Place Spotters: "Helykeresok"

I want to briefly introduce the project mentioned in my first blog entry.

One of my interests is sustainability including sustainable settlements as a way of life.  The Place Spotters Project is aimed to share information of already existing or about-to-be-created locations with sustainable lifestyle.  The information is shared in three ways: via website, newsletters and meetings.  Registration is simple, quick and free and only Hungarian - sorry!

The second project goes beyond sharing information.

A group of around 40 Place Spotters started to design a virtual ecovillage.  It is like a game, just like our lives.  We work and plan our common future while having fun together.  The challenge is to create a place of living in line with the ecovillage idea, on paper and in our minds.  The added bonus is a community with members with working relationships and the most essential trust at the end.

UK readers likely heard about the Transition Towns movement.  I've been hoping to find a way to adopt this great idea in Hungary since I attended the initial meeting in Totnes in 2006.  However, it does not suit Eastern Europe, I came to realise.  My view is that priority should be given to community building in Hungary and other countries of the Eastern Block.  I know it sounds odd but communism destroyed communities first and did a great damage to families.  We need to find new ways to rebuild the social web.  This building should be based on love and trust.  As trust exist in the UK already, TTs were able to start with co-operation.

With different approach, the goal of both the Hungarian project and the TTs in the UK in to enhance resilience and sustainability.  Neither encourages going back to Victorian times or the Middle Ages but combines new and old technologies to do something inspiring, something great that is easy to follow or adopt.  The first TT in the UK was a model and we want to create a model, too.  A model for way of living, way of life.  A way out of the present crisis. 

More to come later. Please give me some encouragement by leaving your comment if you find this interesting.  Thanks for reading.

Mother's house being refurbished

The traditional house project is on hold, due to the long bureaucratic procedure.  It might never happen, I see now.  I started repainting the wall in both rooms of my mother's house.

The wallpaper was removed to uncover hidden wall damages.  The wall surface was smothered and lime whitened that is the traditional painting method so clay walls can 'breathe'.

My godfather wanted to be an electrician.  My grandmother feared his life so he became a carpenter instead.

I can be an electrician whenever I want.

Electric socket moved and replaced.

The project is nearly finished.

 

Warm Autumn sunshine ripens figs in the garden.

The hard winter killed most of its branches but the root survived.

Morning walk is still one of my favourite activities.

Sunrise - beautiful as ever.