GAIA_EDUCATION - Accounts

The trustees, who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law, present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2022.

The annual report serves the purposes of both a Trustees' report and a Directors' report under company law.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019).

The charity's objects are to promote a holistic approach to education for sustainable development by developing curricula for sustainable community design.

Funding

The charity's core income is through a grant from Gaia Trust. Other income-based activities are focused on online courses and to a lesser extent face to face course delivery and Project-Based Learning. The grant from Gaia Trust will end at the end of June 2023.

COVID 19 Impact

During the 2021-2022 year, Gaia Education reactivated its face-to-face activities and staff were given the option to work from home or the office. Some public activities, such as conferences and internal meetings regarding the EU Projects and Partnerships, were held under COVID restrictions or, in some instances, cancelled until restrictions lifted. The contractual partners were informed before any changes and adaptations. There are no liabilities from these changes.

Ecovillage Design Education programmes, often referred to as 'EDEs', provide participants of all ages with the knowledge and practical skills to design a society which uses energy and materials with greater efficiency, distributes wealth fairly and strives to eliminate the concept of waste.

Using Gaia Education's Ecovillage Design Education curriculum, partners around the world host their own EDEs run by Gaia Education-certified facilitators, and pay Gaia Education for certification of the programme. The number of EDEs went significantly down during the Covid period and had not fully recovered by June 2022.

Gaia Education has begun updating the certification process and the role of the Certification Committee since June 2022.

The income received from the applications was £1,399.

From 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022 Gaia Education Certified the following courses by these Host Organisations:

• United States - Lost Valley - June - August 2022

• Estonia - Gaia Academy - February - October 2022

• Brazil - Instituto Ecobairro Brasil - April - August 2022

• Japan - GEN Japan Youth - March 2022

• Mexico - Multiversidad Nomada Sostenible - Mexico - July - September 2021

• Switzerland - Scloss Glarisegg - January - February 2022

• Brazil - Online EDE (Brazil) - March - July 2022

• Japan - Gen Japan - September 2021

• Kenya - NILE journeys - February - March 2022

• France - Ecoliens - October - November 2021

• South Korea - GEN Korea - June - July 2021

• Brazil - Instituto Ecobairro Brasil - August - December 2021

• Brazil - Conecta Ecosocial (ONLINE) - April - August 2021

With the war in Ukraine starting, our Ukrainian partners, GEN Ukraine, decided to continue with their EDE, and Gaia Education offered certification without charge for a programme to happen in August 2022. A list of country partners from Ukraine and its border countries was shared online to let refugees seeking protection know that their facilities were open to them.

Training of Trainers (ToT)

ToTs offer students the competencies to facilitate transformative learning environments, to act in an interdisciplinary manner and to host multi-stakeholder conversations that enable collaborative action and collective decision-making processes. Most Training of Trainers courses were postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and health and safety issues.

In the Year of 2021 -2022 one ToT took place in Italy - Damanhur (6 to 10 September 2021).

The income from this totalled £3,855 for 8 participants.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Training of Multipliers (ToM)

The SDG Training of Multipliers workshops aim to build the capacity of facilitators to hold vitally important conversations of how to implement the United Nations SDGs at the local and regional scale in ways that are carefully adapted to the biocultural uniqueness of each location.

In partnership with UNESCO GAP Secretariat, Gaia Education developed the SDG Multipliers Handbook to support stakeholders to prepare and facilitate their own SDG Training of Multipliers, using Gaia Education's SDG Flashcards. These contain more than 200 questions introducing a whole-systems approach to implementing the Agenda 2030.

Translated into French and Spanish with the support of UNESCO GAP, the free black-and-white version of the Handbook was downloaded 329 times during the financial year, while the colour version generated £83.40 in donations and £102 in sales.

225 sets of SDG Flashcards, translated into French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian with the support of the Government of Japan, were sold this year, generating an income of £1,083.

In February 2020, all face-to face delivery of courses were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. SDG training of Multipliers courses did not recover by 2021-22 and so sales and workshops were minimal.

E-Learning Programmes and Glocalisers Webinars

The English language track of the Gaia Education Design for Sustainability (GEDS) online programme recorded 199 registrations for the four dimensions and Design Studio of the year-long course. This represented an 11.6% increase in single dimension sales compared to previous years.

