Sailors for Sustainability - sustainable solutions in United Kingdom - 2018
Welcome back to Sailor for Sustainability. If you don’t know them yet, please read the first post.
Right now, they are back in the Netherlands, presenting the first two years of their sailing trip around the world in search of sustainable solutions. Today, I would like to share with you their experience in the United Kingdom and the solutions they discovered there. Thanks to my experience in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve there, I added a personal touch to the article.
Orkney is home to Europe’s Marine Energy Center (EMEC)
Tidal streams can reach up to 16 knots in the Pentland Firth just south of the island group, and waves up to 18 meters high have been measured on the Atlantic West Coast.
The Crown Estate has designated a large area of seabed for the development of wave and tidal energy in Scotland. However, before marine energy can be harnessed in an effective way, robust technology needs to be developed. That’s exactly what EMEC has been facilitating for many years.
Orkney’s Economic Development manager Stuart Allison explains that tidal energy development is ahead of wave energy because of its more predictable flow. Both forms of marine energy are expected to grow significantly and taking a substantial share of Scotland’s renewable energy generation in the years to come. They will supplement the wind energy already in use on the island, as evidenced by the wind turbines we encountered on the island.
Ecovillage Findhorn, for more than 40 years, this community aims to live in harmony with nature and each other. It has become an internationally known showcase example of how a community can organize itself in a sustainable way. The description of the ecovillage reminded me about the CAT (Center for alternative technologies) in Machynlleth, Wales that I discovered in 2011 while working at Ecodyfi. The world can learn a lot from the ecovillage.
Three residents of a caravan started the ecovillage in the sixties. The caravan park was adjacent to an airbase of the Royal Air Force. In stark contrast to the violence of the fighter jets, they founded Findhorn, a community based on love and peace. The community quickly grew to include people with an alternative lifestyle. One in which money or property don’t play significant roles, but love for nature and for each other all the more.
The ecology is a starting point at Findhorn, but the community feeling is what is unique about the ecovillage. Eating together is important for the community and the residents work collectively: the food is mostly homegrown, activities such as gardening, cooking, cleaning, maintenance and public relations jobs are divided among groups, for which residents can sign up.
Ecological principles are not just used for growing their food. Many homes and community buildings are made from recycled and natural materials like wood and stone. In the newest part of the village, there are also modern homes, they face south, are very well insulated, and equipped with heat pumps.
The community is very open to the outside world. Visitors and new residents are welcome. Today the ecovillage has over five hundred permanent residents. In addition, it annually attracts thousands of international visitors and guests. Curious sightseers, but also participants in conferences and seminars. The Findhorn Foundation provides the course program. These range from an introduction (Experience week), “part of a community, ”permaculture”, to “meditation and mindfulness”. More about Findhorn Ecovillage
Totnes in transition
At the River Dart in Devon lies the 8,000-soul town of Totnes. This is where Rob Hopkins founded the “Transition Town” movement. The idea is that communities can shift from oil dependency to local resilience. Practical actions towards sustainability at a local level would achieve that and strengthen the community.
Ivar and Floris had the opportunity to talk with Hal Gillmore colleague of Rob Hopkins, as usually happens change makers want to do more and better, Hal explains “Although we started the “Transition Town” movement in Totnes and many people come to visit us here, we are by no means transitioned. We’re only ten years into this, and although some initiatives have worked, others not so. Many people still stick to their privately owned cars, for example”.
Many initiatives are successful, such as the open eco-house initiative, where people can visit eco-homes in their neighborhood to get inspired to make their own home more sustainable. Or the “Archimedes Screw”, a hydropower facility in the River Dart. It provides about 20% of Totnes’s electricity needs. Another successful example is the “Re-conomy” project, which encourages local spending to support local jobs. Hal also explains “garden-dating”. “Private gardens owned by busy people, for example, a working family with kids, are matched to people with time but no garden to work in. They share the fruit and vegetables, community bonds are strengthened, growing-knowledge is exchanged and preserved, and resources and energy are saved in the food supply-chain.
A community has a lot of potentials to become more sustainable by arranging activities on a local level. Of course, not all sustainability challenges can be solved by a local approach, but it’s certainly an important piece of the “sustainability puzzle”. The “Transition Network” aims to be an “open source toolkit” for other towns to use and adapt how they see fit. More about Totnes transition town
The funny thing is, I worked for a while in Devon in 2012, but while there, I visited Cornwall and the Eden project instead of Totnes. This place is definitely on my bucket list!!
Eradicating Ecocide
In Totnes, our favourite sailors for sustainability met Polly Higgins. She is the lead advocate for and expert on ecocide crime, the award-winning author of Eradicating Ecocide, the creator of the first-ever non-commercial global trust fund for Earth Protectors, the generator of change-making Earth-protecting laws, and a driving force behind the expansion of a ‘rights-based’ narrative towards a ‘duties and responsibilities’-based governance model.
