict and peacebuilding. She is committed to the facilitation of transformational change in individuals, communities and societies to enable us to live in ways that respect the integrity of nature and the broader eco-system of which we are a part. She has worked in academia, in NGOs and in the design and management of action oriented research, and is concerned to make knowledge accessible and to bring together different forms of academic, practitioner and community knowledge to address the pressing problems of our time.

< Back James Atherton Permaculture Lead, Communication & Storytelling Lead James is a Queer, Vegan Permaculture teacher with a background in climate activism, film and design. James has worked across the UK and Australia, and has co-founded several activist spaces in both countries. James is also the Learning Lead with Regenerosity.world, and works with Oxfam GB.

< back Date of completion: 1 Jan 2027 Integrated Water Management Plan Designing & Implementing an Integrated Water Management plan in Nakivale Refugee camp, Uganda. As part of the larger ‘ Regenerative Settlement Project ’ in Rubondo, Nakivale, 5 workshops were undertaken to better understand the land and the daily lives of the people who will live in the settlement and collaboratively create a masterplan for the site. Despite an abundance of seasonal rain water, a major theme coming again and again from the participants was the daily struggle to access water. There are limited sources of all types of water - for drinking , cooking , washing and irrigating crops. To respond to the challenge, this project, led by local regenerative organisation YICE and Fluxus Ecological design, will design and implement a Water Sensitive Design and Integrated Water Management plan. The plan will cover: Demand reduction: minimising water consumption to essential levels Source diversification: combining multiple water sources of varying quality and seasonal availability Rainwater management: promoting infiltration and retention to enhance groundwater recharge and reduce runoff and erosion Wastewater as a resource: recovering water, nutrients and energy whenever possible In practice, on this site, this means harvesting and filtering rainwater from roofs for immediate access to water and digging earthworks to retain rain water in the soil to rehydrate the land and humidify the environment over time. Initial planning has identified the following approaches as appropriate for this site: Ensuring dry sanitation systems are used, such as UDDTs, to reduce consumption of water Rain water harvesting , filtering and storage from roofs of the 20 houses that will be built on site, for household and communal access. Water retention to channel water from rain , run-off and grey water into the soil on the site using banana circles, rain gardens , swales , bunds and ponds . Digging a shallow well at the source of a seasonal spring for community access An initial visit and workshop has been undertaken to research the approach further and trial rainwater harvesting on a building on the site and an action plan produced to guide the project. See a video about the first workshop here:

< back Date of completion: 1 May 2024 Building Wicking Beds in Tongogara Building water-saving growing beds in a water-scarce refugee settlement. From November 2023 to May 2024, Re-Alliance partnered with the Fambidzani Permaculture Centre (FPC) and the Transformative Innovative Hub (TIH) to build wicking beds in the Tongogara Refugee Camp. The project introduced wicking bed technology to address water scarcity, aiming to improve the community’s nutrition and health through access to fresh vegetables. A wicking bed is a garden bed design that uses capillary action to draw water from the base of the bed, making it perfect for maximum water efficiency in arid climates. By placing a reservoir of water at the bottom, fed through a tube, moisture is drawn upward directly to the plant roots. This ‘wicking’ process ensures plants receive consistent hydration while significantly minimising evaporation. In hot and dry climates, a large percentage of water can be lost to evaporation, so simple designs to maximise water use is ideal. The project engaged 75 residents and provided comprehensive training on the construction and maintenance of diverse wicking bed models. Following the workshops, participants successfully installed their own home-based wicking beds and harvested a wide range of crops, including spinach, rapeseed, tomatoes, and onions. The wicking beds enabled participants to reduce water consumption by more than 50% compared to conventional beds. An FPC survey showed that a single 60-litre reservoir could sustain a garden for an entire week, offering a buffer against the region’s frequent droughts. Beyond water resilience, the project integrated Permaculture training, empowering residents to shift from expensive, toxic chemicals to nature-inspired and organic methods of growing. For long-term success, the initiative has evolved to focus on growing the health of soil. Drawing on lessons from the implementation in Tongogara, the team recognised that using locally made compost, and empowering communities to be self-sufficient, are vital to community resilience. Re-Alliance worked with Fambidzanai to develop a 'how-to' guide on developing wicking beds, which you can download below.

This illustrated guide explores how to establish composting at community scale, to build soil health, cycle 'waste', and grow community cohesion. < Back Community Composting This illustrated guide explores how to establish composting at community scale, to build soil health, cycle 'waste', and grow community cohesion. Donate to Re-Alliance Stay updated with our newsletter Download for free: English Español Português عربي Swahili Français

< back Date of completion: 1 Dec 2020 Re-Alliance Members' Film Collaboration Participatory filmmaking to share stories of regeneration in action. With a generous grant of €5000 from Lush Deutschland, we seed-funded the production of 12 short films showcasing inspirational examples of regeneration in action, from Re-Alliance members 8 different countries. These powerful stories of community-based approaches spread messages of hope around the world. An advisory panel helped us decide who to award further grant funding to, and the recipients were awarded up to €3000 to grow their work further. This collaboration welcomed meaningful stories from across the world, giving platform for Re-Alliance members to share their work. For accessibility, we asked that films to be recorded on mobile phones and to last under 6 minutes. Films could be recorded in any language with English subtitles. Small grants of up to €500 were offered to help make the films, which went towards travel costs, purchase of lapel microphones, editing and subtitling in English. All films were uploaded onto our YouTube page and widely shared, tripling visits to our site in a short time as well as giving voice to small marginalised groups. Produced at the height of worldwide lockdowns, the films told stories of resilience and adaptability and facilitated connections and the growth of inspirational ideas at a time when people could not meet but stories could still be shared. You can watch the films here .

An illustrated guide of how to save and use grey water and rain water for food growing in refugee camps and settlements, made in partnership with SOILS Permaculture Association - Lebanon, and Malteser International. < Back Gardening with Grey and Rain Water in Camps An illustrated guide of how to save and use grey water and rain water for food growing in refugee camps and settlements, made in partnership with SOILS Permaculture Association - Lebanon, and Malteser International. Donate to Re-Alliance Stay updated with our newsletter Download for free: English عربي Turkish