2) Hope Container
Parallel to the Blueprint Alliance, another team, part of the technology team of Tamera, has taken on a very specific challenge within the field of regenerative design: The Hope Container. Inspired and envisioned by solar visionary Jürgen Kleinwächter, the project is an energy-producing center for 50 people uniting the best practices of (low-tech) energy autonomy, equipped with a kitchen, greenhouse and garden, showers or bathroom and a place to eat and meet. Its strength is its ultra-mobility and ready-to-use delivery potential. With solar collectors, biogas, low-temperature Sterling engines and more being built into shipping containers, the unit can be applied in disaster relief situations, refugee-camps and training centers, offering easy access to the basic needs of energy supply. Through this, it could serve as an immediate relief tool, followed by a more lasting Blueprint settlement design in which it could be integrated.
The Grace Foundation funded a meeting of 20 specialists from various fields in Tamera, Portugal from June 10th–25th 2016 with a facilitated donation of €25K. The gathering served for the first brainstorming and preliminary investigations, aiming to create a project plan for both the technical aspects of this complex holistic system and the social factors needed so that living with such a system is an attractive way of life. Our donation covered:
– travel costs, board and lodging for 13 participants
– expenses of four tutors
– continued research work of 2 engineers at Tamera for July/August 2016
– material and use of Tamera infrastructure
– subsequent research journeys for selection of existing technologies planned for inclusion in the concept
As in most cases, one of the greatest challenges in this process is the cooperation between specialists from different fields. Therefore, The Grace Foundation sponsored this meeting to take place specifically in Tamera, as it offers the most fertile ground for the community-building process the team needs to achieve its goal.
The meeting served the assesment of the Hope Container’s integration into both the Blueprint project and Tamera’s “Energy Autonomy” project. A possible 3-step-plan emerged:
1. the integration of next-generation solar devices in Tamera’s Solar Test Field to gain further practical experience of those devices (to later be included in the Hope Container)
2. the integration of the Hope Container in the Blueprint200 project at Tamera to gain experience of how people live with the system
3. the installation of the Hope Container in situations directly affected by refugee crises
At this stage, it became clear that more money and co-workers are needed for the Hope Container Project to evolve. The outcomes of the gathering will be held and wait to be picked up by an emerging project leadership.
Nevertheless we are grateful for the work of this project, as it offers a much needed response to today’s refugee crisis and could provide an important contribution to the challenge of energy autonomy of future Healing Biotopes.
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