The Portuguese GEDS programme recorded 110 new registrations across the four design dimensions, representing seven fewer registrations than the previous year.

The Spanish track of GEDS, recorded 52 registrations for the two dimensions (Economic Dimension and Worldview), which ran. The Spanish track of GEDS was delayed from October 2021 and started in January 2022.

The 15-hour Panorama course- 'Introduction to Designing for Sustainability'- recorded 1,045 new registrations in three languages, providing an opportunity for potential students to be introduced to Gaia Education's e-learning programmes.

During the year, Gaia Education conducted two online courses in partnership with UNITAR and Strathclyde University: 'Renewable Energies for Sustainable Development', which enrolled 7 new students in Autumn of 2021; and the free MOOC Local Water Solutions for Global Challenges which enrolled over 2,365 students in the Autumn of 2021 and Spring 2022 courses.

In addition, 4 new free 'Glocalisers' Webinars on topics related to sustainable development and regenerative practices were offered in conjunction with upcoming online courses. The webinars have attracted over 2,543 participants widening the interest of Gaia Education programmes across the globe.

Gaia Education also developed a Masterclass online programme, inviting key leaders in the field to talk in more depth about their work. Four sessions ran in the financial year, with 1,035 registrations and £1,635 in donations.

E-Learning Programmes 2021-2022 Revenue Dates Number of Participants

• English track - Gaia Education Design for Sustainability (GEDS): £44,422, All year, 199 registrations.

• Portugese track - (GEDS): £34,408, All year, 110 registrations

• Spanish track - (GEDS): £9,861, All year, 49 registrations

• Renewable Energies for Sustainable Development: £700, Spring 2020, 52 registrations

• Local Water Solutions for Global Challenges: £0, Spring 2021, 2,365 registrations

Communications & Marketing

The Communications, Marketing & IT team has worked on improving our systems and website, during this financial year, making it easier to follow our sales and communicate effectively with our customers. We have increased our server capacity and adopted a new integrated IT service, so we can allocate all the students in our new Simplero platform. Multiple sources of promotion of Gaia Education programmes have been adopted, with social media reaching more than 5 million people through Facebook adverts (22 adverts in total) and targeted newsletters (8,000 newsletters on average per month).

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND ACTIVITIES

UNFCCC COP 26 Conference

In November 2021, Gaia Education was invited as an exhibitor in the civil society section of COP 26, creating a digital and physical exhibit entitled 'Amplifying the voices of Global South women through ethical trade', for which we brought in our project partners' contributions - Lush Inc, Global Ecovillage Network, L'Arcolaio, WWF Zambia, Bangladesh Association for Sustainable Development, and Artist Project Earth. Sections of our digital exhibit were used on the UNFCCC welcome video for the green zone of the event.

African Universities Partnership

In response to a Joint Ministerial Declaration made by Ministers of Education and Environment at COP 26 on 5th November 2021, which committed to 'the integration of sustainability and climate change in formal education systems', Gaia Education formed a partnership with the Association of African Universities, the All Africa Students' Union and the SDG Center for Africa, to co-develop an introductory, short digital course on the SDGs and Climate Change from African perspectives, for all African university students. The course aims to signpost students to tangible, grassroots community projects and campaigns they can join, with a view to becoming Climate Youth Ambassadors. By July 2022, a joint MoU had been signed by all partners, and fundraising and promotional activities begun.

Ecosystem Restoration Camps

Through 2021-22 Gaia Education continued its partnership with Netherlands-based Ecosystem Restoration Camps, offering a multi-moduled online course on Ecosystem Restoration Design. ERC provided content and a roster of well-known practitioners to deliver course materials, and Gaia Education provided the e-learning platform and marketing and administrative services for the pilot course, which had been launched in May 2020. In this financial year, its third session ran in the Winter of 2021, with 125 participants and raising £48,443.

ECOLISE

ECOLISE, The European Network for Community-led Initiatives on Climate Change and Sustainability, engages in, supports, and facilitates accelerated learning and collaboration among community-led initiatives, their networks and partners, in order to catalyse systemic transformation within and across society. Gaia Education is a founding member.

