Macaco, representing Damanhur and GEN, and Testuggine, representing CONACREIS (National coordinating association and community of ethical, interior and spiritual research), went to the Elves Community in Campo Mascherina, Tuscany to the assembly of the Network of Italian Ecovillages (RIVE). There were over 400 participants present, both from the member ecovillages of RIVE as well as interested individuals, including many young people who are making new communities.

They expressed the importance of manifesting our interconnectedness and creating human-scale social models and realities. The member communities and ecovillages presented themselves, and many spoke about projects in formation. In workgroups, participants shared their motivations for attending the convention, and together they brainstormed solutions to the current crisis of values and the economy. Macaco reported the work around the legal recognition of communities that CONACREIS is bringing forward, and she shared about the GEN Assembly in Sweden and the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.