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Thinking of down-sizing? Could you consider living in a sustainable Tiny Home on wheels? No014

 

Do you live a fulfilling life in the midst of the rush, the fumes of the city with high costs of living and

Sunrise in Skattungbyn. Photo: AnnVixen
Sunrise in Skattungbyn. Photo: AnnVixen

the need to commute to work or school? Do you ever wonder if life could be lived differently? From the 70’ies until today at least 200 people have had the same thoughts as you and moved to the small village of Skattungbyn in the rural district of Dalarna in Sweden.
Text: Domi, Tellus Think Tank. Photo: Agata Mazgaj, AnnVixen, Daniel Zetterström

My friend Agata and I often have long discussions on everything from sustainable living to Swedish media and Polish politics.

ABOUT TELLUS THINK TANK…read

One day she told me about a Swedish blog she found on the theme of living in small quarters and in this way making as small a footprint on our planet as possible. Would this be a life for us? All of a sudden we are on a road trip to Skattungbyn in the Swedish district of Dalarna, tag along!

The view of the vastness of Orsa Finnmark from the village of Skattungbyn. Photo: Agata Mazgaj
The view of the vastness of Orsa Finnmark from the village of Skattungbyn. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

Tiny homes on wheels in Skattungbyn

The roads are empty when we drive into Skattungbyn this sunny, frostbiten Saturday morning in January. We get to experience the village in sunlight as it clutches on to the hillside with a fantastic view over the nature of Orsa Finnmark. This at once feels like a harmonious place, a feeling that endures through our full visit!

In the village of Skattungbyn one can find a rather unique way of living, Tiny Homes on wheels. We have the privilege of meeting Markus Skoog, that some here would say personifies, thanks to his blog , “AttLevaDetLevandeLivet”, the Tiny Home dwellers.  

The first Tiny Home in the village of Skattungbyn was built in the beginning of the 2000’s. There are currently 20 people living in Tiny Homes in the village and the word is spreading throughout both Sweden and the world.

The people that build their own Tiny Homes on wheels later seek permission from a landowner in the village and roll their home onto the designated part of the land. The rental agreements differ from situation to situation.

Also read the next article about Skattungbyn and the community there, it will be available next Thursday! Would you like to be notified, click here

Why live in a Tiny Home on wheels?

Markus tells us that there are several reasons behind the Tiny Home residents in Skattungbyn:

Markus and Agata in the magic forrest of Flurlunar farm. Photo: AnnVixen
Markus and Agata in the magic forrest of Flurlunar farm. Photo: AnnVixen
  • One reason is that Skattungbyn is a lovely place to live but it is difficult to find land to buy in the village.
  • Another reason is that living in a Tiny Home on wheels makes a very small dent on nature and a very small carbon footprint as the houses are not attached to the land and don’t use concrete. Living in a Tiny Home on wheels is easy and simple and a way to live an  alternative life.
  • A third reason is that it is very cheap to live in a Tiny Home on wheels. Read more about costs below.

What I find the most interesting is the insight that it is possible to live so much cheaper than we currently do in the city, and it isn’t hard to come by this simpler life. Depending on how the perspective living simpler might even bring a higher quality of life? Ofcourse, there are pro’s and con’s connected to every way of living!

Living in a Tiny Home on wheels in Sweden compared to the American way

Swedish Tiny Homes on wheels are all about simple living. Photo: AnnVixen
Swedish Tiny Homes on wheels are all about simple living. Photo: AnnVixen

The Swedish Tiny Homes on wheels differ a lot from the American Tiny Homes. Markus tells us that Tiny Homes in the US want to hold their distance from the trailer people and that they pretty much squeeze every comfort into their Tiny Homes, at almost any expense.

-The kitchen areas in the US Tiny Homes cost a fortune even though the size of the houses are very small. Also, every Tiny Home in the US has a toilet and a shower. They look like normal houses in a mini format.

The Swedish Tiny Homes on wheels are all about living simple.

Markus’s Tiny Home on wheels

Markus built his first Tiny Home on wheels and quickly sold it. During the

One of the beautiful wood stoves in the Tiny Homes on wheels. This specific one is not used for cooking. Photo: Agata Mazgaj
One of the beautiful wood stoves in the Tiny Homes on wheels. This specific one is not used for cooking. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

coming winter season he borrowed his friend Lorraia’s Tiny Home, which he smilingly describes as a “glorified tent” as the house was very badly insulated. The heating system consisted of a wood stove and when Markus came home late at night it would be so cold that he would have to be quick to light the wood stove fire, jump into his sleeping bag and fall asleep.

After a while he found that he could heat water on the wood stove and pour it into plastic bottles that he would snuggle into his sleeping bag to keep the heat during the night. After that particularly cold winter Markus felt a strong urge to build his own, well insulated home.

The day Agata and I visit Skattungbyn we read -17°c / 1,4°f and we understand how important insulation is in this climate!

Markus’ new house, designed with a “broken” gable roof like the cutest Astrid Lindgren cabin, is very well insulated! The Tiny Home on wheels was built in 2013 and it took Markus about two months to finish it to the point where he could actually move in. He didn’t have everything in place from the beginning, and finished bits and pieces when he could afford it. In the beginning, until he was able to afford indoor paneling, he dressed the walls with colourful cloths!

A Tiny Home on wheels, 17 square meters of living space, tin rood, organically insulated. Cost 80 000 kronor / 8 000 Euro. Photo: Agata Mazgaj
A Tiny Home on wheels, 17 square meters of living space plus a loft, tin roof, organically insulated. Cost 80 000 kronor / 8 000 Euro. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

-It was lovely to finally get the panel in place, smiles Markus!

The cost for the Tiny Home on wheels initially added up to 50 000 kronor / 5 000 Euro. After having chosen to improve the quality of the house with a tin roof and some other comforts Markus estimates that he has paid about 80 000 kronor / 8000 Euro for his Tiny House on wheels.  

-I chose not to equip the kitchen part with a drain but there is a kitchen bench and I have a large pitcher of water and a large bowl for kitchen use! says Markus!