Her commitment and objective are huge. When large-scale destruction of ecosystems is made a criminal offence at the international level, ecosystems are better protected, and prosecution takes place where necessary. We are all dependent on these ecosystems for a sustainable future. From that perspective, criminal law is an important sustainable solution. Find out more at Polly’s Eradicating Ecocide website.
Read about Sailors for Sustainability travel to the United Kingdom Scotland’s Isles, Lochs, Cornwall and England/
Sailors for Sustainability focus on sustainable solutions - 2017
Welcome back to Sailor for Sustainability. If you don’t know them yet, you can read them in the first post on this page.
Right now they are on their way to Gran Canaria. During their sailing adventure around the world they found different and interesting sustainability solutions: all these examples of people carry a unique message which is that there is still hope for a better future and the change starts from small actions lead by each one of us in our community. Here are some examples.
After leaving the Netherlands, the two Sailors went to Kiel (Germany) where they discovered a packaging-free grocery shop called Unverpackt, which took inspiration from the zero-waste movement. Another interesting visit was at the Kattendorfer Hof, the largest Community Supported Agriculture farm in Europe, which is certified by Demeter for its organic farming and is financed by clients who pay a fee every month and in return, they receive a share of the harvest. This is an example of direct chain without intermediaries which offers various benefits to customers such as cheaper prices and seasonal products. After Germany the next destination was Denmark with another example of sustainable solutions called Samsø’s Energy Revolution , where an island community has become energy independent by investing in sustainable housing models based on better insulation. In this way energy consumption is reduced.
Copenhagen was the next stop. The city has an ambitious goal of becoming the leader in climate change by 2025: pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport get priority, as do efficient water management and heating generated by burning waste or wind turbines owned by residents. Another worthwhile sustainable solution is implemented in the suburb of Hedehusene, which uses stone wool as insulation material because it helps reduce energy consumption in buildings.
After Denmark, the two Sailors went to Sweden and, in particular, to the area at the border with Norway, where there are two islands home to the marine park and the visitor centre Naturum. Here visitors can learn about nature conservation by snorkeling, as the information boards are placed underwater. In South Koster, our Sailor friends visited a small local restaurant called Kosters Trädgårdar, which uses permaculture principles, paying attention to the location of the plants and using waste as compost.
In the small village of Lysenfjord (Norway) the two Sailors had the chance to visit a museum about the first hydropower plant dated 1918. In Bergen, they found out that the international climate change adaptation conference was taking place and luckily they had the opportunity to attend it as guests, meeting famous scientists and policy makers. The next must do in Norway was to be on board of Ampere, the first electric ferry in the world: after renting a Tesla, our friends took the electric ferry and were surprised by the silence of its engine, understanding that the future of sustainable transportation has already come.
Sailors for Sustainability: Italian adventure 2017 -part 2
Welcome to the 4th meeting with Sailor for Sustainability!
After visiting Portofino, Elba and Sardegna, our Sailor friends, Ivar and Floris headed towards their next exciting adventure to Sicily. They were impressed by both the warm temperatures of Southern Italy and the welcoming people offering them typical dishes like Arancini rice balls and homemade ice cream.
On Isola di Favignana they discovered that the local tuna industry has failed due to overfishing, as people pushed tuna fishing to its limits. However, now tuna fish is locally recovering, as residents changed their source of income to tourism.
Due to hot and dry conditions wildfire is very common in the southern part of Italy but fortunately the firefighting planes are able to cope with the situation and the Sailors witnessed it as you can see below in the photo.
The next stop was Palermo, a mix of diverse cultures, as the two Sailors say: “The golden mosaics take our breath away. A testament to the beauty that (wo)men can create. If mankind can do that, we can also change the world for the better.
As if the hot was not enough for them, Ivar and Floris decided to hike up to the summit of two active volcanos: Vulcano, a volcano on the Island of Vulcano and Stromboli, on the Island of Stromboli. After this unforgettable moments, they enjoyed refreshing themselves into the crystal-clear waters of Isola di Lipari, being so clear due to a unique characteristic of the environment caused by a lack of algae and plankton.
During all the journey, the Sailors used the wind to sail, and because of the absence of wind in the Mediterranean sea, they were constrained to spend more time on the same place but at the same time they could enjoy the picturesque Italian villages.
Only one time they were obliged to use the engine in order to reach Calabria, where they had an appointment to discover more about the reforestation programme.
“The newly planted trees restore the local ecosystem by feeding the soil, storing water and providing shelter to other life forms. And as they grow and store CO2 in their wood, they also combat climate disruption. It is part of the EU Greenlink project, and makes use of the COCOON. This product by Amsterdam-based Land Life Company, is a doughnut-shaped box that is placed around the tree seedling. It waters, protects and feeds the young trees and claims to increases their first-year survival rate from a meagre 10% to a stunning 80-90%.”
