Surrounded by gentle Welsh Hills, close to the Pembrokeshire National Park lies the little ecovillage “Tir Y Gafel”. Only since March 2010 all inhabitants live on its land, which is divided into nine eco-smallholdings, each of them operating rather independently from each other. All came for the natural lifestyle, but each has a different plan on how to live from the land. According to Welsh legislation 75% of one’s needs, need to come from the land. All will use hydro (and solar power) for electricity. Once the whole energy system is setup, an expected 20 000 Pound worth of power will be fed back to the electricity system. They will live in low-impact houses, which are currently being constructed from locally found building materials, such as old bricks and wood from their own forest or by reusing of existing materials such as wood planks from IBM acquired via eBay. After years of livestock on its fields, the soil is claimed as too poor for crops. Mono culture crops this is, for each single inhabitant has proven that vegetables grow here. The bio-diversity has already increased and more bird varieties have been spotted circling the land. They will supplement their income by making willow sculptures, furniture, farming fish and pigs and producing own cheeses.
In July I had the opportunity to spend a week volunteering there and experience community life up close. Hoppi, the main contact for volunteers did a great job in organising and so I was able to help out on several pots, learning different things from stripping trees, cleaning bricks, liming a round house, repairing a water way and chopping firewood. Others helped the beekeeper to find the queen or put the reciprocal roof onto a roundhouse. We were six volunteers in total and a nice bunch of people – everybody coming from a different angle. I learned alot in terms of alternative constructions, saw an example of a community and had lots of interesting conversations.
The inhabitants are people like all of us, they came because it was their childhood dream or because of a very environmental consciousness or the urge for a change in their life. They might have a little bit of experience as hobby gardeners or hobby furniture makers, but all have lots to learn still and I admire their courage. One thing that stood out for me was a very strong sense of the motto Learning by doing: “If the roundhouse gets a crack, well then we have to fix it. Next time we will know what to do different.”
The ecovillage is part of the Lammas Project, which aims to show that there are sustainable solutions to the challenges of climate change, peak oil and rural regeneration. There will be also a community hub building that allows others to learn about this kind of lifestyle and benefit from lessons learned at Tir Y Gafel.
All the best to all plot holders and thanks for a great week,
Sylvia
PS: For all who would like to visit themselves. There are guided tours offered and another volunteer week is coming up in September, just subscribe to the Lammas mailing list to be kept up-to-date.
A few months ago I was talking with an American friend who proudly told me about the Mozarella cheese, he had just made – in about half an hour, he said. I was impressed. Living in Mainland Europe, it should be even more tasty due to access to fresh milk, he claimed. I really wanted to try myself! But where to buy rennet (needed to split the curds from the whey)? The only place where I found it was in a pharmacy for 20Euro and this did not feel quite right!
So I partly gave up and focussed on other things, such as vegetarian paté, tzatziki, houmous, bread, gnocchi or vindaloo curry from the base incredients. All alot easier to make then I would have expected (except maybe for the curry paste) and really yummy, not to talk about the excitement and joy of exploration.
Then I found rennet by chance in a Welsh store whilst on vacation. So I re-embarked on my cheesy goal, I still needed to get a cheese cloth and a thermometer and some fresh milk. All of which I found at or close to the Marché des Abattoirs in Anderlecht (Belgium). Onto the internet it was for some instructions, in the end I settled on a goat cheese (which does not even need rennet, but just some vinegar!) and now I am a happy owner of my first (yummy) cheese.
Organicvision – a world tour dedicated to sustainable lifestyle (by Johanna from Organicvision)
Curious about alternatives to mainstream urban lifestyle?
Wondering how our society can change to become ecologically viable?
This is precisely what we want to find out on our journey around the world visiting 30 exciting projects covering permaculture, eco-construction, herbology, self-sufficiency, homesteading, transition towns, eco villages etc.
We, that is Joanna and Franck- a German/Polish-French couple in their thirties, living in Brussels.
Some years ago, if somebody had asked us about the future, never we would have predicted that we would quit our jobs one day and do a project dedicated to sustainability…
We decided to rethink our future. After having visited several organic farms in Belgium and Spain in 2009, we were captivated by the generosity and enthusiasm of the people we met there. Compared to the authentic values these people were living, our office jobs, our hectic everyday life seemed fake and meaningless.
Many discussions and sleepless nights later, our decision was clear: We wanted to change our life.
Even more: We wanted other people to discover that it is worth to live closer to nature. But how do you do that? Our solution: Travel various countries and meet positive role models, work with them and share their inspiring ideas with others via interviews, video clips and pictures on a blog!
To this end, in October 2009 we also set up an association – Organicvision – as we wanted to show our sincere long-term investment in promoting sustainable lifestyle and setting up a network of activists in this field as our project develops.
Then we started to seriously prepare our world tour, which will start very soon with a survival training in Belgium followed by a permaculture design course in Southern France.
Last weekend I went to visit La Grande Cense with a group of volunteers. This co-housing community near Brussels is now some last renovations before all individuals and families can start moving into their new homes. They are therefore organizing a summer camp where everyone is invited to help.
A group of 30 grown ups and 15 children will be soon living in 20 units in a fully renovated old farm with a big inner courtyard for social gatherings, a big and sunny terrace, shared kitchen & lounging facilities and large garden space.
Although the construction site already looks liveable it was not the actual space that impressed me most this weekend. I was more impressed by the group members.
You can feel that everyone at the Grande Cense group has gone through an intense learning process. Becoming clear about your own core values, defining a shared vision, establishing an effective decision making process and clear ground rules. All this costs a lot of time and effort and it is as essential for a co-housing project as finding a nice space to live and defining technical and ecological parameters.
What is more challenging than sharing your life with a group of people?
