Free skills training in bio-construction

The Interaction point of Collserola (PIC), together with Permacultura Barcelona organized two week-long training workshops on bio-construcción techniques and sustainable rehabilitation. The objective of which were to integrate ecological thinking into the development of the social movement in Barcelona as a tool for cultural sustainability and to provide sustainable skills training to those without full-time employment.

These workshops took place during the summer of 2012 and 2013 and attracted more than thirty participants. The groups consisted mostly of women (60%) and was focussed especially on those individuals who were living or had lived in a precarious economic or social situation.

The workshops were mostly practical in nature and were offered free of charge to anyone who wanted to join. Furthermore participants who were willing to join for the full length of the training were given free room and board for the duration of the course.

Here is a link to the first workshop held in September 2012 in Can Masdeu. During those 8 days wood working experts shared their knowledge and skills to help build a “Timber Frame". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNK7bMYD6HY

The second phase of the training was carried out a year later in October 2013. Here experts in bio-construcción provided the participants with theoretical and practical guidance in the construction of a passive house on top of the timber frame using recycled wood and adobe.

Self employment and organic bread....

During the summer of 2013, the PIC cultural association organized a 2 month long workshop for unemployed adults (25-40yrs) to construct a wood-fired bread oven at Can Masdeu in Barcelona. Under guidance of a two experts in the field of bio-construction and wood-fired ovens and using locally found clay over 15 people, from Barcelona and without full-time employment participated in the building process. The workshop was a big success and resulted in a novel design prototype consisting of a double baking chamber furnace with capacity for 70 breads, built on a central metal structure covered with adobe.

From the initial workshop participants a core group of 4-6 peoplse went on to set up a small business centred around the collective use of the new bread oven. "La Pana" currently offers 7 consumer cooperatives in Barcelona, artisenal, organic and local breads and pastries, on a weekly basis.

Their sustainable business model follows the principles of more direct relations between consumers and producers, and use of sustainable modes of transport such as the bicycle and the use of renewable energy (wood) to bake the bread. "La Pana" further provides self-employment and a collective economy for the people who participate in it. “La Pana” and their newly constructed oven further play and active role in spreading the knowledge of ecological and handmade bread production through workshops in the PIC social centre (www.canmasdeu.net).

Crakow, september 2013 : third meeting

The meeting between groups from Spain, France, Germany and Poland took place in Poland between Wednesday and Sunday ( napisz daty). This time the group To.Pole were hosting the meeting in the city where they work- Cracow.

The meeting happened at Biala Droga (http://bialadroga.wordpress.com/). It is an artist run space and it functions as a platform for working with Debniki community in Cracow. It is a place where knowledge, skills, and experience are exchanged. Participants can attend workshops, meetings and presentations.

The first day of the gathering started by showing the groups specific places around Cracow connected to our project, which we call EEE. EEE stands for Enough 4 Everybody 4 Ever. During the walk we talked about our project, exchanged ideas, inspirations and experiences. The outcome of exchange brought to attention important topics like communication between groups, plans for next meetings, and preparation for the final work. The Krakow group prepared an alternative walking tour around the city centre, we visited a local food market, the Jewish district and some important cultural spots.

On the second day, we split into two groups. One group took part in a theatre workshop organised by the German group. Second group worked on the EEE project blog. The theatre workshop emphasis was on the exercises with words meanings, and a collective decision-making without using speech. In this way the German group introduced to all participating groups the way how they work. All these were important to happen before our project culmination in March 2014.

The second group that was working on the blog, decided on the structure of the material, and all the elements consisting the content of the blog. The aim was to structure our work/material and to discuss the need of the project.

Second part of the day was dedicated for the workshop of Polish traditional dance, and later on the dancing to Polish traditional music. A group of musicians and dancers was introducing to the workshop participants the different steps and types of Polish folk dances. It was the presentation of To.Pole group that was to promote and educate about the Polish traditional culture.

Third day of the gathering we started in an art gallery Galeria Bunkier Sztuki in Cracow with the workshop run by the French group. It was a presentation of a wooden construction called ‘mobile’, which can be used for varies exercises in group work. It allows the group to play with the idea of “balance” and “sustainability” and bring new insights into these topics.

 

It is a visualisation that can be used in verity of workshops as a didactic/ a method of teaching. The aim of this exercise was to represent a creation of a construction in practice/in real.

Second part of the morning we attended the Fanaberie Festival, (http://fanaberieferformance.blogspot.de/), which concentrated around recycling and artistic methods against consumerism/consumption. To.Pole group was involved in this festival as well, and wanted to share they educational input in it. One of their project presented at the festival called POLtwor, was presented there, it was a form of recycling (http://poltwor.com/blog/), which is about ecological education through art.

In the afternoon we all gathered and summarised all the three days spend together. We made final decisions, and talked about our future meetings.