Meet our team
Our day to day operations are taken care of by our staff team, both remotely and in our office in Arterra Bizimodu ecovillage, Navarra (Spain). Our Council, selected from and by our members at our General Assembly, takes care of our strategic vision.
You can contact our team using the contact form (link)
The GEN Europe staff team
Angel Matilla
IT Manager
Since 2017, Angel has been living in the community of Arterra Bizimodu and working in the GEN Office Team as IT Manager to help strengthen GEN Europe’s IT sovereignty by means of promoting self-hosted free open source software (FOSS) throughout the network to cover ourIT needs. He has a telecommunications engineering background and 10 years of experience in developing and integrating software and managing technical teams. In 2011 he started developing an interest in the limits of growth, the fossil fuels’ peak and the non-sustainable practices of the current society. Since then he has been researching other ways of solving the polycrisis by living life, in more regenerative, self-sufficient, resilient and communal ways.
Armin Olunczek
Finance Manager
Armin joined GEN Europe in the beginning of 2020. Ten years before he cofounded an award winning charity for environmental education and is working in its board ever since. With this and the experience of cofounding and managing a many-sided community (with historical water power station, wood and grounds) since 2014 he gained skills that are also useful to manage the finances and administrative paperwork of GEN Europe.
If not buried under numbers and spreadsheets Armin likes to perform classical music at life threatening places as part of the Civil Disobedience Orchestra and Choir “Lebenslaute” or is out in the woods with his two children to pursue the community‘s forest conversion – or simply to build a hut.
Carolin Waldmann Membership Manager
Fanny grew up in an intentional community of 18 households located in the fruit basket region of the Netherlands. She moved to the Arterra Bizimodu community in Spain in 2015.
Always having had an interest in ecovillages, Fanny travelled and visited several eco projects around the world, ranging from occupied villages to self-sufficient farms and ecovillages and did her final thesis project with the Council of Sustainable Settlements of Latin America (CASA) and their national network CASA Colombia.. Through these experiences and growing up in one such community she has come to value living in a communal setting for the ways that diverse individuals promote sharing, working together, organisation, planning, and conflict resolution.
Dicte Frost
Events Manager
Since 2017, Angel has been living in the community of Arterra Bizimodu and working in the GEN Office Team as IT Manager to help strengthen GEN Europe’s IT sovereignty by means of promoting self-hosted free open source software (FOSS) throughout the network to cover ourIT needs. He has a telecommunications engineering background and 10 years of experience in developing and integrating software and managing technical teams. In 2011 he started developing an interest in the limits of growth, the fossil fuels’ peak and the non-sustainable practices of the current society. Since then he has been researching other ways of solving the polycrisis by living life, in more regenerative, self-sufficient, resilient and communal ways.
Dario Ferraro
Project Scout
Armin joined GEN Europe in the beginning of 2020. Ten years before he cofounded an award winning charity for environmental education and is working in its board ever since. With this and the experience of cofounding and managing a many-sided community (with historical water power station, wood and grounds) since 2014 he gained skills that are also useful to manage the finances and administrative paperwork of GEN Europe.
If not buried under numbers and spreadsheets Armin likes to perform classical music at life threatening places as part of the Civil Disobedience Orchestra and Choir “Lebenslaute” or is out in the woods with his two children to pursue the community‘s forest conversion – or simply to build a hut.
Fanny van Hal
Project Manager
Fanny grew up in an intentional community of 18 households located in the fruit basket region of the Netherlands. She moved to the Arterra Bizimodu community in Spain in 2015.
Always having had an interest in ecovillages, Fanny travelled and visited several eco projects around the world, ranging from occupied villages to self-sufficient farms and ecovillages and did her final thesis project with the Council of Sustainable Settlements of Latin America (CASA) and their national network CASA Colombia.. Through these experiences and growing up in one such community she has come to value living in a communal setting for the ways that diverse individuals promote sharing, working together, organisation, planning, and conflict resolution.
Manja Vrenko
General Coordinator
Since 2017, Angel has been living in the community of Arterra Bizimodu and working in the GEN Office Team as IT Manager to help strengthen GEN Europe’s IT sovereignty by means of promoting self-hosted free open source software (FOSS) throughout the network to cover ourIT needs. He has a telecommunications engineering background and 10 years of experience in developing and integrating software and managing technical teams. In 2011 he started developing an interest in the limits of growth, the fossil fuels’ peak and the non-sustainable practices of the current society. Since then he has been researching other ways of solving the polycrisis by living life, in more regenerative, self-sufficient, resilient and communal ways.
Fran Whitlock
Communications Manager
Armin joined GEN Europe in the beginning of 2020. Ten years before he cofounded an award winning charity for environmental education and is working in its board ever since. With this and the experience of cofounding and managing a many-sided community (with historical water power station, wood and grounds) since 2014 he gained skills that are also useful to manage the finances and administrative paperwork of GEN Europe.
If not buried under numbers and spreadsheets Armin likes to perform classical music at life threatening places as part of the Civil Disobedience Orchestra and Choir “Lebenslaute” or is out in the woods with his two children to pursue the community‘s forest conversion – or simply to build a hut.
Fanny van Hal
Project Manager
Fanny grew up in an intentional community of 18 households located in the fruit basket region of the Netherlands. She moved to the Arterra Bizimodu community in Spain in 2015.
Always having had an interest in ecovillages, Fanny travelled and visited several eco projects around the world, ranging from occupied villages to self-sufficient farms and ecovillages and did her final thesis project with the Council of Sustainable Settlements of Latin America (CASA) and their national network CASA Colombia.. Through these experiences and growing up in one such community she has come to value living in a communal setting for the ways that diverse individuals promote sharing, working together, organisation, planning, and conflict resolution.