Agata and I are invited into Markus “one roomed apartment”. It feels airy, warm and minimalistically decorated. On the right short side of the room we find a kitchen bench, in the middle of the room the wooden stove is crackling. By one of the windows we find a second heating source, an electrical heater, that works since Markus has electricity installed. At the other end of the room Markus has built a wooden sofa covered with mattresses. From the sofa we can just make out an almost hidden ladder leading up to a so called mezzanine loft, half storey loft. That is where Markus has installed his sleeping quarters, just under the roof.  

Markus Tiny Home is 3.1 meters x 6.0 meters / 10 x 20 feet and it weighs about 6 tons. The height is 4.5 meters / 15 feet. The living space is 17 m² / 182 f² and the Home stands on wheels!  

The house is properly insulated with old newspapers, that can be bought in large sacks at any local home depot. The

A Tiny Home on wheels, 15 square meters of living space, plus a loft. Cost 50 000 kronor / 5 000 Euro. Photo: Agata Mazgaj
A Tiny Home on wheels, 15 square meters of living space, plus a loft. Cost 50 000 kronor / 5 000 Euro. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

papers are put into a large mill and blown into the space between the columns of the walls of the house. The newspaper insulation works really well and is  a much more sustainable alternative compared to Rockwool or such, says Markus that is a professional carpenter!

The Tiny Home, just like the other Tiny Homes in Skattungbyn, is built on boat trailer wagon structures or similar. Markus chose to build his Tiny Home on a two wheel wagon structure. Most Tiny Homes here are built without drains and toilets but have possibilities for cooking on the wooden stove.

Owners of the Tiny Homes on wheels can sign for a comprehensive household insurance allowing the Tiny Home to be moved twice during a year.

A Do-It-Yourself staircase. Cost: zero Kronor / Euro. Photo: Agata Mazgaj
A Do-It-Yourself staircase. Cost: zero Kronor / Euro. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

Markus has films on youtube, with soon above 60 000 views, on how to build his Tiny Home.

It is icy cold in Dalarna today and Agata and I have dressed accordingly but are still freezing when we move around the grounds to look at more Tiny Homes on wheels.

Costs of building Tiny Homes on wheels

Costs of the Swedish Tiny Homes on wheels differ depending on the type of material and the origins of the materials.  Markus Tiny Home on wheels cost 80 000 kronor / 8 000 Euro. Flurlundargård, the farm that Markus house stands on, has another three tenants in Tiny Homes on wheels. The other houses have cost far less ranging from 4 000 kronor / 400 Euros to 50 000 kronor / 5 000 Euros. The Tiny Home with the lowest cost was one where all the wood was donated from a de-construction site, total cost of zero kronor / zero Euros.

Interested in running costs of life in a Tiny Home on wheels, read more in next week’s article, get a notification when it is available.

If Markus would have built his house today, what would he have done differently?

-I have a long list of improvements that should have been thought of! he laughs and tells us he would have built higher

A mezzanini sleeping loft provides more living space when living on 15 square meters. Photo: Agata Mazgaj
A mezzanini sleeping loft provides more living space when living on 15 square meters. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

walls and a normal gable roof. He would also have built the house much smaller than 17 m² / 182 f² as the current house is a bit big for his personal needs and needs a tractor to move it! The current design places the wood stove in the middle of the room to match the aesthetically placed chimney, set in the middle of the roof. If he could re-do this he would have placed both the wood stove and chimney along one of the walls.

Living without running water and electricity in a Tiny Home on wheels

Markus has access to both electricity, a kitchen, a shower and fresh water in a tap system as he is camped on the land of and affiliated to the FrejaLinas collective, that locally goes under the name Flurlundar farm. He estimates that about half of the Tiny Home dwellers in Skattungbyn do not have direct access to either electricity or water.  

-What, is it possible to live this way, I wonder curiously? How?  

A sustainable outhouse by the edge of the woods. Photo: Agata Mazgaj
A sustainable outhouse by the edge of the woods. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

Without fresh water toilets
Markus says that most of the people that want to live in alternative ways in Skattungbyn have access to large plots of land and in some cases also to water toilets but they choose to build and use an outhouse.  

A Tiny Home on wheels, 7 square meters of living space. All but the inner paneling was built with recycled material. Cost 10 000 Kronor / 1 000 Euro. Photo: AnnVixen
A Tiny Home on wheels, 7 square meters of living space. All but the inner paneling was built with recycled material. Cost 10 000 Kronor / 1 000 Euro. Photo: AnnVixen

The sewage from a water toilet is difficult to clean and far from sustainable and

expensive for society.  

An outhouse, composted in a correct manner, is transformed by bacteria to very good farming soil in just two years. The soil can be used as fertilizers to farmlands or tree- and bush cultivations.

Without fresh water
The Tiny Home dwellers of Skattungbyn have several possibilities to shower and even take a sauna.  There is the “village sauna” at the cost of 10 kronor / 1 Euro per visit. The village also has a small sports auditorium that also provides a shower, for free. Markus tells me that several people who live

Markus is just about to take a winter bath! Photo: Daniel Zetterström
Markus is just about to take a winter bath! Photo: Daniel Zetterström

without direct access to water heat water on their wood stoves and wash with soap and towel at home. Water can be fetched from the snowy winter slopes or from many of the lakes and streams that run through the village during the summer.

Without electricity
Almost everyone in Skattungbyn has a smart phone and if they don’t have access to electricity in their home phones are charged at work or with battery chargers.

Electric lighting is replaced by gas lamps, battery lamps or oil lamps. The Tiny Homes are  often solely heated by wood stoves. Cooking is also mainly performed on the specially designed wood stoves. Many Tiny Home dwellers are vegetarian or even vegan. Food that is cooked could be oatmeal porridge, lentils, soups or boiled

A Tiny Home on wheels, 7 square meters of living space. Cost 4 000 Kronor / 400 Euro. Photo: Agata Mazgaj
A Tiny Home on wheels, 7 square meters of living space. Cost 4 000 Kronor / 400 Euro. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

eggs.

