We have looked at allt the partners different approaches, lessons and aspirations on people-led development. By using the experiences from Bi0n I, the training conclude some ways for the partners to improve the placemaking process and further strengthen people-led development.

We are gathering the feedback from different actors that took part in building the cordwood building in Sweden in 2017. Revisiting the structure and recalling the work makes us proud of the communal effort, a true team completed it! It has been interesting to follow the development and especially how the building is a piece of a larger puzzle of locally produced food.

Building Beyond Borders is a cross-border learning platform and a postgraduate programme founded at the University of Hasselt in Belgium. Its promoters regularly host conferences and gatherings on bioclimatic design and local building materials; issues that are crucial also for our network.

It is great to see the structures after 2-4 years, how they aged and how the materials received their natural patina, the colors have shifted and the structure has its own unique character. We are currently doing a follow-up on our experimental buildings from Bi0n I, revisiting the structure and evaluating the work from the technical-, social- and learning approach.

We now have over 4700 downloads of our work! The guides are made available online to share knowledge and hopefully inspire more communities to take on bio-constructions.

Because of the current unpredictable future, we advise you to follow our calendar and the updates as the situation changes quickly. We hope to run all planned events and workshops, but the times may be altered due to the situation.

The Bi0n network can announce that we now have a new website full of material for you to enjoy! Don’t miss out on our future information, workshops, events, sign up to our newsletter to find out the latest from our network.

Governance and Finances -The network gathered for another week's training session to improve our skill sets and develop a better understanding of our future possibilities.

At a second level, this social dimension of the working group was reflected on the social dimension the projects brought to the local communities. Here factors such as hospitality, curiosity, helpfulness progressively contributed to overcome feelings of scepticism or even refuse. In those workshops were representatives of the beneficiary community were involved as trainees this dimension was particularly strong.

Placemaking is enabling and empowering people to create and participate in making places that they love and feel connected to.

– CoDesign Studio

The above description is borrowed from CoDesign studio. The work produced within this network is very much about placemaking, and finding alternative development paths. In this staff training session all partners focus on their own process and how to strengthen the placemaking strategies for each association.

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

The 6th International Degrowth Conference in Malmö, Sweden, titled “Dialogues in turbulent times” has taken place from August 21-25. It was organized by the Institute for degrowth studies. We took the opportunity to present our work and share our insights from placemaking and place-led development.

Since last Monday all the BIØN partners are gathering again in Montemor-o-Novo for the final event of LearnBIØN. For one week most of the building techniques applied during the workshops held by the network during the last two years have been reproposed in a concentrated workshop with participants from all over Europe.

The purpose of this guide is to enable anyone interested in self-construction to prepare for a future project: as an organizer, participant, beneficiary, neighbour, or decision-maker, in full awareness that material and humans play here in constant interaction. For this in each part, we will find a list of tools to best support these factors in the daily workshops. This guide was the specific task of the HE2B team (Haute Ecole Bruxelles Brabant) and its CÉRISÈS laboratory within the LearnBi0n partnership.

Design and Build with Ø km (local and recycled materials), a 4 week building workshop in Milan, Italy. During this workshop we built with recycled materials and low tech building methods to suit the needs of the Casa Chiaravalle community.

During this workshop we built a small rammed earth library to suit the needs of the local community in Valverde de Burguillos, a small village located in Extremadura, Spain

Design and Build with Canes, a 4 week building workshop in Colleserola Natural Park , Spain. During this workshop we built an external covered space of 30 sqm to be used for cultural meetings and for theoretic classes during CanyaViva’s courses cane construction.

Design and Build with Cordwood, a 4 week building workshop in Östertälje, Sweden. During this workshop we built a cordwood building to suit the needs of the newly established social enterprise Eko-Odlarna. They cultivate organic produce on a small plot of land on the outskirts of Östertälje.

Design and Build with Wattle-and-Daub and Light Earth, a four weeks workshop in Casaprota, a town of 740 inhabitants in the inner Sabina region, Italy. During the workshop we colonized an abandoned concrete-skeleton using natural building techniques and aiming at revitalising it as a venue for community gatherings and small events.

Design and Build with Compressed Earth Blocks, a 4 week building course, in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal. During the workshop we built a prototype for artists in residence at Oficinas da Cerâmica e da Terra, a research department from Oficinas do Convento ONG.