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 .

Acerca de Re-Alliance's Latest Webinar Regenerative Practitioners of East Africa Friday 27th January 2023 UK time: 10am GMT East Africa time: 12pm EAT Find more timezones here . Welcome to the latest session in Re-Alliance's regenerative webinar series. Join us to hear from four practitioners integrating Permaculture, Regeneration, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge into their work in East Africa. In this one hour session entitled “Regenerative Practitioners of East Africa”, we will be hearing from Denyse Niyubahwe (Gardens for Health International), Ainebyona Peter (KAFRED), Bemeriki Bisimwa Dusabe (Rwamwanja Rural Foundation), and Noah Ssempijja (YICE). We will hear the stories and experiences of our panel guests, showcasing a range of local regenerative solutions to increasingly challenging global problems. Following these presentations there will be an open discussion including the opportunity for attendees to ask questions of the panel. We look forward to welcoming you, and celebrating the work of some of the inspirational regenerators of East Africa. Register now Want to keep informed about future webinars and meetings? The easiest way to stay informed about upcoming events and much more, is by becoming a member of Re-Alliance. Membership is free and open to all with an interest in regenerative design. To read more about our membership benefits, and to request to join the network, click the button below. Join Re-Alliance

From Permaculture in refugee settlements, to eco-building in disaster prone regions, to water harvesting in areas severely affected by worsening climate change, Re-Alliance and our members showcase how we can create stability, resilience and abundance, even in times of crisis. What could a regenerative humanitarian response look like? Increasing the impact and influence of regenerative responses to disaster, displacement and development Re-Alliance promotes a regenerative vision, beyond sustainability, for the humanitarian and development sectors . From Permaculture gardens in refugee camps, to eco-building in disaster prone regions; eco WASH interventions, to integrated Nature-based Solutions for settlement designing: Re-Alliance members are showcasing how we can create stability, resilience and abundance, even in times of crisis . Join our membership As part of our network, whether a grassroots practitioner or a member of an international NGO or Aid organisation, you will have access to dynamic knowledge, a vibrant and active community of experts, and a wealth of opportunities for collaboration. Our membership is open to all. The only requirements are an interest, understanding or expertise in regenerative design, experience in the humanitarian or development sectors, and a willingness to comply with our code of conduct and policies. Find out more Watch Videos Play Video Play Video 03:35 Water Resilience Design at the Rubondo Regenerative Settlement, Uganda The community involved in co-creating the Regenerative Settlement in Rubondo, Uganda, came together to create a Water resilience design. This included water for instant use (rainwater harvesting and slow sand filtration) and water retention landscapes (through rain gardens and swales). This project is supported by YICE Uganda, Arup, and Re-Alliance. Guilherme (Gui) Castagna from @fluxusecobr is an Engineer, Permaculture Teacher, and Hydrology Designer. He visited Nakivale Refugee Settlement in May 2026 to support with workshops alongside a community of refugees who are co-designing a Regenerative Settlement for 20 families. Naswirah Nalukwago is the Project Building Manager and also the founder of Bassattu Innovations. Winnie Tushabe is the co-founder of YICE Uganda, the project host organisation. Water resilience is important in any context, and especially in Ugandan refugee camps where water can be scarce and inaccessible. Alongside water for daily use like drinking and sanitation, the community are thinking about longer-term solutions by storing as much water in the soil, and restoring aquifers. Find out more about the Regenerative Settlements partnership here: https://www.re-alliance.org/projects/nakivale-settlement Play Video Play Video 07:14 Beejvan | Restoring and regenerating sacred food forests in India Beejvan began in 2022 to revive local understandings of tree-based farming. In this film, Founding Director Sanjana Krishnan explores the joys and the challenges of land-based work. The project has become more than a farming practice, but a healing and community-building activity. 🎥 Film by Pankaj Rishi Kumar Play Video Play Video 04:41 YAKUM | Protecting and restoring the bio-cultural abundance of the Amazon YAKUM partners with three indigenous nations in Ecuador to turn degraded land into cultural food landscapes. In this film by Remi Bumstead, Re-Alliance member YAKUM explores the importance of Indigenous wisdom in forest protection and restoration, and the abundance that healthy forests can offer in terms of culture, food, and climate resilience. Arley Paraguaje and Nick Ovenden explain why YAKUM rediscover and replant diverse cultural foods, and safely harvest food from standing forests. Find out more about YAKUM's work at https://yakum.org/ 🎥 https://remibumstead.com/ Play Video Play Video 07:21 Minak | Growing nutritious mushrooms in a refugee settlement Mariam Antoine from Minak Women-led Organisation helped co-create a programme of training women in Nakivale Refugee Settlement to grow nutritious Oyster mushrooms in reusable buckets. In this video, trainees from Minak organisation explain how mushroom cultivation is such a powerful way to grow the health and income of people living in refugee settlements. Re-Alliance worked with Minak to create a how-to booklet for growing mushrooms. Read more about the project here and download the booklet: