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This picture-led booklet, made in collaboration with GUPAP and Sporos, explores how to grow Permaculture-inspired gardens on the roof, especially designed for communities with limited access to land. < Back Building a Garden on the Roof This picture-led booklet, made in collaboration with GUPAP and Sporos, explores how to grow Permaculture-inspired gardens on the roof, especially designed for communities with limited access to land. Donate to Re-Alliance Stay updated with our newsletter Download for free: English Español Português عربي Swahili Français

Upcoming Events Re-Alliance's mission is to advance and showcase regenerative practice across the sectors of humanitarianism and development, particularly in the context of development, disaster and displacement. We host online webinars each month which are either focussed on bringing together a community of practice, or on sharing learning and peer-to-peer development amongst our membership. You can find a calendar of our events below, and add it to your own Google Calendar by clicking the blue "+" sign at the bottom of the calendar , or for the iCal format please click here . You can add individual events to your own Google Calendar by clicking on the event below, and pressing 'copy to my calendar'. Re-Alliance members receive extra materials and benefits related to event topics, such as recordings to rewatch and presentations. To find out more about membership benefits, see here .

< 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 .

< back Date of completion: 1 Apr 2022 Non-Digital communications for learning Analogue learning materials for regenerative food growing in refugee camps and settlements. This project pilots the use of radio and non-digital forms of communication to promote Permaculture and food growing within refugee and IDP camps in the Philippines and Kenya. Locally grown, low cost, nutritious food growing builds health and resilience for communities facing crises. Gardens offer additional wellbeing benefits of green space and meaningful occupation. Despite this, there is a barrier to uptake of regenerative food growing practices. Re-Alliance worked with partners to explore how ideas and practices could be amplified and spread beyond people coming to training events. In Kenya, we worked with Kajulu Hills Ecovillages to design and trial a radio programme with inbuilt good growing messages. They broadcasted eight episodes of a radio soap opera using local actors. The program tells stories about the benefits of growing food with a Permaculture approach and advertises a demonstration site in the camp that listeners can visit. Green ReLeaf in the Philippines trialled a gamified approach integrating emergency food growing information with a card game, which can be shared with people in remote, disaster-prone locations.

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A literature analysis examining the extent to which existing guidelines on camp management offer a regenerative approach in settlement design, shelter design, food growing and water and WASH. Includes recommendations for the production of future regenerative guidelines. < Back Testing Regenerative Design guidelines for Refugee Camps and Settlements A literature analysis examining the extent to which existing guidelines on camp management offer a regenerative approach in settlement design, shelter design, food growing and water and WASH. Includes recommendations for the production of future regenerative guidelines. Donate to Re-Alliance Stay updated with our newsletter Download for free: English

< back Date of completion: 1 Jun 2023 Regenerative Urban Agriculture MOCGSE led a project focussed on supporting conflict-affected areas with regenerative urban agriculture demonstration and education. From November 2022 to June 2023, this Urban Agriculture project was led by the Mount Oku Center for Gender and Socioeconomic Empowerment (MOCGSE) and Tah Kennette Konsum. The project aimed to improve food and economic security for vulnerable Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), particularly women, girls, and youths, displaced by ongoing conflict in Cameroon. The team worked across 10 IDP settlement zones, reaching 450 households. MOCGSE's activities primarily focused on how farmers might integrate regenerative agricultural practices, including developing a demonstration site for training and conducting sessions on regenerative urban gardening techniques, and forming an IDP cooperative to manage crop marketing and savings. These activities aimed to create lasting improvements for livelihoods, nutrition, and education. Economic Livelihood : Participants generated an estimated earnings of 20,000 CFA (approximately USD$32.81) every two weeks from their harvests. Their harvests also reduced household dependence on food purchases, as they had direct access to fresh and nutritious vegetables. Food & Nutrition : The project improved overall diet quality and nutrition by consuming a diverse range of healthy foods and vegetables. Education & Growing Capacities : Participants gained practical skills in urban gardening, waste management, and composting. The project also enabled them to grow perishable foods using found, upcycled materials like broken buckets.

