Et kreativt brændpunkt i Mern

1. Åndehullet Et kreativt brændpunkt i Mern Fra rensningsanlæg til kreativt socialt center

2. Åndehullet Vision and Objectives Vision: To reconstructMern´srensingsanlæginto a creative humane centre which has as aim the promotion and activation of creative , social and (inter-) learningactivities, to the benefit of people in not just Mern, but in the whole of Sydsjælland. Objectives: 1) Åndehullet´s purpose is to promote and offer a greatversatility of highclasscreativeactivities in the form of lectures, workshops and courses in the areas of craftmanship, art, music, design, writing, theatre, dance and more by specialists in the field to peopleinterested of all ages, from young to old. 2) Åndehullet´s purpose is to create a bridge between generations, where the skills and experiences of the older generation canbe offered to the younger generation, and where the love for learning and new experiencein the younger generation canbe an inspiration and a feeling of usefulness to the older generation. 3) Åndehullet´s purpose is to facilitate a place of meeting and mixing to people in Mern. 4) Åndehullet’s purpose is to create and facilitate a place of recreationand respiration in a natural and peaceful environment. 5) Åndehullet´s purpose is to be a futuristic centre for new think seminars and humanistic events. 6) Åndehullet´s purpose is to befinanciallyself-generative and sustaining. 7) Åndehullet´saim is to make Mern a more attractive and inspiringvillage to be and live in, and to attractpeople from outside to it.

3. Åndehullet Objectiveone: ideas Objectiveone: To promote and offer a greatversatility of highclasscreativeactivities in the form of lectures, workshops and courses in the areas of craftmanship, art, music, design, writing, theatre, dance and more by specialists in the field to peopleinterested of all ages, from young to old. 1) VillageprojectAabakkehusehas withinit´snetwork acces to some 50 creative national and inter-nationalteachers and lecturers of highcaliber with expertise in some the followingcreativefields: Music: Song writing, singinglessons, choir, piano lessons, trumpetlessons, violin lessons, composing and musical composition, ”babysang”, musical bands. Art and Design: Architecture, garden design, design, classicalpaintingtechniques in portrait,trompelóeil, still life and landscape painting, abstract painting, perspectivedrawing, model drawing, marbling and wood imitation, sowingclothes, caligraphy, paperclip art, workshops about the influence of colour, lectures on the influence of beauty and art. Craftmanship: Woodworkand woodsculpture, furniture, strawbale house buildingtechniques. Theatre and dance: Bellydancing, electrobix (a kind of Tai Chi), Writing workshops For more information pleasesee the added list of C.V.´s of peoplewanting to contribute in thisway to Åndehullet. 2) Othercreativeactivities: Generated by people in Mern and surroundingsthatwant to partake, othersattracted by Åndehullet on a national and international basis, eveningschoolactivities, whereeveningschoolssuch as L.O.F. Vordingborg can rent Åndehullet´sfacilities. Focus: creativeactivities not in competition with eveningschools and ungdomskoler in the surroundings. 3) Finances / prices: All creativeactivitiesshould not cost more thanregulareveningschoolprices and for the pricesshouldbekeptdown to an absolute minimum for the youth to createmaximumaccessibility.

4. Åndehullet Objectivetwo: Ideas Objectivetwo: To create a bridge between generations, where the skills and experiences of the older generation canbe offered to the younger generation, and where the love for learning and new experience in the younger generation canbe an inspiration and a feeling of beinguseful to the older generation. 1) And thiscanbeanyone, from a retiredcarpenter in Mern who loves to pass on woodworkskills, to a local farmer tellingabouthow to grow a vegetable garden afterwhich the youthcanwork in the vegetable garden on the ground of Åndehullet, to a nurse talkingaboutfirstaid. 2) A monthlyyouthactivitiy with occasionalpresentations to the public, yearlyyouth camp events. Somepeople in Åbakkehuseare the founders of ”Den Blå Paraplu”, a youth organisation thatorganized in 2010 a ten day international youth event on the grounds of Åbakkehuse, in which 50 younsters in the age from 13 to 25 wereinvolved. The event wassponsored by the E.U. and exampled by the E.U. as a highly succesful event. 3) Story tellingeveningswhereolderpeopletellabout the miracles in theirlife to a youngeraudience and whattheylearned from it. 4) Seminars and think tanks for teachersaboutquestionsthatconcerneducation and working with youngpeople in these times, headed up by experts in the field. 5) Occasional sports / nature walkactivities for the localyouth.