Markus is more of a flexitarian, as he eats meat if someone invites him to it. The Flurundar farm collective however cook all their meals together and only cook vegetarian food.

Do you find that life in a Tiny Home on wheels differs quite a bit from other Western lives? Read more about the community of Skattungbyn next week. Do you want to be notified when the article is available, click here! 

22 voices – Do It Yourself – Save Earth No005

Thank you for contributing to the Tellus Think Tank quest of sharing ideas to inspire others!
We gathered 22 voices on Doing It Yourself – Saving Earth.

Can we continue living in this way?

In the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, about 1815, Earth was inhabited by one billion people.
Two hundred years later, there is currently seven billion people on Earth, a number still increasing.
Humanity is using more and more of Earths resources in not altogether constructive ways.

The current human way of life is causing problems such as “Global Warming” but also decreasing the diversity on our planet. Many animal- and plant species are already extinct and many more are on the road towards the same unfortunate future.

Read more about causes of Global Warming in the Tellus Think Tank article: Is Earth doing alright?

In December 2015, at the COP21 UN climate conference in Paris, an international environmental agreement was reached. It shows that our politicians are working on finding environmental solutions. However, they are often also part of the vast amount of environment problems we need to tackle:

  1. Green house gas emissions are still increasing:
    Peak hour traffic Photo: AnnVixen
    Peak hour traffic Photo: AnnVixen

    -The amount of fossil fuelled transports causing massive carbon dioxide emissions.
    -The growing market for beef and lamm meat are causing massive methan emissions.

  2. The lacking of clean, natural land and nature, that give people, animals and plants the possibility to thrive and grow.
  3. The pollution of our lands and oceans because of waste and toxic contamination.
  4. The Depleting of agricultural land, allowing the use of pesticides and artificial fertilizers.
  5. The list goes on…


22 voices
What if it’s up to You and me? Not everybody can do everything, but together we believe we can save our planet!

 

 


Join in – Save Earth by sharing ideas!

Send us your contribution:

1) What you are doing to save the planet
2) your name
3) your age
4) your country of residence
5) picture

Understenshöjden eco village! Photo: AnnVixen
Understenshöjden eco village! Photo: AnnVixen

Read about one of Swedens first eco villages, Understenshöjden! Built by people that actively have chosen to live in a more sustainable way!

Let us notify you when Tellus Think Tanks next weeks article is available!

 

READ MORE ABOUT TELLUS THINK TANK

Tellus Think Tank
Tellus Think Tank

Sachiko and CEMUS want to save the world! No004

 

October 1st, 2015. Tellus Think Tank is happy to meet Sachiko Ishihara, recent graduate and now Course Coordinator, at CEMUS in Uppsala University. I have already checked out the CEMUS website where they proclaim wanting to save the world! This makes me very curious!

Sachiko Ishihara coordinates Global Challenges & Sustainable Futures at CEMUS.
Sachiko Ishihara coordinates Global Challenges & Sustainable Futures at CEMUS.

I meet Sachiko Ishihara an October day in the CEMUS-library of Uppsala, just north of the capital of Stockholm. It is perfectly beautiful, but unnaturally warm for Sweden at this time of year. Tellus Think Tank is bustling with questions.

ABOUT TELLUS THINK TANK….read more here

I learn that CEMUS stands for “Centre for Environmental- and Development Studies”  and that Sachiko Ishihara grew up in Tokyo, Japan. She is one of four siblings, has lived in Sweden for two years and is currently employed by CEMUS to coordinate the course “Global Challenges and Sustainable Futures”.

What is CEMUS and what is its educational scope?

Sachiko Ishihara describes the educational scope of CEMUS to cover almost anything that has to do with sustainability.

The center interdisciplinary courses in the sustainability area, broadly covering development in society with courses like the more theoretical “The Global Economy” and like the more hands on “Urban Agriculture”. 

Culture Carnival, held annually in May! Photo: Henrik Axelsson
Culture Carnival, held annually in May!     Photo: Henrik Axelsson

The center also organises practical courses such as “Project Management”, with an initial theoretical base and then letting the students plan, run and assess their own sustainability projects. Sachiko Ishihara tells me about a couple of the student projects:

  • Race for the Planet Board game – the project is creating a board game where the players need to collaborate, instead of compete, in order to increase sustainability.
  • No-Waste Cooking classes.
  • The Latvia and Sweden re-use project.
  • The Culture Carnival – now an annual May happening in Uppsala and open to the public.
Guest professor Doreen Stabinsky filling re-built car with gas. Photo: Isak Stoddard
Guest professor Doreen Stabinsky filling re-built car with gas. Photo: Isak Stoddard

At this point the acting Program Director of CEMUS, Daniel Mossberg, enters the room to say hello! He adds another inspiring student project to the list and tells us that one student project rebuilt an old Volvo car to run on gas instead of petrol!

Sachiko Ishihara didn’t take the specific Project Management course, however she did start her own world improvement project with two fellow students.

In all modesty, Sachiko Ishihara tells me they called it

Ekolibria - a world improvement project.
Ekolibria – a world improvement project.

‘Ekolibria’ and they organise visits to schools to educate children of all ages about sustainability. Talk about walking the talk!  

The center of CEMUS was founded in a special way?

Sachiko Ishihara happily exclaims:

Yes it was! Two students, Niclas Hällström and Magnus Tuvendal, founded CEMUS over 20 years ago!

The two students were given the opportunity to discuss the lack of interdisciplinary educational possibilities with the president of Uppsala University with the result that the University asked them to organise an interdisciplinary course on the subject “Humanity and Nature”. The fellow student interest was so large that 400 students signed up for the course. 

Since then CEMUS has developed into a university center at the University of Uppsala, annually offering 20 interdisciplinary sustainability courses. Sachiko Ishihara tells me that 50 % of these are held in English and that CEMUS attracts about 50% of its students from countries other than Sweden.

Project Management and Sustainability course at CEMUS.
Project Management and Sustainability course at CEMUS.

What makes CEMUS unique as a pedagogical institute of Sustainability?

Sachiko Ishihara proudly tells me that CEMUS-courses are not coordinated and put together by professors, but by students or recent graduates that are employed in the role as Course coordinators.

