Olha Simon
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure... As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ― Marianne Williamson
Hello, human. Thank you for your curiosity. The area that interests me the most is happiness. My path in understanding what happiness is, how to be happy, and how to have a happy world around me led me to discover the world of communities and work with them. Now I live and work in Avnø Oasis ecovillage in Denmark, and my life is continuing to become more conscious and happy.
As for my background, I have degrees in English Linguistics and Primary Education and some years of experience in those fields. I used to read ecovillage-related books and join some events since I was a college student. However, my ecovillage journey truly started in 2020, when I took an Ecovillage Design Education course in Ukraine and became a member of the Ukrainian ecovillage network's educational circle team. There, I worked with Erasmus+ projects as a partner organization coordinator. When the war in Ukraine began, together with our friends from the Danish ecovillage network, we organized several 2-week Soft Skills courses, spreading sociocracy and NVC skills throughout Ukrainian ecovillages and co-livings. That gave great results, and in May 2024 we also offered an EDE Training of Trainers, certified by Gaia Education, to those ecovillage representatives, who wanted to spread the ecovillage knowledge further, to other organizations, networks, businesses, and the government.
While I still have connections with GEN Ukraine, my main focus now is on developing Avnø Oasis ecovillage and its community. Our project unites a cohousing community, a højskole (an educational center for adults), and green businesses. I was invited to join Avnø in 2022 — at that time they were starting to organize their Ecovillage Design Education courses and needed help with them. My first EDE changed my life significantly, so I was excited to receive this opportunity. Now I coordinate and teach 3-month-long EDE courses for students from different countries at Avnø Oasis every spring and autumn. I am also the leader of Avnø's højskole, communication, and community working circles, a project manager of Avnø's Erasmus+ programs and a board member of Vitalitetsfonden ("Vitality Foundation"). I took part in organizing the Global Ecovillage Network Gathering in Denmark in 2023.
As for my ecovillage-related qualifications, I went through EDE Ukraine 2020, Training of Trainers 2022 in Damanhur, and a full Gaia Education Design for Sustainability online program (GEDS). I love designing and coordinating events and courses. I mainly facilitate and train on subjects from the social and systems design dimensions (NVC, facilitation, sociocracy, rank, leadership, community building, women's circles, ZEGG Forum, social activities design, business design, life design, ecovillage design etc). When it is needed, I also gladly teach subjects in all 3 other dimensions, I am knowledgeable and experienced in many of the ecological, worldview and economic dimension modules. And I have experience in teaching Gaia Education Training of Trainers.
Let's cooperate and co-create a happier reality around us!
Knowledge Cloud
Country: Ukraine / Denmark
Contact: olhasimon1@gmail.com
Academic Titles: BA in English Linguistics, Junior Bachelor in Primary Education, BA in Mathematics (unfinished)
Websites: www.avno.org
Teaching Languages: English, Ukrainian, Russian
EDEs Facilitated:
3-month-long EDEs in Denmark twice a year since 2023
Facilitation