https://www.re-alliance.org/post/cultivating-mushrooms-in-buckets Minak is bringing to life real examples of #Permaculture in #Refugee settlements. Play Video Play Video 06:08 YICE Uganda | Urine Diversion Dry Toilets (UDDT) - a type of Compost Toilet Join Winnie Tushabe, co-founder of YICE Uganda, and Ecosan user Uwizeye Salima, in exploring Urine Diversion Dry Toilets (UDDT) a type of Ecological Sanitation (EcoSan) Composting toilet. In the Nakivale refugee camp in Uganda, refugees are given a small plot of land to build a dwelling and farm food on. Re-Alliance's partner organisation YICE Uganda (Youth Initiative for Community Empowerment) is working with families to create kitchen gardens but yields are limited because the soil is poor. Re-Alliance and YICE collaborated to build eight urine diverting dry toilets (or ‘Ecosan’ toilets) for families. By separating the urine and faeces, the volume of composting waste is reduced, extending the capacity of the compost chamber and giving an immediate source of fertiliser in the form of urine, which, when diluted 1:10 - 1:20 with water, is an excellent fertiliser rich in nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. Diverting the urine away stops the compost chamber from becoming anaerobic and smelly and the addition of wood ash or saw dust, after using the toilet, acts as a dehydrating cover material. This design used recycled plastic barrels as containers for the faeces, which ensures no ground pollution. Once nearly full, the barrel is moved aside and replaced with a fresh barrel. With the hot composting achieved inside the barrels, compost can be created in under 12 months in the Ugandan climate. The compost is used to enrich the soil around fruiting trees and bushes. Find out more about this design and create your own with our free guides on www.re-alliance.org/publications . Play Video Play Video 07:35 Unidos Social Innovation Centre | Eco-social regeneration in Nakivale Refugee Settlement What could it look like if Refugee Settlements were thriving ecological and social spaces? Unidos Social Innovation Centre is a refugee-led, community-based organisation that engages with young people located in the Nakivale Refugee settlement, South West Uganda. In this video, Unidos founder Paulinho Muzaliwa explains how they support the communities to create abundant Permaculture gardens, grow biodiverse food forests, and build healthy soils. Find out more about Unidos at https://unidosprojects.org/ Donate to Unidos' work here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/water-4-thriving-african-permaculture-group 🎥 7Times Film Production Play Video Play Video 04:36 Ecopoblaciones | Ecopoblaciones Ecuador Ecopoblaciones Ecuador create eco-social regeneration programs that promote the participatory design and implementation of sustainable and resilient populations. Their work integrates ecology, social, economic and cultural aspects, using tools and processes of eco-neighborhoods, eco-social movements, permaculture, ecotourism, bio-construction, participatory leadership, emotional management, well-being, among others. Find out more about Ecopoblaciones Ecuador here: https://ecopoblaciones.github.io/ Find out more about joining Re-Alliance's thriving community of members here: https://www.re-alliance.org/members Play Video Play Video 11:32 Green Releaf | Designing for resilience in disaster and conflict prone regions in the Philippines Green Releaf Initiative prototyped two projects that aimed to respond to and prevent disasters, in contexts of climate and conflict vulnerability in the Philippines. Green Releaf worked with Permaculture as an approach to address food security, regenerative livelihood, and ecosystem restoration. They had a community-led approach, working with early adapters as grassroots permaculture leaders to train as multipliers. They aimed to highlight the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) from the community, honouring their earth wisdom as key to the community's resilience. Featuring grassroots community leaders from areas affected by disasters and displacement where Green Releaf worked, this film begins to document the knowledge learned and practices implemented over time. Read Articles Regenerative Change-makers Grant Supporting specialist change-makers to build a regenerative future for displaced people To support expert regenerative change-makers in the global south to expand the impact and influence of regenerative approaches to displacement. Amount available: £6,000 stipend to be spent over one year. Number of grants awarded: 1 (from December 2026). Deadline for applications: 22nd November 2026 Amplifying Your Impact Rather than funding a specific new project, this grant is designed to Re-Alliance Designing a Masterplan for the Robondo Settlement Over the past 18 months Re-Alliance has been working with partners YICE Uganda and Bassattu Innovations in Nakivale, Uganda, and an advisory team drawn from those with significant expertise in masterplanning and refugee settlements, to support a participant-led design process with a group of 20 families in need of homes. Juliet Millican As the climate crisis pushes up food prices, farmers turn to intercropping for better crop resilience While consumers grapple with rising food costs, some farmers are changing the way they farm to reduce climate-related losses. Instead of focusing only on a single crop, the diversified farms spread production throughout the year, ensuring that if one crop fails, or its season ends, another can provide food or income. Batata Boris-Karloff We can support you Re-Alliance and our members have hosted several training programmes for humanitarian and development organisations and agencies. We can help you and your organisation to integrate regenerative paradigms and practices into your operation, interventions, and policy. Contact us to arrange a meeting and find out more. Contact us

