Ideaplants

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.


For more info on Lórien, check here: Lorien & ecovillage profile

Domespace is a round house that rotates with the sun. The house can be adapted on the individual needs of its inhabitants and the construction aims to create a long lasting home that creates a low impact on the environment buy enabling a maximum of life quality.
› Continue reading

If it is a low impact home in hobbit style, an original treehouse, or a rotating house.

Have a look at this blog entry by Designpedia. Some of the designs are real eyeopeners. Enjoy! › Continue reading

An Earthship is an ‘earth-sheltered’ building that functions autonomously (profiting from sunlight, temperature, wind, soil, landscape and natural resources). Mike Reynolds was one of the first to design and build Earthships in the 1970s. Today there are many thousand Earthships that are build all over the planet. Different shapes, designs and infrastructures make it possible to optimize an earthship specfic climate conditions.

The interesting thing is that one of the main materials that is being used to create an Earthship are old tires which are filled with Soil (one of the best isolation materials). Old tins and bottles can be used together with clay in order to build the house.

Special are also the unique shapes that Earthships are build in. Usually people do not only spend lots of time and effort in building a selfsustained house with a water recycling system and renewable energy resources but they also create innovative living spaces.

Check out the videos to get an idea

Mira

Location: Soto de Rey, Oviedo, Spain

Profile: Ixuxu is a cultural and ecological association that was initially founded out of a growing concern for the erosion of traditional ways of life, the loss of native animal and plant species and the destruction of the environment in general.

“Ixuxu” is derived from an ancient scream in Asturian (the local language). Since 1990, the project has been working in various ways to establish a symbiotic relationship between man and nature that is mutually enriching and regenerative. In its life of fifteen years Ixuxu has initiated many projects, many of which are still running.

The intention is to provide an environment which is exemplary of sustainable living and is itself a learning experience and to run real and practical courses that empower people with the knowledge and experience to lead more sustainable lives, to have all the information and understanding so that they can make choices for themselves that are healthy for both them and the planet.

Project Status: Advanced – active for more than 15 years

Number of members: 3 full time members, around 20 part time members plus international volunteers

Current activities:

Needs:
Funding base: there is a need for more profound funding strategies that gives the association the necessary financial security, man power: project developers & volunteers are always welcome!

Haves:
Accommodation, lot’s of space and land, course and teaching facilities, local horse and sheep species, beautiful scenery, loyal members, great public transport connection to the nearby city Oviedo, community of members and associates helping at the project, teaching gardens, solar energy system

Email: gaia@ixuxu.org

Phone: +34 677 622 586 / +44 20 7193 7365

Membership of other organisations: Wwoof (www.wwoof.org)

A model for the world

I’ve found Ixuxu more or less by accident: A friend of mine and I were travelling in Spain. When we came to Oviedo, we got to know a girl that worked in a third world shop and was involved in the association Ixuxu . After hosting us for a few nights in town, she brought us to this romantic place in the mountains of Asturias, where the project is hidden. Constantly new people are coming and going into the kitchen that creates the heart of the farm. Due to the hilly landscape, buildings are spread all over the territory that includes several hectares of land. Cooking dinner at Ixuxu is a real challenge since you can have between 2 and 50 persons at the dinner table. The network of volunteers, visitors, friends and workers is huge. But Ixuxu is not only a place to meet interesting people – here you quickly become part of the community. Travellers find their way to the farm via the WWoof list, school classes are coming for visits in order to learn more about nature and sustainable living and even courses for adults on different topics are being held throughout the year.

No one can tell the story of Ixuxu better than Aurelio. He seems shy when you meet him for the first time, but he surprises and captures your attention with his lively presence and his honest and emotional way when telling the story of the place that he has put so many years of his life in. In 1990 Aurelio and his friends occupied the land of Ixuxu that was left empty since its owners died long time before. The group of people started working with the land and recovering big parts that had been destroyed by previous intensive farming. The idea was not only to use the farming space, but also to create an area where native animals, which local farmers had started replacing with foreign races, could be preserved. Much more than that – ‘Ixuxu is a model for the world. We wanted to show people that there is more than what they see now and that a different way of life is possible.’.

I’ve visited the project several times and I must say that it is a really special place to be. Every time I’m there I feel like diving into a different world that so naturally makes you feel welcome. Ixuxu is not the only place in the world like this. But it is definitely one of the most beautiful places that shows you that a life with nature is possible.

Location: Eva Lanxmeer, Culemborg, the NetherlandsThe Werf project was initiated in summer 2004 by architect Marien Faas who lives in Eva Lanxmeer. The original purpose of the project was to create a prototype house. The concept was based on four core principles:

1. To create a house were several generations can live together (housing possibilities for disabled people were integrated in the concept)

2. An integration of the elements living, learning and working (a school class, an office compound and living compounds were integrated in the building)

3. To bring together natural components of environment and culture (integrating urban and rural architecture styles)

4. Not only the final building but also the building process should fulfil the above 3 principles, which resulted in a co-operation between volunteers and professionals which was not only a social process but also less expensive.

With the further development of the building project more volunteers started joining the project and there was a need of housing opportunities. As a temporary solution, Marien agreed with the local government that a certain amount of volunteers could be hosted in
an old factory building called Stationswerf that was used to store materials for the project.