Emil Bregnsholdt deltog sidste år i et 3 ugers Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) kursus i økosamfundet Schloss Tonndorf i Tyskland gennem Landsforeningen for Økosamfund.
Kurset var fokuseret på unge og stillede bl.a. spørgsmålet: “Hvordan kan vi støtte unge i tider med adskillige kriser med henblik på de fire dimensioner af bæredygtighed?”
Vi glæder os over muligheden for at sende unge mennesker afsted og opnå nye kompetencer, samt skabe netværk i økosamfundsbevægelsen i Europa.
Emil har fortalt lidt om sin oplevelse gennem et interview, som du kan læse nedenfor, samt se billeder fra kurset.
EDE kurset blev muliggjort med midler fra Erasmus+
INTERVIEW WITH EMIL (in English)
Interview by Louis Lutete Larsen
Interviewee Emil Bregnsholdt, Danish participant of EDE
How did you get to Erfurt
I travelled between Copenhagen and Erfurt in a mix of hitchhiking and taking trains, trying to lower the carbon footprint.
What is EDE
Ecovillage Design Education is an intensive course in the four dimensions of sustainability (social, economic, ecological and worldview (spiritual)) of eco villages and projects. It was a deep dive into mental, physical, cultural realms of sustainability on this planet. A multicultural learning learning experience for beginners and intermediate practitioners in the field of eco village design and project management.
What was your overall experience
Very professional an intensive programme with a lot of tools and interesting exercises. A very full programme with much information in short time. Much useful insights and structure to understand the world.
What was especially interesting
The cultural dimension of understanding how different countries around the world are similar yet have different approaches to the issues of environmental awareness. Every dimension was interesting in its own way. Interesting to get to know how economy and different associations work and can be applied. The social dimension was throughout the whole course.
What could be better
Would have been better to have more variety in mental work and physical work, better to have more balance, of learning with your brain and learning with your body. Personally I think there was too much sitting down, too much feeling like elementary school. I would have wanted a more interactive approach and a feeling of being adults and making own choices. For me too much brain work and too little (practical) doing. Preferably more balance. One class on mental. Then next more physical stimulation.
What was most challenging
To keep focus throughout a very full programme and to get the most out of the information because it was very densely packed with information. Most challenging to integrate all the information. The course was packed into short time and personally I would have needed at least 1-3 days to integrate in between the dimensions.
How was the social atmosphere
Very easy going, people with different personality types, uniting for one purpose of wanting to make a better world.
How was the relationship with the facilitators
I had good relationship with all the facilitators. They were approachable yet also professional, I would say, they created an atmosphere of openness to questions. I could talk with them in free time, which was a good feeling. In class they were keeping a professional style.
Most important lesson learned
How to work together to make the final presentation, to create a project together, as with the design studios, to see the result, you know, the way to get there. I guess the most important was to work as a group. Taking notes and using it at the right time, in group work.
How was the timing
It was summertime so a little hard to get into the “schoolwork” mode. Would have been easier in the fall, you know, but it was also very warm and hot to work outside and very dry. The “schooldays” were very long for the summer season, so it could have been better in spring or fall.
What is your most beautiful memory
Definitely the multicultural friendships that I made in short time. All the activities we did together. Both in the “school” time but especially the evening time. Also the physical realm working together in the field physically, like when we helped to work on the pond restauration. We worked with soil, mud, stones and water. That was one of the most beautiful moments.