< back Date of completion: 1 Jul 2025 Creating Arborloo Composting Toilets Building eight Arborloo compost toilets in Nakivale, Uganda. From April to July 2025, eight arborloo toilets were built for new arrivals in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda, by refugee-led UNIDOS Social Innovation Center in partnership with Re-Alliance. This four-month initiative focused on training eight newly arrived refugee households to construct these low-cost systems using recycled and locally available materials. Arborloos are a composting toilet model which use a movable upper structure on top of a pit which, once full, can be topped with soil and planted with a tree or perennial plant guild. The upper structure is then moved on to a newly dug pit, and the cycle continues. See the reference illustration below as an example, and read more in this case study here (including full costings) . The urgent need for this intervention stemmed from a large increase of people fleeing intense conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and arriving to Uganda. This rapid displacement had caused a severe shortage of proper sanitation facilities across Nakivale. Before the project, it was common for five households to share a single, poorly maintained pit latrine. This crisis has driven open defecation and contaminated local water sources, heightening the risk of disease outbreaks. The Arborloo addressed this environmental and public health crisis by providing an ecologically-friendly, cost-effective and easily-built alternative. An Arborloo is a simple, low-cost toilet designed to couple daily human sanitation with ecological restoration. It utilises a shallow pit dug to a depth of 1 to 1.5 metres to optimise organic composting conditions. Once the pit is filled, the lightweight toilet structure is moved to a new location. A tree, or perennial plant guild, is then planted directly into the nutrient-rich humanure left behind. Because of this shallow design, the Arboloo is uniquely suited for household or shared-family use rather than crowded communal areas. Arborloos transform human 'waste' into valuable soil nutrients that accelerate tree growth and deliver multiple compounding benefits. On a human level, it provides immediate, safe sanitation. On an ecological level, the emerging trees stabilise fragile soils, provide vital cooling, sequester carbon, and boost biodiversity. Furthermore, as these trees mature, they become a direct resource for families. For example, the trees can provide agricultural mulch, coppice materials, small twigs for rocket stoves, and even foods from trees ( not annual crops , which in some rare situations may be able to absorb pathogens from the humanure). Solutions designed with and by the community are far more likely to be maintained and scaled effectively. By choosing low-tech, locally adapted solutions, the community created a resilient sanitation system that will continue to protect public health and restore the local environment.

A guide to closing the sanitation loop in refugee and IDP camps and settlements: How to safely use the products of ecological sanitation for growing crops, ecosystem restoration and ecosystem services. < Back Ecological Sanitation with Reuse in Camps and Settlements A guide to closing the sanitation loop in refugee and IDP camps and settlements: How to safely use the products of ecological sanitation for growing crops, ecosystem restoration and ecosystem services. Donate to Re-Alliance Stay updated with our newsletter Download for free: English

