Sustainable Summer School Report
From 19th to the 25th of August I (Ben Hagenaars) participated in the Sustainable Summer School in an old castle in Geetbets, Belgium. The Summer School was organised by REcentre together with the Institute without Boundaries (IwB) and focused on sustainable design practise that revolved around three site-specific cases, i.e. Public space, Water and Food. Almost 40 people from various places and different backgrounds in Design, Business and Environment participated. They were divided into six groups: two food groups, two water groups and two public space groups. Expert facilitators from the IwB and REcentre supported each group.
The summer school started out with a day of lectures on planning and research methods followed by two days of field research where each team focused on their specific local case.
The two food teams focused on the area Maastricht. The case revolved around a local farmer called Stefan. He managed to create an organic farm near the city centre. Due to lack of distribution possibilities Stefan had a hard time reaching out to his customers and quit the farm.
The two water teams focused on the surrounding area of Hasselt. Because of mining activities in the last century some villages are literally sinking into the ground. Energy intensive water pumps have to prevent rain and river water from flooding the village.
One public space team focused on Liège, a city that is experiencing economic decline, unemployment and architectural decay.
The other public space group focused on the city of Genk. This divers old mining city has problems with lower level education, high unemployment rates and weaker social cohesion ever since the mine has closed.
After a week of researching, brainstorming, sketching and prototyping each team developed a concept for their specific case.
The food teams created new food systems that made use of the Meuse river and the existing bike- and bus networks to reconnect the farmer with the city.
The water teams created a pallet of highly innovative concepts that could tackle the water problems the villages surrounding Hasselt are facing.
The Liège public space group came up with poetical ways of engaging people in social interaction. They also developed an interesting new financial model that could be beneficial for building owners, student and shopkeepers.
The Genk public space group created ideas and prototypes, building upon the existing area identity, for reconnecting people from the C-mine and Vennestraat in Genk.
Although al cases were fairly complex, each team managed to come up with innovative concepts that show al lot of sustainable potential. For more information about the results of the Sustainable Summer School you can go to the REcentre website: http://www.recentre.org/sustainablesummerschool
Tags: Food, Public Space, school, sustainable design, Water
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