About GENSEN

 

The history and origins of GENSEN and CRESP

 

GENSEN operated under the umbrella of the NGO CRESP Senegal until June 2007. Both organizations had their origins in the Third International Ecocities and Ecovillages Conference which brought representatives from more than 30 countries to the ancient fishing village of Yoff Dakar, in 1996. The conference gave birth to a small program called EcoYoff within the village association APECSY, which had cosponsored the conference together with Ecovillage Ithaca, New York. A part of EcoYoff became the NGO CRESP (Centre de Ressources pour l'Emergence Sociale Participative) Senegal, in 1999, an affiliate of CRESP (the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy) of Cornell University and the town of Ithaca.

The Senegalese Ecovillages Network (GENSEN) was created in a in a General Assembly, (photo) sponsored by GEN-Europe, and held at CRESP on January 12, 2002, following a year of seminars related to ecological experiences developed in different sites in Senegal and workshops held by the founding villages.

Over the years, GENSEN focused increasingly on economic, environmental and social health in rural Senegal, as its ecovillages increased in number across the country. CRESP's other programs, including a large ICT e-governance and computer literacy initiative and "EcoYoff" projects were more concerned with the transformation of the old fishing village of Yoff into a model of ecocity development, in partnership with Yoff's village association, APECSY. For these and other reasons, CRESP and GENSEN separated into two partner organizations in In June 1997.

The original and enduring objectives of CRESP/EcoYoff and GENSEN are built on :

  • The stimulation of community life through synthesis of the best of traditional and modern lifestyles;
    The exploration of ways of living that favor harmony between people and nature ;
    The facilitation and the encouragement of the South/South and North/South partnerships;
    The encouragement of approaches that integrate spirituality, education and training, economics, heatlh, population and nutrition, and ecologital technologies, within within the framework of sustainable development.