20110617
I am staying in Oslo, a place where I have the greatest expectation to find the opportunity to plant the seeds of Sola Roof DIY - with the hope that several projects start-up during the next weeks and months. I am available to support the process of building any DIY Food Projects initiated by Norwegians, whoever they be - individuals, corporate, community based or students.
One lead project, which is now in progress and helps to pay my way here, is at the site of an industrial waste treatment business, Lindum that is owned by the City of Drammen, another priority is to support a project development at the Hurdal Eco Village (in cooperation with Anne Wirstad’s enterprise Sun Sufficient?), which potentially sets a pattern for a DIY Kit and perhaps if possible there can be other projects that will participate in the DIY Food Campaign, for example: an individual seeking food security knowhow, a squatter’s community, an art commune in the city - I am open to any responsive individuals or groups.
In the past months much work has been done on the concept of a low-cost Tunnel Greenhouse frames for DIY. At Hurdal, Sun Sufficient? has been offered the opportunity to recycle a completely useful and appropriate steel-frame Tunnel Greenhouse that is no longer in use. In connection with the re-use of these arch frames we have produced a good plan and design, including detailed drawings to adapt these frames, which should facilitate projects that can use this same pattern of design. Groups that gain experience with construction of such a Tunnel Greenhouse will help others to establish similar projects and among those interested there is talk of some barter of labour in exchange for the learning experience of helping another project. Some small enterprise(s) may start up as a result of this level of activity. I continue to encourage all who connect with Sola Roof to commit to our principles of Working Openly, adopting collaboration the Open Source and Wiki Way? (we must be quick) and for all DI Yers to commit to Community Building and support the principle of cooperation through building the Social Enterprise Network - SE Net - and collective action in the market - including participation with Open Manufacturing and Community Based Coops.
It feels good today to summarize the above Sola Roof initiatives in Norway and to see that I have now put Sola Roof DIY in the first priority. If you are attracted to the idea of building a Solar Greenhouse, then I invite you to join me and a vast number of similar minded people who are ready for a breakthrough; who need and want that breakthrough now!
To be the change we wish to see in the world we must start doing. It is radical to team up our efforts as we learn by doing (don’t struggle along on your own) - developing and testing the knowhow together as a community and sharing the liberating knowledge won by on our own experience. This action plan will affirm: life is powerful to support life in a constantly energizing, refreshing and regenerative cycle - the study of ecological systems will reveal the methodology of closed ecological life support systems that we can use and apply to enrich our lives and BUILD a future of abundance.
Sola Roof brings people live in the (sun)light of life - gaining access to a synthesis that I call Ecomimicry Architecture; and while that might sound like something fantastically beyond reach, I claim that you can build on this paradigm in your own backyard, or build it into your home and/or community. To start, just find a small space that you can transform with simple materials, know-how and your own (or group’s) effort. If you have the capacity, then together we have the means and it comes down to your will to be a self-reliant producer rather than a dependent, stressed and exploited consumer. But you must be the one willing to prove out this paradigm in your own life. You will need to a self-taught person, because nobody around you has these skills, which are accessible however if you participate in our community and then you may also join those who take action to learn by doing.
Each one must move through stages of 1) awareness 2) participation 3) action. The stage of action will generally involve a team, which is likely to be a family and/or friends and engaging in participation requires learning in collaboration and participation with our global online Sola Roof social network. Sola Roof, as a community seeks to be a social network that supports personal and social transformation - going around and through all the individual and societal barriers to change; mobilizing a virtual liquid/radiant energy similar to that natural synergy/energy that we channel (in our Sola Roof buildings) on the physical level.
To the question of why Sola Roof has required such an extended period of incubation (a lifetime actually), I answer that the main barrier is not cost, accessibility or technology, since all these challenges are all quite modest. Neither will time investment generally be an issue since people will find that the limited investment of time that is required is deeply satisfying and rewarding activity. And today the automation of your Sola Roof is enabled with low cost electronics, software and computer interface. What remains the biggest barrier to the wide adoption of Sola Roof is the present early stage of use and development when those most able to act will be people with a love for experimental living - since each of these pioneers’ challenge is to create a personal solution rather than a standardized approach that is “proven”. Also regulatory (building & safety code) requirements and issues are important and need to be properly addressed in each case. Sola Roof is self-build and DIY access means that there is no warrantee and this perceived risk holds back all but the pioneering members of the community. So, whether you feeling strongly about action as a pioneer or perhaps you need less exposure to risk, we invite you to engage and participate and spread the awareness so that we will attract the interest of people everywhere and, as a community with all types of participation, we will rapidly build capacity for people everywhere to make the transition from awareness through to action that will fundamentally change their life.