Eco-valley

Seminar on The Pillars of Sustainability – It is Still Possible to Hand in Grant Applications in Some European Countries!

Gyurka — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:21:30 +0000

The Eco Valley Foundation has decided to organize a Seminar on The Pillars of Sustainability that will take place between 5th and 13th September, 2012 in Somogyvámos, Hungary.

The good news is that it is still possible to hand in grant application in some European countries!

Full Funding available!

Those working in the field of adult education (in the broadest sense) can apply for a Grundtvig Grant covering all costs including travel, accommodation & conference fee.

To be eligible, you have to be a resident of a EU member state, Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Turkey. (For details check out your national office providing the grant [http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-programme/doc1208_en.htm] or get in touch with our contact person.)

Procedure!

First of all, you do not have to register and will not need a confirmation letter from us, because this course is going to be a seminar. You will have to fill in an e-form, which can be found on the webpage of your country’s National Agency dealing with Grundtvig grants, where you will have to register. So, please check out the homepage of your agency at the following link (http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-programme/national_en.htm) and get in contact with the national office in your country, which deals with grants of the European Commission. They will inform you about the details.

It is important that you have to apply for a grant in the Visits and exchanges category.

Check the following link for this: http://ec.europa.eu/education/grundtvig/staff_en.htm

You can find the description of the seminar in the Comenius – Grundtvig Training Database with the reference number “HU-2012-119-001“.

(Here is the link separately:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/trainingdatabase/index.cfm?fuseaction=DisplayCourse&cid=33008.)

If you contacted your national agency about the grant and checked the webpages above, then come back to us and we will continue our cooperation.

The deadline for grant application in some European countries differs, so it is NOT 30th April, 2012 everywhere. Therefore, we urge every enthusiastic person, who would like to take part in the seminar, to check the deadline at their National Agencies and apply for a grant as soon as possible.

Straw Bale Building (Part 2.) – Getting Sculptural with Straw

Gyurka — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:42:46 +0000

Re-stringing bales

Where walls end, by doors and windows you will need some half bales. These can easily be made by cutting one string, re-tying the two halfs and then repeating for the other string. care should be taken to keep the bale as tightly tied as possible.

Tying tips

A generally useful way to tie two strings (or two ends of one string) together tightly is to tie a loop in one. Then pass the other end through the loop and pull it back on itself before tying off. To tighten a bale string that has already been tied, get a short length of stick, put it under the string then pull and twist to tighten. tuck under to finish.

Making Curved Walls

This is just slightly harder than falling off a log. Take a bale and place one end on a log, another bale or similar support. Apply pressure to the middle of the bale, for this bottom pressure works very well or for a lighter touch you can just kick it a bit.

If you need to get a patrticularly tight curve you can cut the ends of the bale, between (and parellel to) the strings, and remove the straw from behind one string to chamfer the ends. You’ll then probably want to tighten this string a little.

This way works with bends down to 3′-4′ inner radius.

Source: http://www.simondale.net/house/index.htm

There is no food shortage, so stop starvation!

Gyurka — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:05:07 +0000

One of the rare positive effects of foodstuffs’ price increase is that it has become a worldwide known fact how important food-production is, says Jose Graziano da Silva, Brazilian authority, FAO’s new director general who entered office a few weeks ago. He considers access to food and land utmost important, so that people have the facilities to buy or produce what they eat. “There is plenty of food, but a lot of people, especially the poor cannot afford it, as it is too expensive. People are starving next to laded shelves”, claims da Silva. Food prices are rising and similarly the Earth’s population is growing. Even though economic crisis inflicts the world, da Silva claims that adequate regulations and reforms can put a stop to hunger. However, to achieve this people have to undergo a change.

“Compared to the year 2000, the greatest change is that after the disaster of the Lehman Brothers the world has understood: we all live on the same planet, all the countries are interdependent. A new kind of solidarity has already developed, he emphasizes. In case of famine, the world acts quite quickly nowadays as there are financial resources put aside for exigency.“

Da Silva believes one of the unique positive effects of increasing food prices is that it has become worldwide known how important food is. “Hunger has become the number one priority. We have to take advantage of this situation in a way that we build up a global strategy to secure food supplies”, he emphasizes.

