thoughtsandtalks

Net als in andere agglomeraties ontbreekt het ook in heel wat Brusselse wijken aan tuinen. Diverse vormen van (milieu)hinder, zoals verontreiniging, stof, lawaai en overstromingen worden steeds groter. Groendaken dragen bij tot meer natuur in de stad en tot de oplossing van heel wat milieuproblemen.
Bijdragen tot een toename van de oppervlakte groen en van de biodiversiteit en zorgen voor een betere waterretentie door zowel platte als hellende daken te beplanten met langzaam groeiende gewassen of, nog beter, met ware tuintjes.

Meer info : download de info-fiche eco-bouwen van leefmilieu brussel

With the urban garden project we want to blend the natural and the digital world in one and the same eco-system. We will explore how this fusion takes place: investigate in a digital way the growth, blossoming and decay of plants while they are submitted to the natural elements as wind, rain, snow, etc.
Can this evolution be generated, controlled, enhanced or imagined in artworks? Is our environment programmable? How does the fusion of natural and artificial matter produce new organisms, new environments, new natures? How does technology animate nature and space, and how do users and programs animate matter?

We observe the physical connections between people, nature and sensor-networks. We introduce natural processes as composting and organic gardening in a creative meshnetwork that combines natural and artifical elements in one media-ecological system.

Can we talk about ‘urban permaculture’, as an intrinsic part of this media-ecological system? What is Permaculture? Permaculture is about designing human environments that have the stability, diversity and resilience of natural ecosystems. Permaculture integrates renewable energy systems, energy efficiency, food/gardening systems, natural building, rainwater harvesting, urban planning along with the economic, political and social policies that make sustainable living possible and practical.
Permaculture is an approach to everyday life that integrates all the facets of people’s lives to enhance environmental sustainability within a permanent, sustainable agricultural and cultural system - a diverse, complex eco-system, where all of the elements interact in mutually beneficial ways to produce a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts. It is is a valued way of designing and creating sustainable systems. It has relevance for anyone with a concern to improve the environment and the quality of life.

aronia melanocarpa - appelbes - chokeberries
eucalyptus gunnii - cider gum
ficus carica - vijgenboom - common fig
philadelphus coronarius - boerenjasmijn - english dogwood
prunus spinosa - sleedoorn - blackthorn
ribes odoratum - kruisbes - golden current
rosa canina - hondsroos - dog rose
rosa glauca - bergroos - redleaf rose
rosa moyesii - muskaatroos - rosa moyesii
rosa rugosa - rimpelroos - ramanas rose
sambucus nigra - vlier - elderberry
vaccinium corymbosum - bosbes - blueberry
deutzia gracilis - bruidbloem - slender deutzia
spiraea cinerea - spierstruik - meadowsweet
potentilla fruticosa - vijfvingerkruid - shrubby cinquefoil
salix purpurea - bittere wilg - purple willow

acer campestre - veldesdoorn - field maple
amelanchier laevis - krenteboom - wild plum
cornus mas - gele kornoelje - cornelian cherry
corylus avellana - hazelaar - common hazel
crataegus pinnatifida - meidoorn - hawthorn
malus domestica melrose - appelboom - apple
malus domestica winterbanana - appelboom - apple
mespilus germanica - mispel - common medlar
olea europea - olijfboom - olive
prunus armeniaca - abrikoos - apricot
prunus avium - kers - cherry
quercus robur - zomereik - english oak

Snowy days are over, the bees are flying out again and we started with the preparations for the built-up of the rooftopgarden. An edible garden. 300m2 on the 6th floor -on top of a parkinglot- in the center of the city. A natural environment built-up in an artificial way, a semi-controlled ecosystem, a shelter for birds and bees, an experimental zone for urban agriculture.
Trees, schrubs and vergetables will be put together in different layers so that they work harmoniously in relation to each other and to their environment. The rooftop offers a microclimate which is ideal for permaculture approaches. All trees, tall and small shrubs and other plants have edible berries. Land, animals and people, light and shade are taken into account. All materials used are selected on their cradle to cradle aspects and their sustainability. We also take mobility of the elements into account to calculate the carbon footprint. Waterharvesting and green energy are at the basis of the system, and the selection of plants is chosen to be beneficial as well for the people as for the bees and the birds.

(design by Wim Collet/ Natuurlijk & Annemie Maes)

During 1 of tipping point’s Open Space Sessions, Maarten Roels and myself propose the topic: urban agriculture and urban walking. In following document you can read an overview of the points we discussed in our group : points of interest, obstacles, food as basis for change, walking the city and solutions. Conclusion : What will YOU do (the coming 6 months) to tacle climate change?

Download group O’s pdf and add your own solutions.
some more suggestions: download here
DAAD : Do And Act Differently

Above a selection of the tipping point Open Space topics.
Under: the award-winning BEE HOUSE by James Ennis.

The Bee House is a micro habitat encouraging daily interaction to promote and help the survival of diverse insects that are essential to our food production cycles. The flower puppets are ornamental seed-totems, providing ornamentation for a flower bed while awaiting germination.
The bee house, the seeds and their flowers are certified organic and have been studied and selected by a group of entomology researchers from the university of Bologna. Info: positiveflow.net.

Flanders 1500’s. The hives were tall straw skeps with a flight entrance well above the base. The skeps were housed in a thatched shelter near the farm buildings. Pigs and poultry were kept near the hives. Women, children and men were involved in beekeeping activities and all wore protective clothing. Similar hives were used up to the 1900’s. (The world history of beekeeping, by Eva Crane).

A Flemish beekeeping scene, by Pieter Breughel the Elder, 1565.
It has been suggested that the men might be stealing the hives.

Meanwhile, wintertime 2010 on a Brussels rooftop garden.
Let’s hope the colonies survive!

BRUSSELS – 25th and 26th JANUARY 2010
This pan European event is a collaboration between TippingPoint, the British Council, the European Commission, the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Kaaitheatre Theater in Brussels. A major European gathering of individuals from across the cultural sector, including artists from all art forms, together with a broad range of scientists involved in the world of climate science will take place, symbolically, at the heart of the European institutions, in the building of the EESC in the centre of Brussels. A number of key climate change policy makers will also take part.

TippingPoint aims to ‘harness the power of the imagination to help stabilise the climate’. We offer a range of activities centred on exposing creative artists to the enormous challenges of climate change; at the heart of this lies a series of meetings involving very high quality, intense dialogue between artists, scientists and others close to the heart of the issue. These encounters provide a chance to explore the broader cultural challenges precipitated by climate change.

Tipping Point or how to change the mentality of the world population? : conference report by Eva Peeters on the BAM-website ‘Kunst en Ecologie’

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