During the financial year, Pedro Pedrosa, representing Gaia Education, finished his term on the ECOLISE council. The strategic decision was made not to continue for another term. Instead, Tim Clarke (Trustee) now holds the role of Gaia Education Delegate for ECOLISE.

ZYCALA Zambia Project

For the final six months of our Scottish Government-funded, extended Zambian project-based learning programme, which completed on 31.12.21, we continued to work with WWF Zambia and YEFI (Young Emerging Farmers Initiative) to support young farmers to create regenerative livelihoods and to campaign for the conservation of natural resources, in contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals - in particular SDG 5- Gender Equality, SDG 15 Life on Land and SDG 13 Climate Action.

During the fiscal year, Gaia Education continued to make educational content produced by this project available for all website visitors - eg. sets of PDFs called Zycala Fact Sheets, with instructions for farming techniques. Our main partner in the project, WWF Zambia, also joined us in creating a digital exhibition for display at COP 26 in November 2021.

UNITAR - United Nations Institute of Training and Research

A dedicated training arm of the United Nations system. Gaia Education partners with UNITAR and the University of Strathclyde to deliver online courses on Local Water Solutions for Global Challenges (supported by the Scottish Government and receiving more than 2,500 registrations from over 94 countries this year) and on Renewable Energy for Sustainable Development (receiving 7 registrations).

Academic Partnerships

University for International Cooperation (UCI)

For 25 years UCI, at the epicenter of regenerative development in Costa Rica, has been igniting the ecological imagination and ethical entrepreneurial spirit of thousands of Costa Rican and Latin American learners from conservation rangers to women's associations. Gaia Education and UCI launched the Gaia Education Design for Sustainability course in Spanish for a Latin American audience in October 2018 and continue to partner in offering GE’s 4D curriculum online.

Tallinn University

Gaia Education and Tallinn University are partners in the Erasmus+ funded GaiaYES project, which launched in 2020 and will complete at the end of 2022. We are working together with three other European partners to create an open source secondary level curriculum in holistic Education for Sustainable Development designed for formal and informal settings.

UNIFAL

Since 2020, Gaia Education has been partnering with UNIFAL. the Federal University of Alfenas in Brazil, for graduates of Gaia Education's GEDS Portuguese online programme to receive a formal postgraduate degree, after careful evaluation from UNIFAL.

EUROPEAN-BASED PROJECTS

During the fiscal year Gaia Educational was successful in its application for three new EU Erasmus + K2 Action projects.

At the End of the fiscal year, Gaia Education is co-managing, with our partners, five EU Erasmus + K2 Actions projects.

PROJECT-BASED LEARNING (PBL) ACTIVITIES

Over the 2020-2021 fiscal year, Gaia Education competently finalised the activities of its international development project in Zambia, using its whole-system design tool as a framework for its PBL programme.

Zambian Youth for Conservation, Agriculture and Livelihood Action (ZYCALA)

Gaia Education, WWF Zambia and the Young Emerging Farmers Initiative (YEFI) launched, on 1st October 2017, a three-year project in the districts of Chitambo, Serenje and Mkushi in Central Province, Zambia, funded by the Scottish Government. Due to Covid delays and evidence of strong results, the project was granted one year's extension, with project-end set at 31.12.21.

The project aimed to build the capacity of 420 local youth leaders to become active and effective change agents in youth-led campaigning on social and environmental issues, sustainable income generation and food security actions. By project-end, this target was far exceeded with 799 trained (f: 415, m: 364).

The youth change agents aimed to reach out to 150,000 youths to raise awareness of the need for innovative social and natural systems management through multiplier actions on ecosystems regeneration and advocacy campaigns. By project-end this target was far exceeded, with 737,762 youth reached. Targeted social media advertisements allowed a wide reach. Advertisements were educational, showcasing and awareness-raising.

The empowered young farmers were additionally trained to work with local households to increase food security through the increased production and diversification of nutritional farm produce, and through the set up of seven community enterprises.

By project end, the target of 1,740 households reached was exceeded, with 2,137 increasing food security and 2,125 h/h increasing diversity. 1,623 h/h achieved a 40% increase in agriculture -related income.