< back Date of completion: 1 May 2025 Regenerative Camps and Settlements: Piloting Interventions Partnering with Re-Alliance members to showcase regenerative interventions in displacement contexts. Since 2022, Re-Alliance has be working on a ‘Regenerative Camps and Settlements' project. The project has piloted regenerative interventions within formal and informal camps for refugees and IDPs across the world, in partnership with Re-Alliance member partners. The learnings from the projects are informing our wider research into regenerative responses to disaster and displacement, and forming the basis of content for learning materials and knowledge sharing aimed at promoting grass-roots, community led interventions and influencing mainstream INGO activities. In May 2022, Re-Alliance held our first round of funding and selected eight projects from the 41 applications received, and then hosted a second round of funding in 2023. Our local partner organisations have implemented change-making regenerative programmes to trial innovations which benefit community and ecologies. The projects aim to enhance multiple systems, increasing the health of social, ecological and economic systems together. These projects work in an integrated way to break down the traditional silos between sectors. Our partnerships have included work on projects such as: • Integrated Sanitation Projects Although the concept of dry and compost toilets is now more understood and has been adopted in some camp settings, widespread uptake is limited because, in part, the benefits of resource creation are not appreciated and therefore systems are not maintained and valued. We have partnered with local groups with a focus and understanding of soil health, nutrient cycles and food growing. By integrating various designs of composting toilets with amending soils for plant growth we aim to create projects which thrive at the intersection between WASH and Livelihoods sectors, creating multiple benefits to both areas. • Urban Agriculture Projects Urban agriculture increases access to healthy, affordable, fresh food and gives communities a chance to learn about nutrition and growing food. More than this, it gives people who have been uprooted from their homes purposeful, therapeutic activity. By growing and cooking favourite foods, a taste of home can be created in a new place while tiny green spaces enrich the environment and biodiversity of cities. Reducing the amount of food that families have to buy increases resilience and reduces the amount of food that needs to be imported into cities at high carbon costs. The projects supported also integrate the use of up-cycled and recycled materials and seed saving to reduce inputs and create regenerative cycles. • Lime Stabilised Soil Construction If concrete was a country, it would be the third biggest emitter of CO2 in the world. Lime Stabilised Soil (LSS) is a viable alternative to concrete with similar cost, strength and adaptability benefits but with a fraction of the carbon footprint. Following disasters, huge rebuilding programmes often utilise concrete for rapid rebuilding, but lime stabilised soil has been shown to have greater benefits as it allows for the use of on-site materials (soil) and reduces the need for imported materials. It therefore minimises costs, carbon and resource demands and reduces construction traffic by avoiding transport of excavated and imported materials. Lime stabilisation is an established practice with a proven history of successful use internationally but cement is still the first choice by many engineers in part because of the knowledge gap of use. In some contexts, concrete is prohibited by the authorities for political reasons, so LSS could be a viable alternative to concrete without compromising on strength and safety. • Community Composting Closing the nutrient cycle by converting food waste into compost is a fundamental tool in turning human activity from an extractive to regenerative process. Our partners worked at the intersection between waste management, livelihoods and health. Composting schemes reduce waste management costs, enrich soils to enable healthy food to be grown and increase the health and biodiversity of the soil. Healthy soils sequester more carbon, absorb more water during heavy rainfall and facilitate organic food growing due to increased nutrient content. Find some of the educational materials that we have co-created with partners here .

Re-Alliance Members & Partners Contact us Visit us on social media Our diverse membership, spanning every continent around the globe, has organically formed with representatives from over 300 organisations, united by a shared commitment to integrated regenerative responses to development, disaster and displacement. Our membership includes experts from regenerative design fields working within INGOs, Universities, Businesses, small and medium NGOs and self-employed practitioners. Our members include founders, and CEOs of permaculture organisations and green foundations; directors of some of the larger aid or humanitarian NGOs; grassroots organisers; academics and researchers who have spent a lifetime building evidence of alternative, earth responsive solutions in areas of the world most affected by environmental disasters, and displacement. Connect with our members' expertise What would it look like to have regenerative principles embedded in your organisation's work? Our members are available to be hired as consultants, supporting you and your organisation to design and deliver regenerative responses in a wide variety of humanitarian and development contexts. Located on every continent around the globe, our members can support you in implementing locally-led and embedded practice, both minimising the carbon footprint of international travel while also honouring local, more culturally appropriate solutions. Each Re-Alliance member brings unique talents, years of experience, and a connection to a pool of shared expertise in different cultures, continents and contexts, through the Re-Alliance network. Contact us to hear more about how our talented members can support your work. Become a member Re-Alliance members benefit from a shared learning and collaboration space, connecting to a global network of other regenerative practitioners from the humanitarian and development sectors. Re-Alliance host monthly members meetings or invite-only webinars. We showcase and promote members' excellence through case studies and articles, and by brokering connections between our network of practitioners and organisations interested in regenerative design. Are you a regenerative design practitioner, or from a regenerative project, working in humanitarian or development spaces? We'd love to be in touch. Membership to Re-Alliance is free of charge. Contact us Find out more and request to join Below: Re-Alliance member Bee Rowan, teaching about ecological strawbale building practices in Nepal. Partner Organisations Would you like to join our membership, or would you like to find out more about how our members can support your organisation with regenerative design? Find out more below, or contact us here . Find out more and request to join Partner Members

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

< Back Margaret Wightman Finance & Operations Manager Margaret has worked with a wide variety of charities, voluntary and community groups and social enterprises across the UK, and for the past eighteen years has been providing freelance support with financial management, business planning and organisational development. She has a degree in economics, post-graduate qualifications in psychology, criminal psychology, and coaching, and trained as a chartered accountant.