The Course Coordinators have the official university title “Amanuensis” which normally is a student that is also employed to do administrative work for the university. However, at CEMUS, employed students are given far more responsibility.

What are the Course Coordinators responsible for?

Sachiko Ishihara gives me a picture of an important role where the course coordinators:

  • Develop the courses.
  • Choose the course contents.
  • Run the courses.
  • Make sure that the red thread of the subjects and contents are held.

The course coordinator gathers a knowledgable work group of specialists, such as professors and research students, for feedback on the content of their course. When the course content is ready the course coordinators organise the course by inviting speakers, facilitating student discussions, projects and assignments. Depending on the individual, some even hold educational sessions for fellow students.  

What does CEMUS mean by interdisciplinary?

The Global Economy an interdisciplinary CEMUS course.
The Global Economy an interdisciplinary CEMUS course.

A discipline is another word for subject, according to Wikipedia (2015-10-02). An interdisciplinary course at CEMUS means creating an insight, by crossing subject boundaries.

Sachiko Ishihara says that the CEMUS interdisciplinary courses help students to understand the dynamics and processes of the world, how they are created and have influenced present settings. Subjects that might be combined in their inter-disciplinary courses span widely from for instance Environmental Science, Democracy, Ethics, Business, Biology. 

The CEMUS course coordinators invite speakers from many different areas, not just professors but also non-academics, business people, entrepreneurs, engineers, activists and representatives from non-profit organisations, to mention a few. All with the purpose of helping their students understand how the development of our world works.

Sachiko Ishihara mentions speakers like the writer and singer Alan AtKisson and the Swedish politician, Gudrun Schyman.  I also read on CEMUS homepage about open lectures with activist Polly Higgins and US Professor in Systems Management, Dennis Meadows.

What kind of people seek educational possibilities at CEMUS?

CEMUS students identified some challenges in the world.... Photo: AnnVixen
CEMUS students identified some challenges in the world…. Photo: AnnVixen

We take a walk through the building and find an early assignment on sustainability issues where students identify problems in their hometown. I can see Colombia, The US, North Korea, Japan, Australia and Sweden on the board, to mention some.  

Students come from different majors and academic disciplines, for instance, Engineering, Art, History or Business and have a strong interest in improving the world and learning more about sustainability. Sachiko Ishihara, also concludes, that some students are totally new to sustainability and are curious to learn more!

CEMUS student lounge. Photo: AnnVixen
CEMUS student lounge. Photo: AnnVixen

What does sustainability mean for the people at CEMUS?

Sachiko Ishihara looks slightly troubled by this question at first, and frowns in thought before explaining:

-The people that meet at CEMUS have a diversity of views, she says. Rather than one common approach the people of CEMUS range on a wide spectra from radical- to mainstream thoughts, just like the general public.

Sachiko Ishihara concludes that there is a common basic understanding among all students and staff of CEMUS and that is: Life on earth needs to change to be more sustainable.

What is the overall message that CEMUS is sending to students and society?

Sachiko Ishihara explains what makes CEMUS such an interesting institute in a university setting:

-Society needs to change and CEMUS holds criticism towards inequality, waste, non-sustainable use of the resources of earth. There is also a unique belief in young people and the questioning of normative values and traditional experts.

How can students and society notice the core beliefs of CEMUS?

Student assignment on issues in home country. Photo: AnnVixen
Student assignment on sustainability issue in home country. Photo: AnnVixen

According to Sachiko Ishihara, the first thing you would notice is that CEMUS, by putting students in course coordinator roles and other responsible positions, breaks the norm of the academic hierarchy.

-Secondly, you would see the active and structured encouragement of students to discuss and question normative beliefs.

-Thirdly, CEMUS is all about activating people and doing things differently to improve results, Sachiko Ishihara continues.

I also learn that the active student pedagogy encourages

Student assignment on sustainability issue in home country. Photo: AnnVixen
Student assignment on sustainability issue in home country. Photo: AnnVixen

students to work in diverse and internationally mixed groups. The mixed groups give different perspectives on issues and enhance student motivation and understanding.

When debating and exploring contradictions in the needs of the world, students easier understand why trade-offs are made.

For example, students from the so-called “developed” countries may argue that Earth doesn’t need any more growth, and call for “de-growth”. Students from the so-called “less-developed” countries might, in their turn, question this statement.

-CEMUS does not run a one-way education, Sachiko Ishihara concludes.

How is CEMUS helping to save the world?

CEMUS wall decoration says more than a thousand words! Photo: AnnVixen
One of the CEMUS wall decoration says more than a thousand words! Photo: AnnVixen

Sachiko Ishihara is firm when stating:

-CEMUS education will make a difference, by activating individuals with an educational process that plants seeds by education, training of critical thinking, diversity and training in proposing solutions.

Sachiko Ishihara and I are back in the CEMUS-library and thank each other for an interesting meeting. I can conclude that her creativity, courtesy and knowledge have been really inspiring!

NEXT: Tellus Think Tank find is it good to see that at least Swedish Universities are taking Sustainability seriously. We are curious as to what other countries are doing so we book a meeting with the University of Newcastle. However, next week we will be visiting the first Eco Village of Sweden to learn from their learning!

You just have to love Uppsala, says Domi! Photo: AnnVixen
You just have to love Uppsala, says Domi! Photo: AnnVixen

NEWSLETTER: If you have signed up for our weekly newsletter we will send you a note when the article is available!

IDEAS: Do you feel inspired, or curious? Is there anything you would like the Tellus Think Tank team to cover or investigate? Let us know!

 

Sustainability in Swedish schools No003

 

September 2015, Stockholm, Sweden. Tellus Think Tank wanted an insight into how the sustainability approach in schools can differ and met with Lars Benon, Headmaster of Enskede School. He is also former headmaster and founder of the  Global Gymnasium (Globala gymnasiet) in Stockholm which was built from scratch on a foundation of human rights. By Domi, TellusThinkTank, November 2015

Since the autumn of 2014 Lars Benon is currently headmaster of Enskede School, located in the Stockholm suburb of Enskede. However, his career started as a teacher and later as Chief Information Officer at WeEffect. Lars Benon was also one of the founders, and the first headmaster, of the Global Gymnasium on Södermalm in the center of Stockholm.