5. Åndehullet Objectivethree: ideas Objectivethree: to facilitate a place of meeting and mixingto people in Mern. A cafe thatwillbeopenedinitiallyone or twodays a week (weekend) which houses an art exhibition. Evenings in the cafe with music performances and bands thatare not mainstream and as such not in competition with Multicum. A writertellingabout his latest book, to an astrologer doing a readingabout the year to come. Showing a film on big screen so once in a whileifpossible (needs research) Renting it out to people in Mern and surroundings for birthday parties, marriages and so forth Billiardevenings / a chessclubafternoon… Yearlygatherings in Mern such as Sankt Hans, grill days and so forththatcan go on in the cafe. A swimming bassin open in the summer.

6. Åndehullet Objectivefour: Ideas ObjectiveFour: to create and facilitate a place of recreation and respiration in a natural and peaceful environment. Åndehullet willbe a natural addition and extension to the alreadyexisting ”Sundhedsstien” in Mern, and willthereforeattract more people to go out for a walk. Mern has not manypossibilities of accessing nature by foot, and ”Sundhedsstien” is a projectthat promotes this. On the grounds of Åndehullet a vegetable and herb garden couldbecreated in whichchildren and youngsters of Mern couldlearnhow to growfood and even bring somefoodhome! A small animal garden couldbe part of the place with a fewrabbits, goats, chickens,pheasants, peacocks, swans, ducks and pitchenswherechildren in the neighboorhood, under supervision, canlearnabouttakingcare of animals. Eventuallyolderyoungsterscouldget a more responsiblefunction in this and ”run it”. The animal garden willbe an extraattraction for people to come to the place. Thereare plans for creating a wellbeing and peace garden, thatcouldbecome an extension of the Åndehullet project (seeaddeddrawings) Along the ”sundhedsstien” a ”balhytte” and ” work out” equipmentareplanned to beplaced. Creating an environmentlikethiswillmake Åndehullet a placethatcaneasilyberented out to private people (parties and celebrations) and businesses, wanting to do team building or trainings. In the latter case, team building and training events canevenbe offered and / or facilitated by twohighlyexperienced international team building and coaching expertsliving in Åbakkehuse. Part of the ”respiration” couldbe meditation and yoga events, stress management and so forth. A profesionaltrained nurse lives in Aabakkehuse and heworks with healing and gives well-beingtreatments. A swimming bassin open in the summer.

7. Åndehullet Objectivefive: Ideas Objectivefive: To be a futuristic centre for new think seminars and humanistic events. Åndehullet couldberented out as a course and seminar facility to businesses, especiallyduringweekdays, using part of the facility or the wholefacility. A website couldbe made for this to PR and marketthis. The aimwouldbe to makegoodincome with thisthatcanbeused to grow and finance the project. Aabakkehuse has hostedseveral international events and willcontinue to do so. To mentionsome in the last threeyears: An international gatheringfocussing on humanity and the understanding of gender, an international youth camp supported by the EU, an international ecology seminar. For 2012 alreadytwo international events arescheduled to go on in aabakkehuse, and more are in the planning. Aabakkehusecould rent facilies from Åndehullet where it fits in the calendar.

8. Åndehullet Objectivesix: Questions Objectivesix: to befinanciallyself-generative and sustaining. The firstquestion is: Whatwould”Rensningsanlæget” cost? If it wouldcost Vordingborg commune perhaps two to three million to pull it down, couldsome of thesecostsbeused to renovate the place or bewithdrawn from the market sales price? Whatwould it cost to renovate the place to agreeable standards? What funds canbeattracted to finance it? Whatwould the estimatedyearlyrunningcosts for the placebe? Whatwould PR and marketing cost? Although it mightneedlots of volunteeringwork in the start, it needseventuallysomeone to run the place and thisincludeswages. Such a person (people) wouldneed to have the followingskills: To be a goodproject manager Administrative qualities Beingable to run a cafe Keeping the facilitiesclean Beingable to do small repairwork Beinggood at PR, marketing and networking Beingable to makeattractive PR materials Have a goodsense for interior design and decoration Havinggood social skills Burn for the project Speak and write Danish and English, prefarably more languages 7) What do the incomesneed to be on a yearly basis for the project to beable to run? 8) If ”rensningsanæget” canbebought, whenwouldthatbe and how long would it take to rebuild it? 9) Whoowns the place?