As a result 2,400 fig, olive and pomegranate trees were planted and they look impressively green and healthy.
From this experience the Sailors learned that hot and the absence of wind is not as bad as it seems to be: there are also advantages like being able to produce solar energy to power the systems and find anchorage spots more easily.
After visiting Italy’s most charming places, the two Sailors decided to head toward their next adventure: the magnificent Greece.
Resource
http://sailorsforsustainability.nl/12-august-2017-an-italian-summer/
http://sailorsforsustainability.nl/1-september-2017-upwind-into-the-adriatic-sea/
Mariya Germanova
Sailors for Sustainability: Italian adventure 2017
Welcome to the 3° meeting with Sailor for Sustainability! See below who they are.
This time I want to share the adventures and solutions Ivar and Floris discovered in Italy. I made this choice for 2 reasons: they just left Italy towards a different country and they celebrated 1 year of adventures this year.
Ivar and Floris Italian experience started in May 2017 in Portofino among strange pieces floating in the sea, traffic checks, protective areas, a bit of rain and too much water on the boat they stayed for a while discovering the area and having interesting meetings with local organisations.
Slow Food a global organization headquartered in Italy. Slow Food demands natural means to grow crops, so working conditions are healthy and the environment is protected. And it promotes local, artisanal and diverse food, which is prepared with knowledge and embedded in the local culture. In other words, they promote “Ecogastronomy”. They visited the Slow Food International office in Bra and learn more about it’s activities.
The zero wind situation allowed the to meet Alessandra from the education centre, “Outdoor Portofino”. Their aim is to educate as many people as possible about the beauty and vulnerability of marine life. They do so by organizing hiking, kayaking, snorkelling and sailing expeditions. /outdoorportofino.com/index.php/en/
The following stop is in Le Grazie, a nice town in the Cinque Terre area where they hiked and relaxed.
After the first month in Italy it was time to move and when the right wind arrived our favorite sailors started took their way to Elba, Corsica, then Sardinia where Porto Liscia is a suitable place for their anniversary celebrations. I am very happy to share some reflections made by Ivar and Floris:
“In twelve countries we visited twenty sustainable solutions, far more than we expected. Inspiring people enthusiastically showed us how they are working towards a more sustainable future, at the same time motivating us to continue what we are doing.
We also realise that since our departure, sustainable change has become more urgent. We’ve seen alarming news on climate disruption, as evidenced by extreme temperature records, increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and Antarctic ice-sheets breaking. A report was published on the ocean plastic nightmare, predicting that by 2050 there might be more plastic than fish in the oceans, and we read about the demise of the Great Barrier Reef, a unique and important ecosystem.
Time in Sardinia included diving in La Maddelena National Park and acknowledge the use of Sardex. Stimulating the local economy is a fundamental theme in Sardinia.
Why should businesses on Sardinia suffer from a lack of money caused by a crisis that started on Wall Street, five guys from the small Sardinian town of Serramanna wondered. They founded Sardex, a commercial credit system for small and medium sized Sardinian businesses.
Sardex is a purely digital currency, there are no coins or bank notes. We set limits to how much negative or positive Sardex any account can have, depending on the size of the member company. The sum of all accounts always equals zero. Sardex is therefore just a means of exchange that stimulates transactions in the local economy.”
The obvious sustainability benefit is an increase in local services and production activity that requires less transport and stimulates employment on the island. But how does it work in combination with the euro? We’ll reflect on these issues in more detail in a separate item about sustainable economy.
The discovery of Sardinia includes Stintino, a town once famous for tuna fishing serves as our base to explore the island of Asinara. Until 30 years ago it was a high-security prison and before that a colony for people with contagious diseases, today it’s a national park.
The meetings of our favorites Sailors never stop. They met Bernice Notenboom just returned from a North Pole expedition to measure the state of the ice, and raise awareness for the urgent need for sustainable change because of climate disruption. As soon as they met fascinating stories about polar expeditions and outdoor adventures on Belize follow each other, interrupted only by discussions about the dire state of the climate and the many sustainable solutions that we think exist.
The Mistral wind is a typical Mediterranean wind that originates in the French Rhone valley and can stretch all the way to Sardinia and beyond.
This great condition allowed Ivar and Floris to depart towards Tharros in the Golfo di Oristano and then to the Isola di San Pietro in the south west corner of Sardinia. The Mistral persists, so they decide to skip Cagliari and cross over to Sicily in one go.
Sailors for Sustainability: Italian adventure 2017 to be continued..
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Sailors for Sustainability: preparation year & solutions in NL
Welcome to the Second appointment with Sailor for Sustainability!
