Workshop Leader: Declan Kennedy, Germany
Format: Slide show and talk
Summary: Using language that urban planners understand allows them to listen to the value of the ideas e.g.talking about healthy buildings, solar and renewables ect. Understanding and using urban design is becoming more important as more people move into cities and rural infrastructure is more expensive per person making it uneconomical. The slide show included a mixture of urban, rural, new build and revamps, most were taken in ecovillage. Places covered included: Tui, Earthsong (New Zealand), Lebedengarten, Sieben Linden (Germany), Fredengade Kolding (Denmark), Findhorn (UK) and Auroville (India.)
Key points:
- Eurpoean contributions to ecovillages and urban design have been varied and include the following.
- Ecological asthetics – the importance of designing for living in beautiful places.
- The idea of balancing economy and ecology.
- Healthy buildings – ensuring that no materials used in building are harmful, that insulation is sufficient and the solar radiation is allowed to enter.
- Controlled air flow is vital in low and 0 energy house to prevent condensation, mould adn ill health for the occupants, especially important in colder and wetter climates.
- Waste needs to be avoided or recycled on site.
There are lots of examples world wide of good housing and cmmunity design, to find out more look on http://www.gen-europe.org/
[Scribe: Suzi High]