95 community enterprises were created, exceeding the target of 84:

• Organic farming - 22 active groups

• Beekeeping - 22 active groups

• Poultry - 14 active groups

• Solar drying - 14 groups

• Savings and Internal Lending Committees (SILC) - 23 active groups

The beekeeping and SILC community enterprises were both striking successes. In Year 4, annual exportable honey production of 4 tonnes was achieved and 3,000 Ha of forest conserved. 600 beehives were in regular use by 700 beekeepers. SILC savings reached in excess of £30,000 at project-end. All enterprises are now robust enough to continue post-project.

Through these activities, a generation of young farmers has been empowered with a whole-systems ecological design approach in conservation agriculture, which includes organic demonstration gardens, poultry and, in particular, beekeeping.

The results for the year are presented on page 13.

During the year, the charity made a deficit of £63,913 (2021 £64,363) and at the year end the charity had restricted funds of £21,140 (2021 - £27,340) and unrestricted funds of £227,827 (2021 - £285,539).

Income has decreased during the year to £333,331 (2021 - £523,993). Included within this is income in respect of restricted grants, totalling £50,054 (2021 - £135,697). These are funding specific project work undertaken during the year, as detailed in the statement of funds note on page 26. In addition, the charity's principal funder, Gaia Trust, decreased its grant to £110,771 (2021 - £116,745). This is recorded within unrestricted income.

Expenditure decreased to £397,244 from £588,355 in the previous year, which is mainly attributable to costs of charitable activities decreasing to £397,244 from £588,355.

Going concern

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis after consideration of the future prospects of the charitable company, its long term financial forecasts, expected income from its funders and non-contract services and available financial reserves to support its activities.

The organisation’s trustees have a going concern policy for the organisation, which they monitor and give regular input for four times per year during the quarterly Board meetings, as well as by maintaining a close contact with the co-CEOs throughout the year to check on progress, give advice and assess tasks and decisions taken by the Board.

At Board meetings the Trustees receive updated reports on financial activities and staff relations. Reports are provided from every area of activities and deliverables are summarized with the opportunity to ask questions, comment and make suggestions for future actions. During Board meetings and at any other time the Trustees often review budget issues and forecasts and request or approve adjustments as needed.

The Board has updated its forecasts based on changes to service delivery, and is satisfied that the charitable company has adequate resources to manage the impact of the ongoing COVID pandemic.

Reserves policy

The Trustees have set a policy to aim to hold unrestricted reserves to cover approximately 6 months operational expenditures, which provides a level of financial security and allows time to react to circumstances. This level of reserves has been achieved at the year end.

As of 30 June 2022, the total reserves of the charity were £248,967 (2021 - £312,879); of which £21,140 (2021 - £27,340) are restricted funds which can only be used for the purposes they were given, leaving £227,827 (2021 - £285,539) of unrestricted funds.

The purpose of holding this level of unrestricted funds is to ensure the stability of the mission, programmes, employment, and ongoing operations of the organisation in the event of a sudden increase in expenses, one-time unbudgeted expenses or an unanticipated loss in funding.

Over the next fiscal year, Gaia Education will continue to manage and further develop its e-learning and face-to-face programmes in Portuguese, Spanish and English to serve its global community, and to pursue further funding for its Project-Based Learning programmes through international development initiatives.

Plans are in place to develop and re-launch the following programmes and products for fiscal year 2022-2023:

• GEDS Online Certificate - our flagship 10-month course covering the 4Dimension curriculum and culminating in a design project delivered in small work teams;

• Certification for face-to-face Ecovillage Design Education programmes;

• Face-to-Face Training of Trainers programmes;

• SDG Training of Multiplier programmes;

• Ecosystem Restoration Design - in collaboration with Ecosystem Restoration Camps;

• SDG Africa Programme - exploring partnerships with African Universities for SDG and climate change introductory digital courses;

• Renewable Energies for Sustainable Development - in partnership with Strathclyde University and UNITAR;

• Local Water Solutions for Global Problems - a free MOOC in partnership with UNITAR and the University of Strathclyde;

• Cultivating Regenerative Livelihoods Programme;

• New online programmes with partners and certified trainers.