ABOUT TELLUS THINK TANK….read more here 

City of Stockholm. Photo: AnnVixen
City of Stockholm. Photo: AnnVixen

The Tellus Think Tank team finds Lars Benon’s career to have been very interesting;  first designing a school based on ideas and then taking over an 100-year old school with old traditions, is a special and unique combination. The red thread through the career of Lars Benon seems to have been to Human Rights and Sustainability!

Lars tells us about the Global Gymnasium

‘Gymnasium’ in the Swedish world of education, could be compared to an English Upper Secondary School or an American Senior High School. A gymnasium educates people between the ages of 15 and 20 years.

The idea that led to the Global Gymnasium came from a group of six people, one of them being Lars Benon. The group had an idea of starting a school with focus on global human rights. All members of the group had backgrounds either in teaching or working with global human rights issues.  

The Global Gymnasium, Stockholm. Photo: AnnVixen
The Global Gymnasium, Stockholm. Photo: AnnVixen

The group met with representatives of the City of Stockholm to tell the city what they where planning. The  city liked their ideas so much that it asked the team to open the school within the domain of the city.

The specially designed Global Gymnasium opened for students in 2004 and Lars Benon became its first headmaster.

The initial guiding human rights principles were soon broadened from “Education for a more equal society” to “Education for Sustainable Development”.  The school was placed within the city, in the middle of the densely populated island of Södermalm.

One of the first projects that the new pupils got to work with went under the name “The Glocal Project”. The assignment was to perform a life-cycle analysis on a product of the pupils choosing. The analysis showed:

  • The origin of every component in the product.
  • How and by whom the components had been produced and assembled.
  • How all the components and assembled product had been transported.
  • How the product had been packaged and sold.
  • How the product had been used.
  • What finally happened to the product after it had been discarded.
The Global Gymnasium of Stockholm. Photo: AnnVixen
The Global Gymnasium of Stockholm. Photo: AnnVixen

The Glocal project often became an immediate eye-opener for the pupil, linking production and consumption with the unsustainable use of the resources of our planet.

The pupils of the Global Gymnasium were offered many possibilities that normal Swedish gymnasiums don’t provide:

  • A strong cooperation was developed between the gymnasium and the Stockholm Resilience Centre
    – a Swedish government research center on social-ecological systems.
  • A strong cooperation was built around student study materials with the WWF (formerly World Wildlife Fund).
  • Co-operations were also formed with the Universities of Södertörn and Stockholm, which gave third year pupils of the gymnasium, the possibility to also take Climate and Environment courses at both universities. The Global Gymnasium acted as guarantor to ensure that the pupils were prepared both mentally and knowledge wise.   
School lunch at Global gymnasium. Organic chick-pea beef. Photo: AnnVixen
School lunch at Global gymnasium. Organic chick-pea beef. Photo: AnnVixen

The Global Gymnasium was early to advertise for a lunch chef with an interest in running an organic school kitchen. It was soon identified in the pre-planning of the kitchen that to be able to be sustainable the kitchen needed to serve organic and mostly vegetarian food.

The vegetarian lunch soon became a natural part of the pupils normal school day.
The few occasions that lunch contained either fish or meat were met by strong pupil protests because of the unsustainable food (note: due to transport, carbon- and methane emission surrounded by these foods).

After seven years, as the founding headmaster, Lars Benon left Global Gymnasium and re-entered the school world, first as a consultant and later as headmaster for elementary schools, with pupils from six to fifteen years of age.

Enskede School by sunrise. Photo: AnnVixen
Enskede School by sunrise. Photo: AnnVixen

About Enskede School

Enskede School is located in the middle of one of Stockholm’s garden suburbs and was build over 100 years ago on ground that had previously been agricultural land.

The early inhabitants of Enskede initially experienced living in the countryside but as Stockholm has grown a lot since then Enskede is now one of the closest suburbs to the city. Up until the 1980’s, however, there were still farming plots and allotments on the grounds of the school.

The number of pupils of Enskede School has constantly increased. In the 1980’s the school annually educated about 550 pupils a year, to be compared to 2015 when the school educates about 1000 pupils with the help of a staff of 125. The gardens and allotments on the school grounds have had to be removed to be able to house more educational buildings.

Lars Benon, you have been the headmaster of Enskede School for just over a year. What was your first impression?

-There are many really capable pupils and well educated teachers at Enskede School. The pupils are mostly happy, healthy and have good parental support. The school also has a tradition of encouraging healthy living among the teachers.  When I first started I could see many inspiring pedagogical initiatives from many of the teachers, Lars Benon remembers.

Did you identify any challenges for the school during your first year?

-The school had many able teachers that worked individually with different inspiring projects but they were not coordinated centrally, Lars Benon says.

He further describes that the school lacked a common approach to pedagogics and learning and that pedagogical activities were not run from a common idea of practise or vision.  Lars Benon also describes the school buildings as not being properly suited for the activities of the school.

-During my first year we started a couple of improvement projects.

He tells med that the staff of Enskede School are very committed and tells us more about the projects:

  • Photo: AnnVixen
    Photo: AnnVixen

    Identifying and launching a joint vision and basic principles for Enskede School.  -Participation in the Stockholms Prio-project, aiming at strengthening the faculty cooperation and developing working procedures so that school management can steer resources to where they are needed best.

  • Developing articulated expectation documents to show what expectations pupils and parents may have from the school and vice versa what the school expects from pupils and parents.
  • Taking the competence of teachers to the next level by participating in national Swedish Mathematics leverage- and Teacher leverage programs.
  • Developing methods for the staff to support pupils physical and social health by working with so called “Student Health Teams”.
  • Developing the buildings of the school so they are better adjusted to school activities.

Lars Benon tells med that currently all school staff is intensely involved with these improvement projects and running the school and education in parallel. He looks a bit worried about the school staff workload and explains that it is a vast amount of work that has to be handled. I understand him as he has an ambitious program going on!

