OpenEcoLab Tour 2024 - Circling for a Circular Society…

At the end of our ‘OpenEcoLab Mapping’ project funded by the Postcode Lottery, our core team set off on the ‘OpenEcoLab Tour 2024’.

The aim of the tour was – in addition to visiting some long-established OpenEcoLabs – to visit new potential OpenEcoLabs in order to get to know the people, projects and locations better. We also wanted to actively promote our projects locally.

Our OpenEcoLab stops included an almost ‘circular’ road trip through the northern half of Germany. We had planned to visit as many places as possible within the week without us or our hosts getting too pressed for time. As a result, there were five stops (including the departure point):

We started in our ‘home harbour’, the headquarters of Open Source Ecology Germany e.V., where the OpenEcoLab coworking space ‘Open Culture’ is also located. Open Source Ecology Germany e.V. shares the premises with r0g_agency. The latter works together with grassroots organisations and state actors on pro jects in the fields of open knowledge, open technology and peacebuilding. It focuses primarily on rapidly and fundamentally transforming regions worldwide in order to support the formation of ‘healthy’, peaceful societies.

Our first stop after leaving together took us to Ostprignitz in the area around Wittstock/Dosse. The local Coolmühle e.V. site in Kuhlmühle is home to the ‘Centre for Social and Ecological Sustainability, Permaculture and Closeness to Nature’ (ZfN), which covers an area of around 27 hectares. Several bungalows, two terraced flat blocks, a four-sided mill, a three-storey hotel and various smaller buildings (boathouse, sauna, forester’s lodge, boiler house, shed, garages) are spread over this huge area. The project, which is currently occupied by around 40 people, aims to bring new life to the region by hosting a colourful mix of thematically diverse seminars, workshops and events on the site. The aim is to provide space for sustainable ways of living and experimentation, for example in the open workshop, where open source mechanical engineering (with a focus on open source ecology!) or DIY projects in general are carried out. We are very impressed by the variety of uses and design of the premises and the overall character of the site. The local hand mill museum and the lake within walking distance give us the rest: what a beautiful, promising and versatile place!

We will certainly be back and hope to work together in the future!

Our next stop took us to a well-known location, which is also an important hub within the association’s work and the pilot phase of the OpenEcoLab idea: the OpenEcoLab Blievenstorf, which OSEG has been operating for several years. In addition to the open workshop operated by OSEG as required, the former forestry operation also offers several overnight accommodation options, meaning that the OpenEcoLab is also suitable for organising events and workshops lasting several days. For example, welding workshops and club meetings have been held here in the past. It was great to see the progress being made on the site and to talk to local association member Max about the association’s work and the future.

The journey continued, this time travelling almost 300 km west to beautiful North Rhine-Westphalia to OpenEcoLab Rahden. Oliver Schlüter runs an impressive number of different projects here: A workshop (specialising in wood processing), an electronics lab, an organic lab and a vegetable and herb nursery. There is also a seminar room and three guest rooms in the building complex (which we gratefully occupied). The insight into the ZACplus Citizen Science Project, which Oliver is running this year, was particularly exciting. This open source ecology project is about researching the function of a zinc-air fuel cell in joint workshops and developing suitable (open) hardware (click here for the video channel). I was very impressed to see how many thematic fields the OpenEcoLab Rahden covers, be it in the energy sector, 3D printing, the production of open source hardware, the realisation of educational projects, the production and preservation of food, the use of sustainable construction methods and much more. This shows us once again how well the content of open source ecology can be combined with the circular practices of a circular society. Thank you very much and see you soon, Oli!

Our (unfortunately) last stage for the time being took us to Alte Hölle e.V.: As part of the VOW Summer Camp 2024, the association of open workshops invited all ‘workshop makers and do-it-yourselfers, interested parties and friends of maker cultures’ to exchange ideas, play together, learn, eat and relax in a pleasant and lively atmosphere. As a long-standing member of the VOW, we naturally didn’t want to miss out on this.

As a ‘lively project location for sustainable living, encounters, crafts, digitalisation & art’, we encounter the Alte Hölle e.V. as an exciting, extensive area with various buildings ranging from a hotel with a pool to a guest house and a boiler house. The ACZ Manufaktur, which is loosely connected to the project, is located in the immediate vicinity. The ACZ is a production centre for creativity and innovation, where permanent, partially open workshops, studios and offices as well as project-related work halls are created.

In addition to the relaxed atmosphere, there was a lot to experience: workshops offered the opportunity to learn how to work wood by hand and with a chainsaw, gain initial practical experience with tractors and all-terrain forklift trucks or build an open source synthesiser.

In the evening, the ‘Open Stage’ provided space for the presentation of interesting projects and further information about the VOW Summer Festival. In addition to exciting presentations by the Solarpunk movement (which also happened to be there) and activists from the VOW circle, the new VOW image film was also shown. We also had the opportunity to present our OpenEcoLab mapping and approach interested locations that would like to participate in the project as OpenEcoLabs.

The next day started with a small cleaning and packing marathon to make the ‘hell’ accessible again for those who came after us. We finished off with a small bike repair session, which breathed new life into five bikes (FRE!LAUF Spirit) and returned to the big city in the evening.

We are overwhelmed by the equipment, the operators and the large grounds of Alte Hölle e.V.! We really enjoyed attending the summer festival, meeting all the great people, having inspiring and interesting conversations and making lots of new connections. It was a wonderful event and an incredibly inspiring place that we are happy to welcome as OpenEcoLab. Many, many thanks to Alte Hölle e.V. and the VOW!

On the way, one of our vehicles was involved in an accident and we were met with incredible teamwork and support on site at the Alte Hölle. Many thanks to all the helping hands at this point.

We conclude this tour with many new impressions, contacts and lots of encouragement for our OpenEcoLab Mapping project.

Many thanks to everyone who gave us such an incredibly friendly, open and enriching welcome. Special thanks also to Nora for the many great photos! 🙂