The charity is a company limited by guarantee, which was incorporated on 23 January 2009. The company gained charitable status on 16 September 2009 and commenced operating on 9 December 2009. The charity is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association.

The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:

Please note that Mr S Rankin stepped down, temporarily, from the Board of Trustees in order to become interim CEO from February - April 2022. He was then reinstated as a trustee on 1 May 2022.

Organisational structure and decision-making policies

Gaia Education is governed by the Board of Directors, who are also the charity trustees. Day-to-day management is delegated to the Chief Executive and Management Team. Working groups are used where applicable and chaired by one of the Management Team members.

The management team by the end of this period consisted of the Co-CEOs, the E-learning Coordinator, and the Communications and Marketing Manager.

Trustee induction and training

New Trustees are invited and encouraged to familiarise themselves with and to seek information about the workings of the charity and its objectives from existing Trustees, staff and volunteers. They receive a copy of the three most recent accounts and attend a board meeting as observers. The training needs of Trustees are identified and responded to as they arise.

None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. All of the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.

Pay policy for senior staff

The Board of Trustees is responsible for defining Pay Policy and deciding on the salaries of the Chief Executive and other staff salaries.

Related party relationships

During the year £110,771 (2021 - £116,275) was received from Gaia Trust. J T Ross Jackson is the chairman of the Gaia Trust and a director of Gaia Education.

The trustees, who are also the directors of Gaia Education for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company Law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.

In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;

- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.

I report on the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 30 June 2022, which are set out on pages 10 to 27.

The charity’s trustees, who are also the directors of Gaia Education for the purposes of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investments (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. The trustees consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1)(a) to (c) of the 2006 Accounts Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the financial statements as required under section 44(1)(c) of the Act and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the financial statements presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements, and seeks explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the financial statements.

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

to keep accounting records in accordance with section 44(1) (a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations; and

to prepare financial statements which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 8 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations;

to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The company is entitled to the exemption from the audit requirement contained in section 477 of the Companies Act 2006, for the year ended 30 June 2022.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of financial statements.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year in question in accordance with section 476.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

Gaia Education is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in Scotland. The registered office is The Park, Findhorn, Forres, Moray, IV36 3TZ.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's [governing document], the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended), FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the Charities SORP "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.

Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges are allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.

Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:

The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.

The cost of minor items, being those costing less than £500, are not capitalised.

At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.

Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.

Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.

The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.

Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.

Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.

Grants receivable for core activities

Miscellaneous sales

Ecovillages

Other fundraising income

Other income

E-learning courses

Core charitable activities

Projects

Sustainable Development Goals

Course costs

Project costs

Other direct costs

E-learning courses

Face to face courses

Projects

Sustainable Development Goals

Course costs

Project costs

Other direct costs

E-learning courses

E-learning courses

Travel costs

Promotion and marketing

Insurance

Postage and staionery

Sundry expenses

Management fees

Office administration costs

Other support costs

Bank charges

Other governance costs

Governance costs includes payments to the independent examiner of £2,450 and auditors in 2021- £5,200 for audit fees.

None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration during the year, but 1 trustee was reimbursed a total of £1,546 travelling and subsistence expenses (2021- 2 were reimbursed £1,957).

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

The key management personnel of the charity are considered to be:

• Chief Executive Officer;

• Chief International Officer;

• Chief Operating Officer; and

• Chief Financial Officer.

Last year the Heads of Branding and Marketing were also included.

No other individuals are considered to have authority or responsibility for planning, directing and controlling the activities of the charity.

Total fees and remuneration paid by the charity in respect of key management personnel was £89,367 (2021 - £210,996). Certain key management personnel provide their services on a consultancy basis.

Expenses amounting to £1,441 (2021 - £853) were paid during the year by the charity to key management personnel. This included the reimbursement of expenditure incurred by key management personnel on behalf of the charity.

During the year the charity entered into the following transactions with related parties:

Gaia Trust, a charity in which the trustee, J T Ross Jackson is the chairman provided a grant of £110,771 (2021 - £116,745) to Gaia Education during the year.