9. Åndehullet Objectiveseven: Considerations Objectiveseven:to make Mern a more attractive and inspiringvillage to be and live in, and to attractpeople from outside to it. Mern is a villagesituatedamongstfields with nodirectforest or lakesconnected to it. On foot it has not beeneasy to come out in nature, but the ”sundhedsstien” has changed this. Yet, a lot more canbe done to make Mern a more attractiveplace, and any small or bigimprovementwill have an effect on the villagecollective. Åndehullet is such a project. The more people in mernareinvolved in theseimprovements, the more it will give a collectivefeelingthatthingscanbe changed and canbeimproved. This causesstature and proudness as an overall radiation, and thiswillcall for furtherimprovements, individually and collectively ( Recently bestsellers like ”the Tipping Point” explainthisphenomenon). A naturalbloomingplacewillthereforeattract more people. In a time where more and more peoplearemoving from the countryside to the biggertowns, Mern couldbecome an exampleship of howthiscanbeturned. Manypeoplewholived in Mern theirwholelife, have not alwayscontact with ”newcomers” and the otherwayaroundthiscounts as well. Åndehullet canbecome a placewheremanycanmeet in a greatversatility of activities, not just bridging the gapbetween generations, but alsobetweenindividuals. This causes a greaterfeeling of togetherness, teamship and humanity, and placeswherethishappenstherewillbe more intersupport and lessloneliness. It gives a feeling of belonging. Due to the ongoing and expectedworseningfinancecrisis, the coming times willbecome more and more difficult with lessmoneyavailable for social and healthcare. In an atmosphere of teamship more voluntairyworkwillbe done, and peoplearenaturallycared for. Investing in a projectsuch as Åndehullet couldeventuallybecome a money saver in the long run. Whenpeople have the ability to stayfit, physically, mentallly and emotionally, social costs and healthcost go down. Inspiredpeoplecause inspiration. And this gives energysurplus, a feeling of lifebeingspecial and a feeling of much more canbe done. It is envisioned for Åndehullet to becomesuch a place. A placethatalsoattractspeople from outside Mern, thatlodgetheir inspiration in Mern and the peoplelivinghere. Åndehullet couldthereforebecome a projectthatmanyother institutions, projects, schools and so forthmightlike to visit and spend time in. Here in Mern it couldbe, as an example, a great asset to Multicum.

10. Åndehullet En MonolithicDome er en kuppelformet bygning. Faktisk kan en MonolithicDome være alt fra en halv kugle til et æg, bare ikke firkantet! En kuppel kan bygges fra 3m til 300m i diameter uden søjler eller bærende skillevæge. Konceptet er opfundet af Brødre South i USA i begyndelsen af halvfjerdserne, og på hjemmesiden www.monolithic.com kan man se mange eksempler på dome-huse/bygninger. Design ideas ”Jeg valgte at bygge et dome-hus, fordi det opfylder alle disse krav bedre end et traditionelt hus. En kuppel har f.eks. 25 % mindre overflade end et firkantet hus med sadeltag. Det betyder bl.a. 25 % mindre varmetab, betydeligt mindre energiforbrug til opvarmning og afkøling og et mindre materialeforbrug. En Monolithic kuppel er fød uden kuldebroer, er bomstærk og kræver minimal vedligeholdelse. Levetiden er flere hundrede år." Kan man komme til at se Dome-huset live? Faktisk er der to dome-huse her i Esbjerg (som de eneste i Vesteuropa). Domehuset kan besøges efter aftale. Bare send en mail på: hans.vandersman@webspeed.dk.