How have you noticed the environmental policy of the city of Stockholm? And is it difficult to live up to?

Autumn leaves in Stockholm. Photo: AnnVixen
Autumn leaves in Stockholm.
Photo: AnnVixen

The City of Stockholm is certified according to the IS0 14001 environmental quality system that demands for instance: a process for constant improvements, following environmental legislation and keeping track of the organisation’s impact on the environment.

Lars Benon says that he has not yet noticed much of the city’s environment policy. The most apparent directive has been that all the city’s school vehicles should be electrically powered. Enskede School, however, doesn’t own any cars.

Another directive from the city is that 25% of all food served at schools should be organic. Enskede School has no problem with living up to that standard.

How is Enskede School involved in environment work? How can this be noticed?

Work with sustainability within Enskede school is currently driven by individual initiative among the staff but really needs to be co-ordinated. However there is only so much a team can do at once. Lars Benon holds the improvement projects as a priority before moving on to focusing more on pedagogics within sustainable development.

Do you find that Enskede School currently distinguishes itself in any way in the areas of environment and sustainability?

Patchwork art from Enskede Schools 100-year jubilee. Photo: AnnVixen
Patchwork art from Enskede Schools 100-year jubilee. Photo: AnnVixen

Lars Benon looks as if he feels a bit guilty and says:

-So far Enskede School has not denoted itself especially but I would love to mention that the school has set a higher target for the amount of organic food than the city of Stockholm. The aim is to reach 40% and the school is already serving food with an organic ratio of up to 30%.

Lars Benon would love to see a stronger focus on Sustainability in the future, but first he wants the school to reach the goals of the ongoing pedagogical projects to take the schools pedagogics to the level where they should be.

Further, Lars Benon proclaims, sustainable development within a school with an already ongoing educational effort has to be run according to a process, one step at a time.  

Does Enskede School have the prerequisites that are needed to work in more sustainable ways?

Lars Benon smiles:

-Yes, absolutely! The best thing going for the school here is the strong commitment from parents, pupils and teachers. I would love to see the school kitchen and the cooking of school lunches become a part of the sustainability education. The school kitchen needs to become even more organically profiled and serve not only “healthy food” but “healthy and organic food” which demands a higher ratio of organic food products and the decreasing of food waste.

Lars Benon also believes that the school will introduce inter-disciplinary work, over school subjects, with focus on sustainability. The pupils could from a relatively early age start looking at the origins of their food, clothes and local prerequisites from a sustainability perspective.

Is there something you think I should have asked you?

The School yard of Enskede School. Photo: AnnVixen
The School yard of Enskede School. Photo: AnnVixen

Lars Benon tells med that he would have loved for the school to be involved in a manifestation on sustainability during the UN Climate meeting in Paris, Cop21, in December 2015. The school had plans to involve all students in building an ice sculpture on the schoolyard, under the leadership of a famous artist. When I meet Lars Benon, in September, the school recently had to discard this specific idea. However, Lars Benon hopes some other idea will be performed instead. It will be exciting to see what the school comes up with!

TellusThinkTank realises that every school has its own prerequisites when it comes to sustainability. The City of Stockholm’s support of the Global Gymnasium plus the fact that the city once again has hired a human rights and sustainability agent, that we can find in Lars Benon, seem like constructive steps in the right direction!

The Tellus Think Tank team looks forward to following the sustainable progress of Enskede School! We also probably share the same curiosity as You do, if there are any other schools in the world that distinguish themselves more in sustainability than the Global Gymnasium or Enskede School. Maybe you know of one, please let us know!

Next week Tellus Think Tank meets a representative from a distinguished University of Sweden, namely Sachiko Ishihara of CEMUS, a sustainability faculty of Uppsala University. Sign up for our newsletter and we will let you know when the article is published! 

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Is Earth doing alright? No002

 

How is Earth doing? Many contrary impressions are given both from people in our surroundings and through different media channels. Let’s find out what is correct.
Domi, TellusThinkTank 2015-11-12

Stockholm November 2015. Outside the window a few leaves can still be spotted in the trees, soon about to join the thousands of fallen maple stars on the black tar sky. People are walking over them on their way to work, just as usual. There is however an important difference this year: the average temperature is 5 / 12 °F warmer than normal.

November 1-11, 2015. Sweden is 3 to 5 degrees celsius warmer than normal, according to www.SMHI.se
November 1-11, 2015.
Sweden is 3 to 5 degrees celsius warmer than normal, according to www.SMHI.se

Tellus Think Tank has spoken to many different persons about sustainability and about the environment, a wide array of people from environmental specialists to urban farmers and to people like ourselves, that is people who don’t normally work with the environment.

ABOUT TELLUS THINK TANK….read more here

It was in the conversations with the latter group, normal people in several different European countries, that we heard the same type of phrase:

-I don’t believe in Global Warming. The natural processes of Earth would have heated the climate anyhow, they said.

I am surfing the internet to try and find explanations and graphs for the warm weather of November. Even on the internet I find many different groups with contrary messages:

  • Human emissions of carbon dioxide and methane are the cause of Global Warming.
  • Global Warming is a part of Earth’s natural processes.
  • Earth is not warmer that usual.

What is really true about Global Warming?
To get an answer to this question we turn to Niclas Köhler, expert on sustainable development, working as a communicator at the Swedish construction company NCC. With a background in journalism and biology he has been working as an environmental reporter for over 20 years. He lays it out for us:

Niclas Köhler.
Niclas Köhler.

-The Earth’s natural processes can be the cause of a certain variation in the climate but Global Warming that we are experiencing now is indisputably created by humankind, Niclas Köhler says.

Niclas Köhler continues to tell me that scientists were in disagreement/at odds during a period but today 99% of the scientists are in agreement. More than 800 scientists have written a report for the United Nations climate panel (IPCC – International Panel On Climate Change) about how the heated climate is a direct effect of the emissions from human activity. They are calling the phenomenon “Global Warming”.

What have humans done to cause Global Warming?

