Jan. 17th-20th, 2016, Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) and other partners, supported by Swedish Institute (SI), working on a project met in Riga to discuss alternatives of social inclusion in Europe and to become acquainted with successful business examples in Latvia.

There are 7 partners in the project, Social Inclusion in the Baltic Sea Region Through Ecovilllages & Communities (SIBREC), including MRU and the University of Tartu.

Partners analyzed several social inclusion iniciatives through the prism of ecovillages in the Baltic countries and Scandinavia.

Further meetings will be held in Sweden in June 2016. In October 2016 partners will visit the MRU Laboratories and discuss further cooperation guidelines.

Ecovillages are communities of like-minded people living together, yet diverse, but united in ecological, social and cultural values and goals. Members are grounded in the good intentions and creativity of their members and in a desire to make a difference.

Such communities are being established not only in Lithuania, but throughout the world. Ecovillage projects and initiatives are supported by the European Union because their way of life can put a stop to climate change problems in the future. Then in 1995, the Global Ecovillage Network Europe was created with headquarters in Spain.

MRU and partner researchers in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea region have raised the possibilty that ecovillages can be useful in resolving other societal problems including youth unemployment, migrant integration problems and those of the disabled.

Members of such communities can also teach others how to build inexpensive ecological housing and how to raise ecological vegetables and fruits.

The SIBREC project seeks to encourage business, scientific research and NGO cooperation in order to encourage effective ecovillage services to society and international research initiatives in the Baltic Sea Region.

The social inclusion idea, through ecovillages, is not new.

The oldest ecovillage, founded in 1930, is located in Iceland and called Solheimar. It is a world renowned sustainable community known for its artistic and ecological atmosphere where about 100 people live and work together.

Solheimar was founded by Sesselja Hreindís Sigmundsdóttir (1902-1974), whose main activities included working with brain-impaired and disabled children.

Now in the Baltic countries and in Scandinavia, ecovillages use "green rehabilitation," "nature therapy" or "pet therapy" for various social groups including people who have suffered burned-out syndrome, the victims of human trafficking, the disaabled and those with dependencies.

In addition some ecovillages, especially in Sweden, are actively involved in resolving issues related to migrant integration.

There are various sustainable development projects now being implemented in the Baltic Sea region including the Resilient and Ecological Approaches for Living Sustainably (REALS) project, supported by the SI.

It's a thematic partnership from 2013-2016, within the Baltic region aiming to create networks and intercultural learning between Sweden, Russia and Belarus, with a focus on socio-ecological resilience and a sustainable lifestyle.

--Aistė Diržytė, MRU Psychological Well Being Research Laboratory Head