Fine words that according to da Silva, will be followed by actions as well.

Source and more on the topic: portfolio.hu

Straw Bale Building (Part 1.)

Gyurka — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 13:27:40 +0000

Straw bale building was first developed in America during the 1800′s and is a technique that is rapidly gaining popularity today. Building with straw bales can be easy, cheap and fun. It is also a way to make a superbly energy efficient building.

Conventional construction methods use vast amounts of energy, producing over half of all greenhouse gasses and involve toxic and pollluting materials. By contrast, straw is a natural material of which we currently produce an excess sufficient to build half a million homes each year. Straw is highly insulative, giving heat savings of up to 75% compared to a conventional modern house. Straw bale walls have excellent load bearing capacity and are quite suitable for two storey houses with all mod-cons.

Straw bales can be used either for load bearing walls (which hold up a roof or next storey) or infill (with separate support eg. a timber frame). In either case the bales are stacked like giant bricks and secured to each other with wooden stakes. These stakes can be hammered through the bales or tied in pairs on opposite sides of the wall. When laying bales on a wall the straws should run horizontally, not vertically otherwise the bales will tend to sink into each other.

It is important that the bales be allowed to breathe to prevent accumulation of moisture and rotting. The bale wall should NOT be placed directly on a (plastic) dampproof course, this can cause accumulation of moisture at the bottom of the wall. Instead any moisture should be allowed to leave the bottom of the wall. An 18″ high dry-stone wall base (stem wall) will do this job very well if you are building on the ground. If you are building on a platform / stilts a timber base is usually more appropriate.

Straw bale walls are most commonly rendered. A breathable render can be made from a mix of sand and either lime or clay. A lime render is more durable and hence suitable for exterior use in wet climates. I personally quite like to use lime render inside as well as it is strong and sets quickly without cracking. A clay render can usually be made using local clay soil (better) though it may need sponging over daily for a week or two after application to fill any cracks.

Either of these renders can be finished with limewash and / or a natural breathable paint. I like limewash and breathable emulsion indoors and an annually repeated limewash outdoors (a very quick job). Note that cement / gypsum render should not be used as they don’t breathe and can lead to accumulation of moisture in the wall.

Source: http://www.simondale.net/house/index.htm

Organic Manure: the Treasure has Come

Gyurka — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:15:37 +0000

One of the good things of living in Somogyvámos is that we can get cow manure quite easily.
Our vegetable garden has not cried out for nutrient supply, but after two years of using the land we have decided it is time to provide some support for the soil. We thought of it also as an exemplary move, because the basis of organic gardening is a well-prepared and nutritive rich soil.

The best presently existing soil-condition supplying material is cow manure, because it contains nutrients in optimal proportions, as well as it improves the structure of the soil. It loosens dense soil, makes clay ground friable and vegetables absorb nutrients easily.
As opposed to cow dung available in stores, the one we can get from Krishna Valley is hundred percent chemical and antibiotic free. Now, this is what makes it a treasure!

The transportation meant being in the illusion of travelling in time: the manure was delivered in an ox-cart pulled by two oxen.

Collecting fresh droppings – it is not useful for manuring, but can be very well used as ointment to heal cankers. Vedic knowledge has known it for millennia, but western culture has only discovered and recognized its antiseptic qualities.

Cattle breeding of Krishna conscious devotees is worth as much as the ancient, traditional way of animal husbandry in Somogy county. (See the article of Csaba Hosszú in the book entitled Anthropogenic Ecological Changes in the Carpathian Basin, which was compiled by Bertalan Andrásfalvy and Gábor Vargyas). What is more, it may be stated that their is a further developed tradition, because people of the 19^th century, according to the testimony of above mentioned book, were mainly breeding cattle for their meat, whereas devotees of Krishna only breed stock for their milk and work, and never slaughter any of the cows or oxen.

While the boys grabbed the shovel and unloaded the cart, the engine was stopped; work stock was standing still dutifully.

Spreading manure can be fun, especially if one is used to urban life, but has the opportunity to gain the experience of rural charm. At the same time it was quite an enlivening sentiment that we would be able to provide the necessities for the soil soon enough. We would just put back what we harvested as vegetables and grain not so long ago.