< back Date of completion: 1 Jul 2023 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 Re-Alliance, GUPAP aimed to provide a pilot project in Buriej Refugee Camp, Gaza, which lacked agricultural and green places. This project aimed at promoting urban rooftop gardens in refugee camps in order to encourage urban agriculture, and food sovereignty. It was also a wellbeing activity, reminding the families of their lands in the occupied state of Palestine. Moreover, the project allows resident refugees to secure food in the face of poor economic conditions and a lack of humanitarian aid. Through this intervention, building a pilot rooftop garden on the residential unit, designing a roof garden, and an irrigation system, where the design was chosen based on the available house space, the design also took into account that there should be a small greenhouse for growing summer plants during the winter, and agriculture open spaces for seasonal crops, as well as adding the technique of planting pipes to exploit the walls and increase the green space. Thus, an entire family, with an average of 20 members, obtained a financial return that represented self-sufficiency in food and saved the cost of buying vegetables and transportation. Within the framework of this activity, GUPAP supported 20 people who were negatively affected by the economic situation of Gaza City. providing agricultural basics also contributed to increasing the green area and reducing solid waste. It is with great sadness that we say, when the Israeli military invaded and bombarded Gaza from October 2023, this project was destroyed. Re-Alliance wishes to express solidarity with all the women of Gaza who created roof gardens for themselves, their families, and their communities. We hope for a time of peace and freedom when the seeds that are planted are allowed to flourish.

Re-Alliance's Services Contact us to book services Visit us on social media Re-Alliance provides CONSULTING A consultancy brokering service, linking organisations with individual expertise in the field of regenerative design and development KNOWLEDGE A knowledge bank of case studies, academic articles and research reports evidencing the impact of this work TOOLKITS Links to practical tool kits, training courses and how-to guides, both our own and those produced by our members WORKSHOPS Speakers, facilitators or workshop hosts for specific events, or training sessions about Permaculture and regeneration designed specifically for your organisation Underlying principles Our underlying principles inform our organisational policies and our practice to achieve the change we want to see in the world. While traditionally development and humanitarian response has moved from the global North to the global South, we particularly value the knowledge and resources located in the South and the learning they have to offer to different parts of the world. Already we can see a time when trajectories may be reversed as all areas of the world face the challenges associated with fragility and climate change. From Principles to Policies & Practices PRINCIPLES • To bridge the humanitarian and development divide • Provide alternative discourses around progress • Evidence the impact and effectiveness of regenerative approaches • Emphasise the significance of healthy ecosystems in human wellbeing POLICY • Evidence the impact and effectiveness of regenerative approaches • Influence institutions, and provide a platform for skills, knowledge and evidence sharing • Advocate for a shift of investment flows from harmful to restorative practices PRACTICE • Provide a platform for skills, knowledge and evidence sharing • Encourage participation & inclusive processes • Collectively remember and value local and traditional ways of knowing • Brokering relationships Linking research & practice We link research with practice and aim to provide support and learning in areas where it can have maximum impact. Offering our coalition's services We offer a brokering service to match specialists with projects and activities that can best benefit from their input. Please contact us if you or your organisation are in need of specialist input or advice. We can vouch for the quality and integrity of our members’ work. Areas of expertise Regenerative design in situations of disaster and displacement, to maximise community resilience and regenerative use of the environment Building with natural materials and in response to environmental conditions (straw bale, resilient and affordable housing, earthquake and flood resistant buildings, etc) Food growing and nutrition, space design for optimal yields, regenerative orchards, forest gardens, gardening in refugee camps. Irrigation and watershed management, water recycling, approaches at WASH and the use of greywater in food growing Resilient livelihoods, stabilisation agriculture and agroecology in fragile and conflict affected environments, food growing and marketing after displacement Climate change adaptation, research and practice, restoring and regenerating local ecosystems Monitoring and evaluation, business development and organisational support to small and large scale organisations involving the bringing together of multiple, interdisciplinary teams Resource development, training, facilitation and the management of learning for farmer groups, small communities, conflicted communities, government bodies and international organisations. Contact us to find out more about our services, or to make a booking. Get in touch

< 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

This picture-led booklet, made in collaboration with SACOD, explores how community responders can work with people who have experienced trauma in a safe way. < Back First Response to Trauma This picture-led booklet, made in collaboration with SACOD, explores how community responders can work with people who have experienced trauma in a safe way. Donate to Re-Alliance Stay updated with our newsletter Download for free: English Português Français عربي Español Swahili