20070611
I would very much like to do more with the solaroof.org website as a community resource and a place for individuals to share experience with actual project planning, implementation and operation. The purpose here is Open Source collaboration under our Creative Commons Public License, which protects the copyrights of contributors and requires: author attribution, share alike for reproduction and derivative works, and non-commercial use. For Commercial Use we call for a Pay It Forward contribution back to the community as a transparent "Honor Payment" system for "investment or gifting of financial or other support to grass roots sustainability projects in communities that are most in need".
This means that our community is always to be a DIY and grass roots organization that is open to membership; where participation means ownership; where transparent direct action replaces "administration" ; an environment for progressing real knowledge with practical merit; keeping our focus on people and the benefit to human habitat and quality of life; the use of "free" energy and processes gained from a cooperation with nature; a focus on biomimicry and the lead of nature in design; to learn how to live with plants in a living Ecology established within our Eco Habitat and making such accessible to people so that they have affordable and sustainable life support - including Sola Roof shelter for controlled environments that sustainably and continually provide comfort and production of pure water and nutritious living food, fibre & nutrients and energy for living & transportation.
Even while governments and well funded organizations are achieving little to no results that will free people from their economic enslavement to consumption, I believe that individuals and groups can work towards their own security and well-being and now the more so with the benefit of a global collaboration made possible by the interactive internet. New patterns require pioneering individuals but if we keep it simple and knowledge based then we can replicate early results and with open collaboration and sharing we can massively transform our environment - at our own home and in the community.
solaroof.org is especially the place to explore these issues, while it is more appropriate to keep our yahoo forum focused on simple technical issues, which have in their simplicity a powerful means to drive forward our diverse agendas for sustainable living which requires a holistic combination of solutions.
I would like to see the wider agendas of the solaroof community looked after and I do hope that Gerard can lead a revision of our community website so that it is friendlier and more engaging and would have our Wiki nested into the website for the enthusiast. We have so many talented individuals in this group and access to the best of class "social software" would maximize our capacity to play a part in social evolution on a global to local basis. Only a truly collective, cooperative process will "save the day" - is not dangerous climate change; is not poverty killing 15,000 young ones a day; is not the threat of social/cultural divisions growing into distrust and hatefulness; are these not all sufficient reasons to take personal/collective action to assure a better world is on the way for our children?
Others advance their agendas that are focused on maximum profit & control, manipulation & exploitation - so, if we would like to see a sustainable world emerge that will be able to bring prosperity to all and care for the planet then we the people of the world better get on with our agenda. The very key thing is that it will not repeat the old failing patterns and for this the key principles are that it is 1) open and interactive, 2) operates with technical merit and social purpose, 3) functions with friendliness and good will and 4) works from the grass roots up. Since this is my vision for the solaroof community, then we can not only pioneer new technology but also new patterns for community and global to local connections and collaborations.
cheers, Sola Roof Guy