So, I summarise, Earth is in the beginning of a period of unusually high average temperatures and these temperatures are caused by human emissions. What kind of emissions are we talking about here?

Niclas Köhler tells me that scientists first believed carbon dioxide emissions were the main cause of the climate heating, but that they have now also understood the vastness of the methane gas emissions.

When people increase the amount of carbon dioxide and methane, the so-called greenhouse gases, they retain the heat radiated from Earth itself and keeps it in the atmosphere of Earth. With more molecules like these in the atmosphere of Earth the climate becomes warmer.

The sun heats Earth. Earth then radiates heat into the Earth atmosphere. If the atmosphere contains more carbon dioxide- and methane molecules more heat will stay within the atmosphere. With less greenhouse gases in the atmosphere more of the heat easily bounces out into space. Illustration: AnnVixen
The sun heats Earth. Earth then radiates heat into the Earth atmosphere. If the atmosphere contains more carbon dioxide- and methane molecules more heat will stay within the atmosphere. With less greenhouse gases in the atmosphere more of the heat easily bounces out into space. Illustration: AnnVixen

Carbon dioxide has always existed and is created when biological material is disintegrated / decomposed, for example when a tree falls down and starts rotting. When a new tree grows it instead binds carbon dioxide in its wooden fibers. De unhealthy carbon dioxides are created when we burn the so-called fossil fuels: diesel, oil, petrol and coal.

Niclas Köhler tells me that fossil fuels were created millions of years ago when biological material such as dead animals, brackens and micro algae sunk to the bottom of a lake, where covered up but not decomposed fully but instead were formed into a layer of, for instance, coal.

Methane emissions are created when organic material, that is everything that grows in nature, is decomposed in a environment with a low level of oxygen.  According to Wikipedia  (2015-11-12) humans are responsible for 60 percent of the methane emissions, when allowing leakages extracting oil or gas or coal. About 17 % of the methane emissions come from the human livestock production of cows and sheep – the methane comes mainly from the animal’s digestion and faeces.  

Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, in the beginning of the 1800s, the methane content in our atmosphere has doubled and the carbon dioxide content is not far behind.

What happens when the climate of earth becomes warmer as an effect of the emissions?

As an answer to this question Niclas Köhler quotes Sten Bergström, former Head of Research at SMHI, Sweden’s Expert Authority on Meteorologi, Hydrology, Oceanografi och Klimatologi:

-There will be more action in the system, he quotes.

Niclas Köhler explains that heat is energy and that more action in the system means:

  • More forceful storms.
  • More water when it rains.
  • Higher peaks and lower valleys on the temperature curve.

Niclas Köhler calls this “Extreme Weather”. Global Warming will bring more Extreme Weather.

What signs can we see that Global Warming and its extreme weather is already taking place?

Many parts of the world have already been hit by the climate change extreme weather in form of heavy storms and rainfall causing major damage. Gothenburg is one city that experienced this.

A Cityplanner scenario that puts Gothenburg under water.
A Cityplanner scenario that puts Gothenburg under water.

Just recently the city presented a “skyfall model” to simulate different scenarios with heavy rain, with the urge to be able to plan for coming storms and soften the consequences. The scenario model tool is open for the public on the city internet, and when trying a couple of different scenarios one can see that the City of Gothenburg might be standing before some really major challenges.

I recently visited my English cousins and they showed me a picture from a helicopter tour over the Hoover dam in the US state of Arizona. The photo pictures a white layer above the water all around the mountains around the dam, showing where the normal water level used to be. The water reserves, meant for drinking and farming, are considerably lower than earlier.

The Hoover Dam Photo: Victor Jackson
The Hoover Dam Photo: Victor Jackson

Niclas Köhler also mentions similar problems in the neighbouring state of California. The inhabitants there are living in a permanent state of drought, causing problems with farming and drinking water resources.

NIclas Köhler also says that many European countries have felt the effect of the Global Warming.

The United Kingdom, for example, has been hit by heavy rainfalls. One spectacular example is “The Toon Monsoon” in the metropolitan area of Newcastle on Tyne, a city that has not earlier been hit by floods.

In Lonely Planet’s book “Morocco” by Paul Clammer a description can be found of how the Northern parts of Africa are slowly drying out. I remember a documentary in Swedish SVT’s show “Vetenskapens Värld” (World of Science) that showed how ten of twelve rivers had dried out in the Southern parts of Morocco and it had forced the inhabitants to move to the Moroccan cities.

Sands of the South. Photo: AnnVixen
Sands of the South. Photo: AnnVixen

I might be coming to some very fast conclusions, it is possibly drought in the middle east that is forcing its inhabitants to flee north to land areas with a cooler climate. Europe, is as it seems, very close at hand. The people of the middle east would not seek refugee in the south with even higher temperatures, would they? Thermometers in the Arabian peninsular show summer temperatures of almost 50 / 122 °F.

Summarizing: Humankind emits too much carbon dioxide and methane which leads to the heating of the atmosphere around Earth and is the cause of Extreme Weather –  drought, storms and rain that cause problems for farming, damage to infrastructure and the major movement of people.

And according to the scientists we are only at the beginning of this unnaturally warm period.

What can we expect from the future? Is there hope or is Global Warming the end of humankind as a species?

Currently Earth holds 7,3 billion people, according to the United Nations. This number of inhabitants can be compared to the one billion people that lived on earth at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, only about 200 years ago. I ask Niclas Köhler if he sees any possibility of having so many people on Earth and at the same time living sustainably?

-Yes, we can [loooong pause] but we need to reconsider our life styles. We have a lot of technique and knowledge to our help but we really need to put it into practise.  

He ascertains that humanity has had a fantastic development and economic growth built on access to cheap coal and oil but that we have used more of nature’s resources than nature has had time to re-create.

What hands-on arrangements do we need adopt, now that we need to reconsider our lifestyles?

Niclas Köhler talks about two groups of activities needed simultaneously. The first is to mitigate the risks and soften the damages of the climate change and the second is to  decrease emissions.

Two roads forward. Illustration: Ann Vixen
Two roads forward. Illustration: Ann Vixen

Decreasing risks and damages caused by climate change can for instance be activities such as handling the larger amounts of water expected in some parts of the world.

