Party at Montemor-o-Novo! 1st LearnBIØN cycle concluded!

Last weekend the first cycle of LearnBIØN, the training program conceived by seven European partner organisations which included six practical workshops, has been concluded.

Representatives from all involved organisations gathered in Montemor-o-Novo for a conference on Hands-on learning where they discussed and presented some of the achieved results in Co-creative building processes with low environmental impact. As for the whole program, building techniques where the central focus of the discussion, however all the presentations showed how deep the act of building together and using the building site as exchange platform for notions and personal experiences can affect the social and human dimension, especially in the involved local communities.

The same issues seem to be crucial also in Miguel Mendes’s works. The portuguese architect has been involved in more than thirty cooperation projects all over the world. BIØN invited him to enrich the conference with a keynote speech.

The day has been concluded with a Dj set in the fascinating patio of Montemor’s Convento de São Francisco, Oficina’s headquarters.

But BIØN’s activities will continue: Soon a collection of practical guides on the explored building techniques and on the social dimension of practical training activities will be published.

Moreover the BIØN partners used the time in Montemor to work on the preparation of an exhibition that will travel all around Europe during the next months.

So stay tuned.