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…
We are involved in an ecological housing project in Karlstad, Sweden.
Our city already has two ecovillages called Tuggelite (which was first in Sweden) and Mjölnartorpet. Since almost everyone keeps on living in their ecohouses it’s hard to move there. That is why we came up with the idea to create Ekoby3.0 (EcoVillage3.0).
So far we are 23 families who are involved. These are both single households, single families and families of all ages.
We find ourselves in the first development phase. The project team has visited the two current ecovillages in Karlstad and had a first discussion round with the municipality. Karlstad municipality is very positive towards our plans. The next step is to map all families ideas and wishes. Finding financing is tough at the moment, but by the time we will invest the situation might have changed. We have contacts with the Swedish interest free JAK member bank and the Swedish Ekobanken. Website (Swedish)
Our motivations are diverse, but all of us support the idea of ecological housing. For me personal I’d like to develop housing which provides the opportunity to live under my personal ecological footprint.
Together with Mira and four others we visited a co-housing/ecovillage project in Poncelle, Province of Luxemburg, Belgium this past weekend.
Imagine a little village in the least polluted areas of Belgium on a sunny day. You arrive around lunchtime and have lunch with Michel, who three years ago had the idea of starting up a co-housing project and acquired a piece of land with similarly minded people. He tells you about his vision and even though it is obvious that much work is still needed, you can see it: a place of happy co-housing. Everybody has their own house and income, but there is also a big common house, that can be used at any time by Lorien’s people for parties or for workshops, but can also be rented out to generate a bit more income.
Lorien’s land came with a few unfinished buildings and land of 1,5ha. The potential is plenty, but the money is not. So until more people join, i.e. buy a piece of it, finishing the houses needs to wait. In the meantime the garden can be put into place.
So this is what we helped with: we cleared an area in the garden, planted some vegetables, cleared up another area for a neighbour’s donkeys and fenced it off, so they can graze on the long grass. Soon there will be a workshop that will take the development of the garden to the next level.
The weekend was not all about work though. After a dinner which some of us prepared, we sat around a campfire until one in the morning talking over beer and wine. We all felt it was interesting to learn more about the project, but also putting up fences, etc. together with friends and others brought up interesting conversations. This combined with camping and fire made for a great weekend and I am looking forward to visit again. Would you want to come along next time? If so, please comment on this page and we will let you know the details. If you do not have a tent, there are also caravans that you can sleep in.
A place somewhere in a warm country far away from traffic and stress. A place with nice people sharing the work, doing things together they really enjoy and thinking out of the box. Am I the only one here, or is this also something you sometimes dream about?
Here the good news: These places do exist. It might not be all that perfect as we dream it up in our minds.
Community life is not always easy and it’s more a life choice than paradise. But I’ve visited many places with interesting set ups. A group of people that lives up to permaculture principles and applies environmental solutions like Earthships & solar kettles that still seem very cutting edge to us. The El Bosque village is one of them.
The Bosque Village is a combination of a campground, a rustic retreat center, a permaculture farm, and a forming ecovillage. We love to share our space with visitors interested in sustainable tourism, ecovillage living, outdoor recreation, personal development and creative activities.
The great thing is that el Bosque is open for volunteers so you can experience for a period of time how it feels to live in such a place. Have a look at the El Bosque group for more information.
To be honest, when I first heard of Paris’ Velib bikes, I was a bit amused. Especially when I heard that they actually use trucks to pick up bikes in the lower areas of the city to drop bring them to empty stations that are further up the hills. How ecological is this really?
When I actually tried them I changed my mind.
Fair enough: Not everyone apreciates their Velibs as much as its inventors might have dreamt of -quite some of the bikes you find at Velib stations are damaged and with a big group of people it is difficult to find enough bikes. Also it is not easy to find parking space for many people since each station has a limited amount of stations.
The basic concept however seems to work. There are plenty of Velib stations all over Paris, prices are affordable and you can get your Velib subscription via your metro pass. Even some of the detail has been thought of: If you want to park at a station that is already full, you can get 15min for free to find an alternative station. Something we can currently only dream of in Brussels.
I’ve heard there are similar systems in other cities around the globe (e.g. Geneva). Let me know in case you’ve got experiences with similar systems!
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It looks like Brussels is catching up as well!
on May 16th Brussels’ new bike rental system Villo has been introduced. Has anyone had experiences with the bikes so far?
Savoir-Fair is a platform (in form of a fair) for people to exchange know-how on how to create & make things that are not just beautiful but help us diminish our impact on the environment (by using natural or recycled material). Topics can be anything from nutrition, mobility, gardening to well-being and games. This year’s event will be on the 20th of June.
…if you find all this inspiring and have some tips & tricks to share yourself: The team is still looking for people that would like to participate at the fair. Proposals will be accepted until May 15th. To find out more visit the Ideaplants discussion forum here (info in French).
Have you ever dreamt about an ecological neighbourhood where you can easily park your bike? A place where you can let your children play outside without bigger worries and where neighbours share more than just the usual small talk?
In a place like Brussels this may seem utopian – or do we just need to wait until someone makes the first step to make this happen?
Last week a group of people that has this vision met for a first brainstorm. What are you hoping for, what are your fears and how do we overcome these? A ‘soft’ session for a first get to know each other and see where one can take this project from there.
In Germany green housing projects are well established (I actually grew up on one) whilst this is still new in Belgium and so far brussels has never seen a project realized by individuals as the initiators. This may change very soon it seems when looking at the group of motivated people that I met last week.
The next meeting will be in 2 weeks time. For more info visit our group:
The Teekampagne (tea campaign) is quite a simple concept. Günther Faltin (professor for entrepreneurship in Germany & founder of the tea campaign) asked himself: why is tea affordable in China but so expensive in Europe? › Continue reading
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