Biketour experiences – Page 11

Archive by category "Biketour experiences" (Page 11)

An introduction to Kan Pasqual

mandolinquent July 13, 2012 July 13, 2012

Kan Pascual was originally occupied by a group of students and young people who were occupying various places in the late 90’s. They were interested in primitivism and the zapatista movement, and they began living basic with wood fires. They use solar energy complimented by wind energy – a combination which serves them well. They have experimented with biogas from the manure of their neighbour’s horses. They could produce 2 hours of gas per day. however, they had trouble controlling the gas and have stopped for the moment. They use water from the well and rainwater from the roof of…

An introduction to Can Masdeu

mandolinquent July 12, 2012 July 12, 2012

Can Masdeu is an abandoned leprosy hospital in a nature reserve on the outskirts of barcelona. Building and surrounding land was occupied in 2001 by a group of 7 people and slowly transformed into a social centre, allotments and a home. The building itself is owned by ‘hospital de la pau’ – a combination of public and private bodies including the council, the hospital and the church. They planned to make money from the building by turning it into luxury flats for the rich – not a popular plan amongst local people! In catalunya it is both a civil and…

The biketour has finally started

biketour July 9, 2012 July 13, 2012

The first people were meeting on friday, preparing the camp at Can Masdeu and later joined the biggest Critical Mass ever in Barcelona. On saturday more people arrived constantly. For about three hours, Biciclot offered us their workshop, tools, spare parts and knowledge in order to prepare our bicycles for the tour. Since there is a water shortage (it’s summer and it’s the mediterranean!) and the campsite didn’t gave us the possibility to shower, a short detour to the beach on the way back was a welcome refreshment. We attempted to form our first circle in the evening but ended…

One month on…

biketour March 14, 2012 March 14, 2012

Hello ecotopia biketour friends, João and Alice, our international coordinators, have been in Barcelona for one month already, they have had many incredible adventures and felt like blogging about what they’ve been up to: We have spent the first few weeks mainly trying to get contacts (an endless task) and looking for concrete places and projects to pass by. We have been working out important dates (registration, starting and end dates, big stops) and making a big tasks plan (website, route details, wiki organisation, propaganda, video, etc…). These are all happily up on the wall in Research and Degrowth’s office…

A mental journey, not just 2000km by bike

Laura December 9, 2010 December 17, 2010

The Ecotopia Biketour 2010 travelled ecologically for 10 weeks through England, Wales, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. People came from all corners of Europe to form this mobile ecological activist community, to create one hell of a jam-packed summer project. After 6 months of organising the route, I was glad when it finally started and I was doing things with people face to face. There was a million things left to organise, but they would have to be done on the way. I said it was so good to be on my bike, with a map and a good…

Bike and buslanes in Tirana

daniel July 26, 2009 July 26, 2009

Thursday morning, after saying goodbye to Lisa and Felix, the biketour had a rendez-vous with people from ECAT, a Tirana based NGO which assist the government on environmental and technical issues. As Tirana is totally overcrowded with cars, the city has a problem with small particle (soot) pollution. To fight this silent killer the local government started to promote public transport and cycling in town. After visiting several towns in France and Germany, ECAT made a plan to construct combined bike- and buslanes. These will encourage citizens to make more use non-polluting transport options. ECAT invited The Biketour for a…

The Smelter of Veles

daniel July 10, 2009 July 10, 2009

On the 7th and 8th of July the biketour visited the town of Veles. Veles is well know for it is high level of pollution. The pollution is mainly due to a very old iron smelter build in the early seventies by a German company. The smelter produced high polluted smoke which is blown by the wind in the direction of the town of Veles. What impacts the health of Veles’ people even wore is a big hill of heavy metal dust laying a round next to the old factor. The factory is close now for 5 years, but the…