< back Date of completion: 1 Mar 2023 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. A Treebog, designed by Permaculturist Jay Abrahams from Biologic Design, is a raised composting drop toilet which directly feeds into tree roots. It is a regenerative sanitation system that converts human waste (urine, faeces, and wiping paper) into biomass with minimal secondary handling. By using moisture-loving trees, shrubs, and bushes planted around the compost pile, the Treebog system uses natural resources to reduce odours and feed the composting process with necessary carbon-rich material. Re-Alliance’s partner Farming & Health Education implemented this project in Kakuma Refugee Settlement, Kenya. They were concerned that the secondary handling of human waste can be a significant health barrier in camps and settlements. Whereas with Treebogs, toilets are only emptied after the contents have fully decomposed due to the twin-pit system. The core goal of this project was to install a double-unit Treebogs for the community and convert everyday toilet wastes into fertile compost, and measure to see how long it takes to fill the system, and then for the humanure to naturally degrade. The unique aspect to Treebogs is that while the contents are composting, they are feeding the roots of trees, giving the double benefits of tree growth with compost production. The project included teaching communities how to manage the Treebog system. This involved instructing on the daily use of the Treebog toilets, and what to plant around Treebogs. It's important to only plant perennial plants such as trees, and not annual plants, to avoid interacting with the soil around the Treebog. This Treebog project involved 70 participants, whose attitudes toward ecological sanitation shifted from negative (primarily because of a perception that composting toilets would be smelly or dirty) to highly positive after experiencing the Treebog system. This effective implementation created a viable, regenerative WASH system and a valuable biological resource. Ecologically, the system’s soil quality rapidly improved, becoming noticeably darker and richer. Trees around the Treebog grew up to two times faster than those not around the Treebog, as a result of the influx of organic matter and water directly feeding their roots. Existing Treebogs serve as powerful working examples. The Re-Alliance team are eager to further test this concept to see whether it is viable for full-scale use across camps and settlements. You can find out more about Treebogs in this publication .

< back Date of completion: 1 Jun 2023 Ecosan Composting Toilets Urine diversion, dry composting toilets in a barrel, enriching soils for more nutrient-rich crops and healthier people. Seven dry Ecosan (UDDT) toilets, built by YICE Uganda in collaboration with Re-Alliance, were constructed in four villages within the Nakivale refugee camp in Uganda. An innovative design, utilising flood-proof containers that could be easily swapped, maximised the limited space available. A comprehensive illustrated booklet, translated into multiple languages, was produced to provide information on the proper use of the toilets, including reusing treated urine and faeces in household agriculture. An additional100 households received training on the safe reuse of urine in crop production. Single-parent households with children with disabilities were particularly selected for the project. One such household is Chantal's, a refugee widow from Congo, who has a firstborn son with epilepsy. Chantal expressed gratitude for the Ecosan toilet, stating, “I am Chantal, a refugee widow from Congo, and my firstborn is epileptic. I was always concerned about what might happen to my son during an attack while using a pit latrine. However, all my worries were alleviated after receiving an Ecosan toilet.” Three years on: The toilets were built in 2023 and by 2026 YICE had seen remarkable growth and lasting community impact. The success of the initial project boosted the Ecosan’s visibility and individual families began reaching out directly, allowing YICE to construct approximately 30 more Ecosan units across households in the Mubende district. YICE were also contacted by the sub-county lead agronomist to talk about the benefits of having Ecosans for households that grow food. Key lasting environmental and community impacts include: Improved Soil Fertility: the treated human waste has enriched local soils and improved water retention leading to higher crop yields. Safer Waste Disposal: The local environment has benefited from the improved, sanitary containment and disposal of fecal matter. Sustainable Mindsets: There is a continuous shift in the community toward adopting low-cost, ecologically friendly agricultural practices. Improvements to design The timber used to construct the superstructure of the toilets is starting to show some signs of rot due to the wet climate. YICE are now looking at adapting the design with other more resilient natural building materials, such as Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs). They are also looking at ways to make the design more accessible, by using natural slopes and different shaped barrels to lower the height at which the toilet is accessed. See more about the UDDT Ecosans in this video: Learn more about building and maintaing Ecosans in this booklet:

A study looking at the impact of new and previously established gardens in Cox's Bazar refugee camps on people's well-being and nutrition, as well as the costs and benefits of the different approaches used. < Back Growing in Crisis: The costs, benefits and transformative potential of food growing in Cox's Bazar A study looking at the impact of new and previously established gardens in Cox's Bazar refugee camps on people's well-being and nutrition, as well as the costs and benefits of the different approaches used. Donate to Re-Alliance Stay updated with our newsletter Download for free: English