Duration: 7-10 days

Timeline: early July – mid August 2014

Location: To be confirmed (Greece)

Number of participants: 15 – 20

Participation cost: 300€ – 350€

This workshop is for those of us who want to be professionally, or at least “seriously”, involved with the art of strawbale building and not for those who are just curious to see “what it’s all about”.

By the end of this course, we will be in a position to build natural homes for us, our friends and our clients. Spaces are limited for this course (to enhance the learning experience), the location is to be confirmed (if you have a space in Greece, you can apply for it to be carried out at your place) and it it’s timed for sometime in July/August somewhere in Greece.

How is this workshop different (for Greek standards!)

• we cover in detail the art of natural building and we supply you with an instruction manual, so that throughout this course you will have the full scope of strawbale building

• we give you the latest info on the status of building permissions in Greece

• we cover the placement of the home in the context of a holistic permaculture plan and cover bioclimatic architecture

• we reuse materials and generally look at how to keep the construction cost low

• a network of natural builders is created for future collaborations and support.

A few words about the instructor, Lance Kairl, Australia

Lance Kairl, a natural builder from South Australia, built his first strawbale building 17 years ago, will be the strawbale building course instructor in Greece. I had to convince him to fly here, assuring him that his ecological footprint will be reduced by the number of people who will spread this art.

He lives in the same climatic zone as us in Greece, he knows the benefits of strawbale as a building material extremely well and he’s got vast experience, having built commercial structures, two-storey homes, cool-rooms and small accommodation studios.

Other presentations scheduled during the workshop

• Permaculture and its application with regard to the choice of our structure’s location as well as grey water management, rainwater harvesting, energy autonomy, etc

• Bioclimatic architecture (passive solar design)

• Building permissions and other relevant issues with regard to building in Greece

Location

We are still in the process of exploring a location for this workshop. We have a few interested parties, so we are waiting to see if they will be ready. However, if you live in Greece, you can apply to host the workshop. For this to happen, you must be prepared to build the bare minimum of a corner with a door and window or ideally to build a whole house, a shed or something similar AND you must fulfil the requirements in this document.

Participation cost

• 300€/person for those who register their participation promptly and deposit 50% until 17 April 2014 and the remaining 50% until 30 May 2014

• 350€/person for those who register their participation after 17 April and deposit 100% until 30 May 2014

• If you can’t camp for free at the property, there will be alternatives for accommodation at your own cost. We will confirm this upon securing the location.

Your participation fee covers part of the expenses that are created. If we cover all the expenses and the space on this course and you can offer something valuable to us in return, then there may be the possibility of a discount for those who are having financial difficulties.

To secure your position on this course

1. Register your participation by completing this form asap or by 31 March 2014.

2. When we email you confirmation that the seminar will be going ahead, you must deposit 50% of your fee into the specified bank account until 17 April 2014.

We have to be strict with the dates, otherwise, we won’t be able to book the instructor’s tickets, etc

For clarification/information about

• enrolments, payments, organisation and permaculture plan, please contact Tina via email

• technical details such as building permissions, etc, please contact Christos via email.

We hope there is enough interest for this workshop to proceed because it’s very important for Greece right now!