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Sustainable Living Weekend Workshops

Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Slovakia
Author: Igor Chyra, Community for a Harmonious Life
Consortium Member: Environmental Partnership for Central Europe (EPCE)- Slovakia
Status: Needs Funding Budget: $1760 Collected: $0 Needs: $1760
Goal: To provide youth with an experience of alternative lifestyles de-emphasizing consumerism and providing access to practical environmental activities such as tree planting, recycling, bird house and frog pond construction, and litter reduction.
Comment: The workshops take place at the group’s farm which produces its own food and demonstrates Slovakia’s traditional handicrafts.

NEED: The members of our organization, The Community for A Harmonious Life), recognize the dangerous symptoms of a society in which the primary aim is economic growth. Therefore they wish to teach young people how to take responsibility for the future, to try to find solutions to problems caused by unsustainable development, and to feel more fulfilled in their daily life. The group is based in a farm in the countryside, and is trying to show that there is a sustainable way in this technocratic and bureaucratic world. A few people living in the farm accept very modest salaries and organize programs during all year.

The Community functions on three levels:

  1. Organizational. Some members of our organization live a simple life in the village of Zajeov in central Slovakia. Their activities include using alternative agricultural methods to grow their own food, and reviving Slovak folk handicraft traditions.
  2. Local. The Community cooperates with local residents in the following activities:
    Waste management, e.g., picking up litter in the countryside, and household waste separation and reduction. Environmental education in elementary and middle schools. Protection and restoration of traditional architecture. Revitalization of traditional Slovak crafts and customs.
  3. International. The Community organizes workshops for people from Slovakia and from other countries. Workshops organized by CHL are always a part of broader programs that consist of practical work (e.g. cleaning up the country), learning the folk crafts, and evening discussions on different topics (e.g. problems of Roma people, environmental law, waste, folk architecture, permaculture), where they invite specialists, scientists etc. Workshops are available for everyone, not only for NGO representatives.
GOAL : The goal of the project is to prepare workshops for young people - graduates from the high schools - from all over Slovakia. These workshops would enable young people to:
METHODS OF IMPLEMENTATION: The Community will offer weekend and summer workshops. The weekend workshops will take place 2-3 times per month. These workshops will consist of two components: a work component, and a program component. The summer workshops will be similar to the weekend workshops. However, most of the activities will focus on the reconstruction of traditional Slovak architecture using historical construction techniques, e.g., cutting and threshing straw by hand, using straw to construct roofs.

The work component includes the following activities:

  • Remove waste from the countryside;
  • Assist with waste separation;
  • Protect biodiversity by building bird houses and frog basins and planting native tree species. During the program component of the workshops, participants will:
    Learn about traditional Slovak crafts such as pottery, woodworking, basket weaving, preparation of wool yarn and flax thread, knitting, and weaving linen; Discuss environmental and social problems; Learn about nature by living with it.

    Project Time: Eight months

    Budget

    Participant transportation - reimbursement of tickets (the majority of participants are students who have limited incomes.) $400
    Salaries for workshop staff $1200
    VF Administrative Cost $160
    Total $1760

    OUTCOMES: