Beginning the second decade of the 21st century, the Rural Association Sydänlanka invites people to explore their choices and re-evaluate our current way of life. Discussion and learning about the prerequisites for sustainable living.
The survival mnemonic S.T.O.P. means Stop/Stand, Thank/Think, Observe/Orientate, Positive Plan Priority.
We stop and rethink: our environment, our community, our presence, our consumption, our natural resources and our basic requirements for life. Big questions, but we start small.
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" (Lao Tzu)
Rural Association Sydänlanka workshops offer environmentally conscious activities and collaborative learning.
With the S.T.O.P project we encourage each other to learn survival and nature skills, including bushcraft and forest lore, traditional handicrafts and skills.
Social co-operation and team building through collective events.
Self-sufficiency by low impact building, gardening and the use of natural resources and wild food..
Exploration and fabrication of lo-tech solutions for mobility and consumer electronics.
How do we learn to live more sustainably? How to collect and grow food? How to work as a community and collaborate? How to deal with less? How to make sustainable choices in your own environment?
NomadTown S.T.O.P. is part of the EU-funded Bridge 47 - Building Global Citizenship project.
- www.bridge47.org
Overview/ Background
The ResilienceHub “NomadTownJoensuu” by Sydänlanka ry, is a result of using the “S.T.O.P.” survival tool.
In a matter of two years, the “FullMoonFullStop” routine has shown qualities and benefits which were not expected.
Understanding the global value and potential of the monthly “S.T.O.P.-routine”, we have started to facilitate the FullMoonFullStop also for others and are eager to spread the use of this tool further through example, inclusive participation and education.
We are keen to demonstrate, review and analyse the process and benefits of "S.T.O.P."
The StopThinkObservePlan approach is directly adopted from the use of this tool in “type 1” and “type 2” survival situations.
The tool is also common among financial players.
Benefits of the FullMoonFullStop:
- Neutral: Independent from borders, beliefs, location, gender, ...
- Synchronised+: Fullmoon is on the same day all over the world, with the addition of moving like a wave over the planet, starting from the east (which is the place of inspiration).
- Perspective: The scale and phase of the moon is apparent by observation alone. It facilitates a perspective of seeing the global picture and thinking in global dimensions.
Simultaneously, in the way time can be measured by observation of the moon phases, a different speed of life and a reminder of our common ancestors’ perspective of life can be perceived. - Nature Connection: As a visible natural “component”, the moon and its role for life on Earth is a crucial reminder of “nature” being among us and nature being part of us. “Deep nature connection is said to be the medicine our world needs the most.”
- Dealing with the essentials: The FullMoonFullStop deals with the six survival priorities and “the stuff we don't even need to agree about”. It's a rational (if at times emotional) and hands-on, down to earth approach, resulting in globally motivated, local action in a do-no-harm and inclusive manner.
- Low impact: during the “s.t.o.p.”-period, use of fossil energy and resources is drastically reduced. When we don't know what to do and how to do it, spending 12 days a year doing nothing (but globally motivated thinking, observing and planning), is already a good start.
- High impact: The resulting local- and personal level action and changes, also in terms of perspective, are motivated by the benefit of the global community of life.
- Mental impact: The awareness of other humans elsewhere practicing and using the routine of the FullMoonFullStop, provides a feeling of connection, community and belonging.
Putting life and our priorities into understandable categories and dimensions, can bring a relief from stress and depression, as the FullMoonFullStop has been adjusted to also focus on “Thank” and “Positive”. - Community building: “Community” is one of our six survival priorities. Using the adjusted S.T.O.P.-tool together on Fullmoon day helps build local connections and strengthen neighbourhoods, families and friendships. This also facilitates connection to self, others and the rest of nature.
- Personal: unlike tools of legislation and taxation, the FullMoonFullStop is based on a common “why” and suits personal opportunities.
Instead of controlling behaviour, the FullMoonFullStop provides a suitable tool for dealing with our global situation, by doing this on a very personal and well adjusted level. - Happy pill: Nature Connection and understanding and managing of our own survival is part of who we are and what strive to live for.
The feeling of moving towards higher levels of sustainability, resilience and a lifestyle, which might be safe for future generations to copy, can be very joyful. - Scalability: The S.T.O.P. tool can be used within seconds or beyond 24hours. The use of the tool is independent from numbers, locations, infrastructure, resources and other common limitations.
Process/ Logistics:
In the last year, possibilities were frequently created to “do the FullMoonFullStop” together in a warm, dry and safe place, usually inside the “storytent” by the open fire, with hot water and tea provided.Five times the tent was set up for the FullMoonFullStop in public spaces/events with open invitation and instructions for participants.
With the intention to spread the use of the tool, we made the decision to invest in a bigger tent, which better allows us to present and facilitate the use of the tool in other locations.
- Huck Middeke
& the S.T.O.P. team of Sydänlanka
BLOG:
One bar of Mäntysuopa
Karoliina Arvilommi and Roderick Welch of Värtsilä
"Kotatalkoot pt.2"
update 16.3.2020
We continued our Kota-project. We had three pole trees in forest, which we peeled and pulled to garden for drying.
Now we continue with Kota-project peeling them more clean. It's good to peel off the last annual growth to get more durable poles. Then we let the spring sun dry them in a pole stack. And finally, when they are dry enough, we make the treating agent from tar, vernissa and conifer oil and treat poles with it.
in Karelia, Eastern Finland
***
NomadTown S.T.O.P.
BLOG:
06/2020
28.6.2020 /// RAW WOOL FELTING WORKSHOP @NomadTownJoensuu
Learn the basic techniques of handling, processing and wet felting raw wool.
The wool is first "WIllowed" using sticks and felted using traditional wet-felting techniques. The wool used is pure Finnish Landrace sheep wool from a local organic farm.
Suitable for the whole family, children and dogs welcome.
It will take place in the open air and a large Kota for shelter.
It is a wet and messy process so wear clothes to suit,
Supplies and materials needed:
One bar of Mäntysuopa
Old cotton sheet
Bucket and smaller plastic bowl/container
Workshop provided by the ‘Sydänlanka’ association's NomadTown S.T.O.P. project. Free entry (the maximum number is 10 participants)!
NomadTown S.T.O.P. is part of the EU-funded Bridge 47 - Building Global Citizenship project. - www.bridge47.org
Facilitators:
Karoliina Arvilommi and Roderick Welch of Värtsilä
http://liinalommi.com
http://woolpack.villivilla.com
11.6.2020 /// HUGEL BED WORKSHOP @NomadTownJoensuu
(Event on Facebook: ) The raised bed is ancient structure that offer aesthetic and concrete benefits to the gardener. A raised bed already has its benefits, but how do you make it so that it has enough nutrients for years to come. Or how can the sun's energy be collected as heat for more delicate plants? These are some of the questions we will be working on during the workshop, and together we will make a raised bed.
The workshop is part of EU funding NomadTown S.T.O.P. project and is supported by the Bridge 47 – Building Global Citizenship (bridge47.org).
10.6.2020 /// WILD FOOD DAY @NomadTownJoensuu
(Event on Facebook: ) Welcome to the identification, picking, fermentation and cooking of wild food under the guidance of wildfood chef Jani Martikainen and natural resource producer Jussi Sinkkonen. Together, we make wild food ferments for later distribution and prepare wild food outside over an open fire. Please bring your own basket / paper bag, cutlery and water bottle! Weather permitting. Minimum number of participants 5 people. Maximum number of participants 10 people. Free entry!
Note: A close gathering is now possible again, but remember to take care of hygiene and safety intervals during the workshop. Do not participate if you are sore or have any symptoms.
The workshop is part of EU funding NomadTown S.T.O.P. project and is supported by the Bridge 47 – Building Global Citizenship (bridge47.org).
As part of the Bridge47 project, the workshop will be documented. Participants give permission to use photos and videos from the event. The event video will be released soon on YouTube!
***
05/2020
- WILD FOOD LESSON Pt1 : Familiar wild plants (https://youtu.be/2PzJswSP0Hc)
(subtitles: finnish, english)
- WILD FOOD LESSON Pt 2: Preserve nutrients (https://youtu.be/Jzi-A-Fqats)
(subtitles: finnish, english)
- WILD FOOD LESSON Pt 3 : Spontaneous Wild Pesto (https://youtu.be/jji1EG82I_8)
(subtitles: finnish, english)
In the video, natural resource producer Jussi Sinkkonen goes through familiar wild plants and gives tips on their use.
***
Shelter / Why do I live in yurt by Huck Middeke (https://youtu.be/AQnwJ46fyYQ)
Small shelters have advantages.
Shelter is one of our six survival priorities, which all need to be covered in truly sustainable ways to ensure the survival of humans and other species.
A yurt is just one of many examples of small, mobile shelters.
This yurt is part of the #NomadTown, a #ResilienceHub near Joensuu, which in itself is a result of persistent use of the #FullMoonFullStop survival tool, aiding to exit the #SuicideMadness / #SuicideBubble of the modern human experience.
by Huck Middeke
***
04/2020
A nice thing to do with a barrel
by Huck Middeke
by Huck Middeke
***
03/2020
FullMoonFullStop of march 2020 walkthrough in sight of Covid-19.
by Huck Middeke
What is our situation?
What can we be grateful for?
What possibilities and opportunities do we have?
What's the plan??
by Huck Middeke
What is our situation?
What can we be grateful for?
What possibilities and opportunities do we have?
What's the plan??
"Kotatalkoot pt.2"
update 16.3.2020
by Ossi Muttonen
We continued our Kota-project. We had three pole trees in forest, which we peeled and pulled to garden for drying.
Now we continue with Kota-project peeling them more clean. It's good to peel off the last annual growth to get more durable poles. Then we let the spring sun dry them in a pole stack. And finally, when they are dry enough, we make the treating agent from tar, vernissa and conifer oil and treat poles with it.
***
02/2020
The NomadTown & S.T.O.P. Project
in Karelia, Eastern Finland
by Huck Middeke and Marcus Petz
The
NomadTown in Joensuu is Finland’s first ResilienceHub* and a direct
result of using the S.T.O.P. tool.
Background
After
understanding that our “normal” lifestyle is not safe for our
offspring to copy, we started to make use of the “S.T.O.P.” tool
every fullmoon approximately two years ago. We understood that “more
sustainable” alone is not enough and that much bigger steps are
necessary.
During
summer 2018, some friends of Sydänlanka ry organised a 1-month
sustainability experiment of not using fossil fuels, not using money
and not making rubbish.
The
results of this experiment motivated us to go further and in November
2018 the decision was made to look for a piece of land and start a
ResilienceHub.
Less
than one year later, in August 2019, we had found a suitable piece of
land at the edge of town and the first inhabitant was ready to move
in with an off-grid yurt.
By
the beginning of 2020, we had revived the deserted and overgrown land
with communal pioneering efforts, aiming to be ready to host
visitors, courses, meetings and other events as soon as possible.
Now
We
see a big need for places like NomadTown all over the world.
It
is a daring venture to start something new which might actually work
and it seems risky, but in our opinion the risk of not trying is much
greater.
The
funds we received through bridge47 are allowing us to develop and
share solutions for communities and connect with other projects to
our mutual benefit.
You
may ask who the we is? We are men and women, and some of us have
Finnish backgrounds, but some also have other backgrounds such as
German. We come from a range of sub-cultures with rural backgrounds,
some being activists and some academics. We are part of bridge47 as
it is an education project and we do want to explore synergies with
others interested in community education.
Our projects are strongly influenced by the natural environment which we interact with culturally. This biocultural landscape in terms of education can be described in our case as Waldpädagogik (german for Forest pedagogy). In fact in some german Länder (federal states) it is enshrined in law. This forest pedagogy does not just mean going in a forest to learn, it additionally includes movement education, social learning and general education. Such an approach can be transferred to urban areas too for example. And in this project purposed for global citizenship education or global service learning.
Our projects are strongly influenced by the natural environment which we interact with culturally. This biocultural landscape in terms of education can be described in our case as Waldpädagogik (german for Forest pedagogy). In fact in some german Länder (federal states) it is enshrined in law. This forest pedagogy does not just mean going in a forest to learn, it additionally includes movement education, social learning and general education. Such an approach can be transferred to urban areas too for example. And in this project purposed for global citizenship education or global service learning.
NomadTown
Our
ResilienceHub has a mobility component built in. Since all our
infrastructure is mobile, we can move the NomadTown to another
location if needed or desired, ideally leaving a well developed
permaculture behind for other people.
This
allows for flexibility in terms of growth and makes it easier for new
inhabitants to move in / try living here. This connects with the
philosophy of nomadology, which is that of ideas not tied to place,
but shareable and generalizable.
The
overall size of the NomadTown is thought of not to exceed 18
inhabitants. So it is a very small settlement, much like a lab
engaged in action research, or in terms of existing settlements a
hamlet.
Individual
inhabitants should take care of their own accommodation, but certain
infrastructure like group kitchen, storage, guest rooms, sauna,
greenhouse, compost, toilet, etc. can easily be shared.
Being
a ResilienceHub, we are actively including others to participate in
the NomadTown by providing space and by hosting a variety of courses,
workshops, clubs and events; themed around sustainability, resilience
and culture repair.
S.T.O.P.
The
S.T.O.P.- survival tool played and plays a crucial role in the
development of the NomadTown.
To
our minds a very important thing is that we took what was a
survivalist tool, that was used by individuals and have developed it
as a social technology that can be used at a community level.
You
can see an example in the book “The Prepper's Pocket Guide” by
Bernie Carr (2011:pg 20-21) #3 Rethink your mind-set "When faced
with a disaster, remember the "STOP" rule: STOP THINK
OBSERVE PLAN" - which is what we are doing. Note that the book
is called Prepper's and NOT Preppers' - it is aimed at individuals
not communities. Yet we know that communities are the strongest form
of resilience.
Our
tradition of the “FullMoonFullStop” has also shown to be highly
successful in terms of inclusion, relevance, scalability and speed.
For
the above reasons, participation in the “FullMoonFullStop” is
always open to everyone and we educate about the use of this tool in
a co-creative process. As we have developed it the mnemonic S.T.O.P.
stands for:
S.
= Stop, sit down, go on strike
If
we maybe don't know what to do and how to do it, doing nothing for
one day every month can be a good start. The Fullmoon marks a global
and neutral event for reflection once every month.
T.=
Tea, Thank and Think
Tea
and gratitude open the mind for positive thinking. We think about our
six survival priorities (food, water, air, shelter, health,
community) and evaluate if these are covered in a truly sustainable
way. (“Survival situation yes or no?”).
O.=
Observe, orientate, options and opportunities
We
look at our lives and surroundings and identify possibilities that
can be adopted, developed or shared.
P.=
Positive, Plan
According
to the Dalai Lama, “Happiness is the way”. By choosing happiness
and positivity, we dramatically increase our chances of survival.
We
then make a plan for only the next month, allowing us to achieve our
goals.
Instead
of pushing others into specific actions, the S.T.O.P. tool helps
finding individual and local solutions for a global situation.
The
S.T.O.P. is also independent from borders, religions, genders, …
and unites us independent of the “climate change symptom”.
Practicalities
In
the last month we were mostly busy doing work on the land and ground
to allow for spaces to be used in the coming years.
This
includes collection of materials, repair of a valuable building found
on site and also the acquisition of a big group tent to run courses
and workshops.
We
also created a schedule with courses, workshops and events for the
spring and summer of 2020, reaching out also to local experts of
relevant fields.
In
the coming months we continue with building infrastructure and
growing spaces, as well as reaching out to the local community and
others.
We
also continue with our series of courses, workshops, lectures and
events.
*ResilienceHub:
ResilienceHubs
are places of minimal impact, minimal dependence and maximum
resilience and outreach. They provide space for participation and
experimentation.
Indicators
of high level sustainability are constantly being monitored and ways
of self sufficiency are being applied and further developed.
ResilienceHubs
are not necessarily mobile but are almost always off-grid.
All
ResHubs provide similar shareable infrastructure and thus allow for
easy moving of inhabitants between ResHubs.
***
update 16.2.
by Huck Middeke
– presenting S.T.O.P. and the ResHub NomadTown at the "Sydenkoulu- place of becomings" planning meeting near Turku.
***
"Kotatalkoot"
update 6.2.2020
update 6.2.2020
by Jussi Sinkkonen
– 2min video shoot of the Kota poles manufacturing process
in the #NomadTown Joensuu, a #ResilienceHub in eastern Finland.
in the #NomadTown Joensuu, a #ResilienceHub in eastern Finland.
***
01/2020
Yurt, winter, Finland update 01/2020
by Huck Middeke
– 8min update about experiences with yurt living during winter in the #NomadTown Joensuu, a #ResilienceHub in eastern Finland.