Niclas Köhler has some examples of what the building company NCC are working with and mentions a tunnel that is soon to be built under the Danish City of Copenhagen for Hofor, with the purpose of leading away excessive amounts of water and leading it out to the harbour.

In this context The Tellus Think Tank-team also brings the Emisor Oriente-tunnel to mind. The tunnel was built under Mexico City for the same reasons.

NCC has also developed a special asphalt that lets through water much faster than traditional asphalt. The company is also looking into how their residential building projects shall handle the expected increase in water, so that damage by dampness can be avoided.

Illustration: Hofor
Tunnel under Copenhagen. Illustration: Hofor

We can do a lot of work with mitigating the damages but is is much cheaper and considerably less risky to work proactively to avoid the problems, Niclas Köhler says.

That is why it is more important to reduce emission. By reducing emissions the effects of Global Warming can reach a problematic stage, instead of the catastrophic level that we are heading towards now.

Use renewable energy sources and reduce beef in your daily diet, is the short advice that Niclas Köhler offers. He soon continues with an array of activities that could help us reduce the effects of the Global Warming:

  • Phase out the coal plants! Consumers can help by choosing an electrical company that offers green, environmentally friendly electricity.
  • Heat your house with district warming, pellets or a heat pump.
  • Kiruna. Swedens most northern Passive house, built by NCC. Photographer: Joanna Redman/NCC
    Kiruna. Swedens most northern lowenergy Passive house, built by NCC. Photographer: Joanna Redman/NCC

    Build low energy houses – that is buildings that do not leak heat through walls or windows and that contain all heat brought into the house. Old houses can become energy effective by renovation. NCC works with both low energy houses and sustainable renovations.

  • Don’t knock down old concrete structures but re-use them, as the process of making new concrete emits large amounts of carbon dioxid.
  • Decrease your rides with the car as far as possible, at least until you can afford to buy a car that runs totally without fossil petrol and diesel. Electrical Vehicles, driven by batteries or fuel cells, will probably soon take over the market.
  • Car production is also has large emissions of greenhouse gases and every family might not need a car of their own, most cars stand parked most of the time. Instead a family could take a cab, use public transport, walk, take the bike or join a car pool.
  • Eat less beef and lamb and replace it with chicken or vegetarian food if possible.
  • Decrease the number of journeys with aeroplane, until the renewable fuels that researchers are working on are taken in use.
  • In regions where biogas is an alternative these should be exploited as much as possible. It is not practically possible to transport biogas so far, so it has to be considered as a local propellant.
  • In countries where the sun is an asset, investments should be made so that solar cells can replace fossil fuels. The energy from the sun is also good for countries closer to the poles, such as Sweden, but the sun produces more energy than average in the summer and less than average in the winter.
  • Even industrial processes need to save heat by insulating and taking advantage of waste heat.

So it is not too late to turn the Global Warming process around?

No, not yet but we really need to rethink how we live and decrease the use of fossil fuels and eating less beef. Change our lives and introduce hands-on activities as a way forward.

There are examples of other environmental problems where we have been very successful and changed a destructive trend. Niclas Köhler mentions the replacing of freons in our refrigerators letting the ozone layer around Earth regenerate. Another example is when Sweden successfully reduced sulphur emissions when burning fossil oil, which was causing acidification of Swedish woods and waters.

I thank Niclas Köhler for his pedagogical description of the present situation of Earth, and for sharing hope for the future!   

Now that the Tellus Think Tank team understands a bit more about Global Warming we are wondering how this information is being spread in societies and we are also wondering what young people are being taught about it in schools today. Next we investigate how a Swedish school handles environmental questions and meet with with Lars Benon, who has worked as headmaster at several schools in the Stockholm region. Check it out!

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TellusThinkTank – The Opening! No001

 

November 2015: Welcome to the opening of TellusThinkTank – offering inspiration and best practises to increase the sustainability in lives and communities! by Domi 2015-11-11

The TellusThinkTank-team has been talking to many people lately. Subjects have been organic products, global warming and sustainability in production, sustainability in daily lives and communities. During our conversations the team has made several findings that hit us as strange or contradictory, and worth exploring!

2014-03-08-12.11.43-Tellus-metalkarta-e1447406382672-1024x685
Photo: AnnVixen, 2014

The Global warming is a very large and almost mythical area, and we found an unexpected stance.“Global Warming is not an issue! The atmosphere would have been heated due to the natural processes of earth and not because of the doings of humans!” This stance is shared by persons we have spoken to in several countries, some say they want to believe, others say they choose to believe in this “truth”.

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In contradiction media is reporting from United Nations meetings, from European Union meetings and from research- and scientist reports around the globe: “The nature of Earth and all species living here are in serious trouble due to the unnatural heating of our globe – as a result of mankind having emitted more carbon dioxide particles than our world can swallow in a natural way.”  
If these reports are correct and the world we live in is in a fix, the team is wondering what is been done about saving Earth?

2014-12-14-14.01.54-Brysselkål-i-ho-e1447404225104-1024x1024Others persons we have met are wondering if they can trust the organic branding of food and if it really is organic or if the branding is only used to increase profits.

Another interesting finding is that many of us don’t know what organic food really means. –“Why should I be buying organically marked food? A balanced diet will continue to help me get through life in a healthy way!”  

Well, what does it mean when products, such as apples or chicken, are branded “organic”?

TellusThinkTank aims to answer these types of questions and will also be sharing sustainable innovations and ideas from around the globe. Our purpose is to inspire many more to move towards the future in more sustainable ways!

As TellusThinkTank is all about learning more about sustainable lives and communities and inspire more to follow best practises of the world the articles will be numbered so that the exploratory journey of TellusThinkTank will be easy to follow!

Please feel welcome to read “Is Earth doing alright? No002.

Ps. Maybe you would like to share something sustainable that you have done or something sustainable that has excited you? Tell us at Tellus Think Tank if you do! Ds.

ABOUT TELLUS THINK TANK….read more here

Tellus Think Tank
Tellus Think Tank