It takes a strong core group with shared values, a clear vision and the necessary organizational and people skills, to set up a co-housing project.
Our little volunteer group was using ecological paint to paint some of the walls in the common area. With all information and tips for a future co-housing project we gathered and some nice conversations, it only felt good to be able to contribute 2 days of work to this project.
Open Source Ecology takes an open source approach to technology development with the aim to empower individuals to develop their own self-sufficient ecovillages without depending on supply chains, trademarks & corporations.
‘Factor E Farm’ provides a tool set that makes it possible for individuals to become self-sufficient. Tool set’s include instructions on how to create construction machines, tractors, solarpanels etc. at a quality level that comes close to commercial machines. All tool sets for open source technology are being published on the open source ecology wiki so others can use and further develop the material. Watch this video to see some of their machines in practise.
I’m quite impressed by this approach since I do personally believe that the open source culture can be transferred to many different value-driven fields. Ecological living is an area where concrete solutions and expertise could easily create benefit by being spread more openly via the Internet.
In the area of sustainable development there seems to be a big disconnect between corporate sustainability communication and actual solutions that are being applied. Maybe there is something even bigger corporations could learn from this simple concept & collaborative approach.
A number of stands where you can cook your own organic food, learn how to do a compost, make bike bags out of old fuel containers, try a washing machine or a mixer that works with an old bike instead of a motor, learn how to make a van that is not polluting… even knitting, making your own orange juice and making a wallet out of old juice cartons was on the menu.
I spent a very nice afternoon together with all the other curious people and I enjoyed watching grown-ups turn into children when they started making their own creations in the middle of Brussels’ central shopping area. An easy model: Volunteers that give workshop, some sponsoring and a bit of project management. The result – good vibes, a day full of eye-opening ideas and inspring people.
This simple concept is worth replicating in other parts of the world!
Hope you feel inspired now…
I’m speaking to more and more people that are trying to make sense of what they do and how it can benefit society & the environment as a whole.
It always starts with a dream, a broad idea of how it could look like in practise and lots of passion that gives people the drive to make things happen. More and more people do dare to make the step and create a business around these ambitions. Dreamers transform into entrepreneurs and suddenly become part of a genre that is accepted and increasingly admired by society.
What people seem to lack and look for is very human support:
- A person that gives feedback like a mirror
- Some guidance in creating a good sales pitch
- Some ideas to complete the story
- Help with finance and getting the right people on board
- A well thought through and tangible Marketing plan
…and last but not least: Confidence
I find it personally very inspiring to listen to people’s ideas, help them develop their business model and help them to market their concept. I’ve now decided to help members at The Hub develop their ideas and explore the world of online Marketing. I look forward to exciting new ideas, people with big dreams and enough courage to make them happen.
The sun is out, it’s getting warmer and lots of things are happening around bikes. Not just that I’m getting in the hot phase with planning a 7-day cycling adventure in France… all Brussels seems in cycle mood these days. Here a short overview of what is going on:
1. Velo-city 2009 May 12th – 15th
Velo-city is one of the world largest conferences on cycling taking place at tour & taxi. It includes a number of conferences, exhibitions and lots of entertainment activities around cycling.
2. DringDring 2009 May 11th – 17th
Simultaneously, DringDring is organizing breakfasts for cyclists and bike excoursions for schoolkids this week.
This weekend there will also be a second hand bike fair and several other activities worthwhile joining.
3. Bike to work
Have you ever thought about taking your bike to work? Bike to work is a project that supports and encourages employees and businesses to take the bike to work. This initiative is part of the European project LifeCycle. Besides the simple committment it offers also a number of contests that will be carried out throughout the year. Companies that support their employees, can also gain financial advantages.
4. Dynamobile 2009 July 17th -26th
If you haven’t got any summer holiday plans for July yet, you should definitely consider this one. Dynamobile is a bike tour for families and individuals. During one week you get to see some of the Belgian nicest spots, you eat organic food and get to know like-minded people. Here some details on this year’s programme in French.
“All this talk about dirty energy?! In my house the energy comes from the power plug and there is no mess at all!”
Great! But how does it get into you power plug?
I live in Brussels, Belgium. Now, the energy market is open and you can choose from several providers, such as Belpower or Lampiris? There is also still the only former provider Electrabel, which claims they are green, but are they really? I found this nice URL that gives an overview of what energy provider options we have here in Belgium. Money talks and if we give it to the right solution..
I switched to Lampiris right after the markets were opened, they were not just alot greener than Electrabel, but also cheaper and it was real easy too, all I had to do is to sign up for Lampiris and they did all the rest!
If you know of a similar site for other countries, please do post them.
All came for the natural lifestyle, but each has a different plan on how to live from the land. According to Welsh legislation 75% of one’s needs, need to come from the land. All will use hydro (and solar power) for electricity. Once the whole energy system is setup, an expected 20 000 Pound worth of power will be fed back to the electricity system. They will live in low-impact houses, which are currently being constructed from locally found building materials, such as old bricks and wood from their own forest or by reusing of existing materials such as wood planks from IBM acquired via eBay. After years of livestock on its fields, the soil is claimed as too poor for crops. Mono culture crops this is, for each single inhabitant has proven that vegetables grow here. The bio-diversity has already increased and more bird varieties have been spotted circling the land. They will supplement their income by making willow sculptures, furniture, farming fish and pigs and producing own cheeses.
Hoppi, the main contact for volunteers did a great job in organising and so I was able to help out on several pots, learning different things from stripping trees, cleaning bricks, liming a round house, repairing a water way and chopping firewood. Others helped the beekeeper to find the queen or put the reciprocal roof onto a roundhouse. We were six volunteers in total and a nice bunch of people – everybody coming from a different angle. I learned alot in terms of alternative constructions, saw an example of a community and had lots of interesting conversations.
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