The GEN Europe Council
Angel Matilla
IT Manager
Since 2017, Angel has been living in the community of Arterra Bizimodu and working in the GEN Office Team as IT Manager to help strengthen GEN Europe’s IT sovereignty by means of promoting self-hosted free open source software (FOSS) throughout the network to cover ourIT needs. He has a telecommunications engineering background and 10 years of experience in developing and integrating software and managing technical teams. In 2011 he started developing an interest in the limits of growth, the fossil fuels’ peak and the non-sustainable practices of the current society. Since then he has been researching other ways of solving the polycrisis by living life, in more regenerative, self-sufficient, resilient and communal ways.
Armin Olunczek
Finance Manager
Armin joined GEN Europe in the beginning of 2020. Ten years before he cofounded an award winning charity for environmental education and is working in its board ever since. With this and the experience of cofounding and managing a many-sided community (with historical water power station, wood and grounds) since 2014 he gained skills that are also useful to manage the finances and administrative paperwork of GEN Europe.
If not buried under numbers and spreadsheets Armin likes to perform classical music at life threatening places as part of the Civil Disobedience Orchestra and Choir “Lebenslaute” or is out in the woods with his two children to pursue the community‘s forest conversion – or simply to build a hut.
Carolin Waldmann Membership Manager
Fanny grew up in an intentional community of 18 households located in the fruit basket region of the Netherlands. She moved to the Arterra Bizimodu community in Spain in 2015.
Always having had an interest in ecovillages, Fanny travelled and visited several eco projects around the world, ranging from occupied villages to self-sufficient farms and ecovillages and did her final thesis project with the Council of Sustainable Settlements of Latin America (CASA) and their national network CASA Colombia.. Through these experiences and growing up in one such community she has come to value living in a communal setting for the ways that diverse individuals promote sharing, working together, organisation, planning, and conflict resolution.
Dicte Frost
Events Manager
Since 2017, Angel has been living in the community of Arterra Bizimodu and working in the GEN Office Team as IT Manager to help strengthen GEN Europe’s IT sovereignty by means of promoting self-hosted free open source software (FOSS) throughout the network to cover ourIT needs. He has a telecommunications engineering background and 10 years of experience in developing and integrating software and managing technical teams. In 2011 he started developing an interest in the limits of growth, the fossil fuels’ peak and the non-sustainable practices of the current society. Since then he has been researching other ways of solving the polycrisis by living life, in more regenerative, self-sufficient, resilient and communal ways.
Dario Ferraro
Project Scout
Armin joined GEN Europe in the beginning of 2020. Ten years before he cofounded an award winning charity for environmental education and is working in its board ever since. With this and the experience of cofounding and managing a many-sided community (with historical water power station, wood and grounds) since 2014 he gained skills that are also useful to manage the finances and administrative paperwork of GEN Europe.
If not buried under numbers and spreadsheets Armin likes to perform classical music at life threatening places as part of the Civil Disobedience Orchestra and Choir “Lebenslaute” or is out in the woods with his two children to pursue the community‘s forest conversion – or simply to build a hut.
Fanny van Hal
Project Manager
Fanny grew up in an intentional community of 18 households located in the fruit basket region of the Netherlands. She moved to the Arterra Bizimodu community in Spain in 2015.
Always having had an interest in ecovillages, Fanny travelled and visited several eco projects around the world, ranging from occupied villages to self-sufficient farms and ecovillages and did her final thesis project with the Council of Sustainable Settlements of Latin America (CASA) and their national network CASA Colombia.. Through these experiences and growing up in one such community she has come to value living in a communal setting for the ways that diverse individuals promote sharing, working together, organisation, planning, and conflict resolution.
Manja Vrenko
General Coordinator
Since 2017, Angel has been living in the community of Arterra Bizimodu and working in the GEN Office Team as IT Manager to help strengthen GEN Europe’s IT sovereignty by means of promoting self-hosted free open source software (FOSS) throughout the network to cover ourIT needs. He has a telecommunications engineering background and 10 years of experience in developing and integrating software and managing technical teams. In 2011 he started developing an interest in the limits of growth, the fossil fuels’ peak and the non-sustainable practices of the current society. Since then he has been researching other ways of solving the polycrisis by living life, in more regenerative, self-sufficient, resilient and communal ways.
Fran Whitlock
Communications Manager
Armin joined GEN Europe in the beginning of 2020. Ten years before he cofounded an award winning charity for environmental education and is working in its board ever since. With this and the experience of cofounding and managing a many-sided community (with historical water power station, wood and grounds) since 2014 he gained skills that are also useful to manage the finances and administrative paperwork of GEN Europe.
If not buried under numbers and spreadsheets Armin likes to perform classical music at life threatening places as part of the Civil Disobedience Orchestra and Choir “Lebenslaute” or is out in the woods with his two children to pursue the community‘s forest conversion – or simply to build a hut.
Fanny van Hal
Project Manager
Fanny grew up in an intentional community of 18 households located in the fruit basket region of the Netherlands. She moved to the Arterra Bizimodu community in Spain in 2015.
Always having had an interest in ecovillages, Fanny travelled and visited several eco projects around the world, ranging from occupied villages to self-sufficient farms and ecovillages and did her final thesis project with the Council of Sustainable Settlements of Latin America (CASA) and their national network CASA Colombia.. Through these experiences and growing up in one such community she has come to value living in a communal setting for the ways that diverse individuals promote sharing, working together, organisation, planning, and conflict resolution.