I started reading the blog’s monthly archive and I was impressed to discover how much preparation Floris & Ivar had to do in the last months before departure, including a medical course for sailors, sea survival training, practical meteorology for long-distance sailors and engine maintenance. That said I have to be honest I was expecting the guys to be already prepared about all these, in my mind (and I can easily be wrong) none should start an adventure like this without a proper preparation and expertise, but this is of course my not adventure side talking.
Floris and Ivar started living on the boat on January 2016 and their sailing adventure started officially on the 13th of June. Before leaving for the world they had the chance to meet and see Sustainability solutions in their home country Netherlands, which is one of the most difficult, but yet rewarding, things to do when you are planning a world tour. I find this initiative very interesting, and they can be replicated worldwide; you only need to personalize them, showing the genius loci of each of them.
Plastic Whale is a young enterprise and foundation. The aim of the Plastic Whale Foundation is awareness and commitment to the issue of plastic waste. The main activity in recent years relates to our public events, where the day after a significant event such as King’s and Gay Parade (so twice a year) we make it possible for everyone to go plastic fishing in the canals of Amsterdam.on based in Amsterdam. They organise fishing trips through the canals on their electric boats made from recycled plastic.
This initiative could be replicate in Venice, for example or any other cities with canals, but also it could be organise in Lake Como area too, in collaboration with boat rents and tour providers, just for example.
“Resource Collectors” (Grondstofjutters) at the beach. Anyone who visits the beach can grab a bag from a beach pavilion, clean the beach and return the bag filled with collected waste to the beach pavilion. In exchange you get a free coffee or ice cream. And the plastics you collect are turned into new products, right there at the beach, using a solar-powered oven. This is an easy replicate initiative, very effective in involving and sensitize the user of the beach about plastic waste.
Land Life Company. They are an Amsterdam-based company with a great product – the Cocoon – which revolutionizes replanting efforts. The cocoon stores and slowly releases water to newly planted trees. this planting technology enables trees and plants to grow in arid conditions, revitalizing ecosystems and communities.
I appreciate all these solutions only I am wondering, in particular referring to the last solution from Land life Company, where is the limit in the use of the technology helping to plant in not suitable condition?
When should people stop using technology to force land not suitable to produce food ? Is a still sustainable development if it changes the ecosystem of a place?
I have more questions than answers about that, but isn’t this an interesting topic to discuss about?
I am not sure if I will share my opinions about all these, but in any case I need to make more researches and see more cases.
Floris and Ivar
Hello!
Today I am very happy to announce a new collaboration and introduce you Floris and Ivar. The other day I spoken to Floris van Hees & Ivar Smits, the two guys behind sailors for sustainability, a beautiful initiative I want you to be aware of.
On 13 June 2016 they left Amsterdam aboard their classic sailing ship Lucipara2 for a journey around the world in search of solutions to sustainability problems. They focus their search on various aspects that concern modern society and our planet, including transportation, energy, food, housing and ecosystems.
Their mission: to demonstrate that a sustainable future is possible. Positive examples from around the world are meant to inspire as many people as possible. When the solutions are applied on a large scale,they will accelerate the transition to a sustainable society.
I am going to follow their tour around the world and share with you the solutions they found on the way, I might even suggest them some places they should visit. I discovered sailors for sustainability on Instagram, I asked them to meet in Lake Como, but they cannot stop on the ground very long, I just received an email from Isola d’Elba (Tuscany, Italy), I am looking forward hearing about their Italian experience, but I have to start mentioning where they have been until now.
First direction was north. In Germany they visited Europe’s largest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm, where the farmer delivers directly to consumers. The sale of the organic harvest is guaranteed, providing the farmer with a steady source of income.
In Copenhagen they saw the measures undertaken by the city to be CO2-neutral by 2025, including the construction of pedestrian and bicycle bridges, expansion of the metro network and the construction of wind turbines and a biomass power plant. They also went to the Danish island of Samsø, which is completely self-sufficient with renewable energy. The residents are closely involved in the energy revolution on the island and co-own the wind turbines and biomass heating plants.
The Norwegians are world champions in hydropower and electric transport. Across the largest fjord sails the Ampere, the world’s first fully electric car ferry.
The discoveries did not end there. The Sailors for Sustainability also found inspiring examples in the United Kingdom and Spain. Scotland is a hotspot for the development of marine energy. Underwater installations generate renewable energy from waves or strong tidal currents.
In Spain they visited the Mondragón company, a successful example of a large-scale cooperative. Employees are joint owners of the company they work for and have a say in policy and the remuneration structure. Honest work, job security and democracy in the workplace are central.
Stay tuned, in the next months I am going to write about the best destinations and solutions Floris and Ivar will discover. If you are curious to read more now, please visit sailorsforsustainability.nl
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