If someone does not have a dairy farm in his neighbourhood, then he may use pulverized manure, too. This is quite easily accessible and one can get an organic kind as well. If in Hungary, you may check out the website of Biokontroll Hungary to learn where to get it.

Chestnut guesthouse

We will write about the various utilization of manure in our next article.

Szilvia Rév and András Kun

Rural Lifestyle and Subsistence Farming: Ecovillage Meeting in Krishna Valley

admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:01:03 +0000

How to build a community? How to plan a self-sufficient family homestead? How to establish contact with the existing ecovillage initiatives? How can a city dweller get organic produces from the land he owns, while at the same time support local villagers as well? How to manage 50 hectares of land, if someone wants to produce organic foodstuff? What are the actualities in Hungarian ecovillages?
Questions like the above and others were discussed during the 11^th Winter Ecovillage Meeting in Somogyvámos a few weeks ago.

The photos, a video from Kapos TV and a few Pdf format of presentations (in Hungarian!) will show you some of the details.

To watch the video click here to go to the link of Kapos TV.

Download the Pdf format of presentations here (in Hungarian):

József Hegyesi: A model for self-sufficient family homestead (Pdf)

Organic farming in the Két Kuvik farm (Pdf)

Eco-ssociation – here is the solution to townspeople.

The Két Kuvik organic farm – exemplary farming on 50 hectares of land

Having lunch and getting acquainted with residents of Krishna Valley

Practical demonstration in the cowshed

A spiral van – inserting grains from the top and getting cleaned seeds at the bottom

Chief organizer, Vilmos Pőcze with Kapos TV

Szilvia Rév and András Kun

Does the toaster show what future awaits us?

Gyurka — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 14:43:24 +0000

Strengthening city-states, harshening weekdays, an all-powerful world government and completely new regulations – these may be some of the novelties of the three-year old financial crisis, the one that has reached new depths this year, according to futurologists.

Lots of variants that have to be taken into account make the accurate prediction difficult. Nonetheless, one thing is sure and that is the overgrowth of society and economy, which caused its own inelasticity at the same time. Moreover, in any case we may give up our hope in the general welfare of society.
Consequently, the worst scenario describes total chaos and collapse that awaits the globe after the decadence of the America-dominated world. Some of the authors delineate events similar to the fall of the Roman Empire, after which only minor regional territories will be able to cooperate. This version is also called “world of strongholds”, because in this view merely prominent territories, fortresses can preserve the achievements and welfare of civilization.
However, this theory is quite uncertain because it is without precedent or model, as the world so far has not seen the fall of a developed, industrialized democratic state. Therefore, we do not know “how deep the fall can be”, says Zoltán Galántai, futurologist. It makes a difference whether the world gets back either to 1900 or to the 18th century, as in our age 2.5 times more people live on the Earth, than a society based on an eighteen hundred technological advancement can sustain.

You may read the whole text (in Hungarian) here.
Source: www.origo.hu

Weather Station in Krishna Valley

admin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:07:28 +0000

Krishna Valley and the Eco Valley foundation have recently set up a weather station near the organic garden as a sign of their mutual cooperation in the field of education and research. By this action an old dream has come true because the weather station helps not only the work of the gardeners but provides data for researchers and students as well.

The weather station was donated by one of our friendly supporters.

The station consists of an outdoor exposure and an indoor apparatus (type WH-2080). The transmission of the signals between the outdoor and indoor instruments is done by wireless equipment that is based on radio waves.

The outdoor exposure contains an indicator measuring the strength and direction of the wind, a pluviometer as well as a thermometer and a weather-gauge. The weather station, if adjusted accordingly, can gather data in every hour.

Data sample: the temperature in Krishna Valley between 1^st and 17^th November (recorded hourly)

The weather data will be useful in the planning of garden activities, because the quantity and quality of yield and the weather factor are closely related and can be calculated. We hope that the weather station will be of great help in the ecological and agricultural researches taking place in Krishna Valley and in the more objective evaluation of our students’ to-be thesis.

- KA -

Ecological Overshoot Day 2011

admin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:57:12 +0000

September 25^th, 2009

August 21^st, 2010

September 17^th, 2011

This year and in the last two years these were the exact days, when humanity overstepped the boundaries of its annual consumption rate. It is highly advisable that in the era of debt crises everyone becomes aware of the fact that not only firms, banks and countries, but also the entire mankind have exceeded their share of the credit margin.

There is solely one solution to resolve this problem. Reduce overconsumption and decrease unnecessary overproduction and accumulation.

Besides stopping prodigality, however, one cannot escape paying the debt we have taken up as a credit from the biosphere as well. The idea is to reconsider economic methods in use, develop ecosystems in a conscious way, afforest vast areas, manage landscape correctly and in this way run our economy truly wisely.

I do not know if you have noticed that in 2011 the Ecological Overshoot Day is a bit postponed, which I have first acknowledged quite joyfully also. Nonetheless, here is the naked truth behind this fact. The reason for it is nothing but change in the method of calculation (Check this out here!). Unfortunately, according to the earlier method of calculation the situation is much worse than last year or the year before. I reckon, none of us can get away without thinking over our approach, our individual stance to this and reconsider how we can contribute to improve nature’s, the environment’s state – either to improve or live our lifestyle in a much greener way, or at least to live more economically.

Successful Pillars of Sustainability Workshop

admin — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:18:51 +0000

From October 9th to 16th, sponsored by the European Commission’s Lifelong Learning Programme, the Eco Valley Foundation of Hungary held a one-week workshop called The Pillars of Sustainability – Developing Small Communities Aiming at Self-sustainability in Europe at their primary model community, Krishna Valley in the South-Western part of the country. Krishna Valley, situated in a beautiful rural Hungarian setting and home to 130 residents hosted for one week 20 attendants from 14 European countries.

The week of the Workshop consisted of a mixture of lectures, workshops, discussions and practical field trips to inspect the different aspects of the community, such as the cowshed, ox-powered technology, school, fields, vegetable patches, grain and fruit storages, waste management, infrastructure, the small cottage industries and oil-pressing machines, the residential areas, and of course, the central building with its restaurant.

During the week the participants were trained in several topics of social, economical and environmental stability in rural farm communities, using Krishna Valley as the example for such a community in order to extract and possibly expand its principles more generally to the whole of Europe.

Every day started with a presentation on one of the topics of sustainability, such as what are the needs to achieve social stability, the need for a constitution and clear mission, how to manage and control the economy in a self-sufficient community and the practical aspects of environmental and ecological sustainability and self-sufficiency. All these were used to develop learners’ systematic understanding of social, economic, and environmental correlation of community management and a skill for systematic approach. This was followed by workshops where participants sat together in groups to discuss how to practically realize a similar community of their own dreams.

The field trips in the afternoons took the participants to different areas of the model community, such as the vegetable fields, vegetable and grain storages, the pastures, the cowshed, the community’s own school, the private residential areas, the reed-bed zone sewage system, etc. The participants appreciated how the community functions 90 percent without electricity with all heating done by wood burners using wood from the community’s own forests.

The last part of the day was devoted to a game fashioned by Zoltán Hosszú, head of Eco Valley Foundation and other members of the foundation’s team, where participants in a kind of strategy game on the “Real Pillars of Sustainability” (that was the name of the game itself) amused themselves with questions and quandaries from real life management experienced by themselves and other community managers’ leadership over the years.

Interesting was also one of the days when during a field trip participants went outside the community into the surrounding village and neighbouring area. Here another 60 members of the community have bought houses and are gradually having a very positive influence in this somewhat impoverished part of Hungary.

The six days seminar was concluded by an address of the community leader, Sivarama Swami who stated that small-scale communities could survive and develop only by supporting each other as individuals and as communities.

Krishna Valley briefly: the community was started in 1993 on 150 hectares of empty field and pastures. Since then this has been increased to 266 hectares, where residents have constructed 53 buildings for residential purposes, barns for the animals, an administration building, a restaurant and of course, a central building.

Pasturing lands and vegetable fields have been established, wells dug and around 300 000 trees planted establishing a botanic garden and a few forests. The farm community has attracted a lot of attention, not only from their society, but also from the greater public, including the 30 000 tourists who visit every year, as a very ideal attempt to establish an ecologically and socially self-sustaining community that can be a model for similar communities around the world. It is the hope of the community to be able to facilitate similar seminars and conferences for all interested people over the years to come.