Apr 21 2020

#StayAtHome and Europe’s housing crisis

By Nikos Chrysogelos | Actions, News | No Comments

Housing Europe: a position paper: The COVID-19 pandemic exposes the shortcomings of our housing policies

#StayAtHome, #ZuHauseBleiben, #ResterChezVous, #RestateACasa, #QuédateEnCasa #MenoumeSpiti… the language is not so important, but the message is clear. Citizens around the globe are ordered, requested or recommended to stay at home- depending on the level of the measures taken by each government- contributing thus to the universal effort to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 spread. Confinement and social distancing are considered by most national authorities and by the EU Institutions as an effective way in getting this extraordinary global health crisis under control. Such a decision to implement a lockdown, keeping people at home, surely has multiple consequences but also brings to the surface, once again, Europe’s housing crisis.

Concretely, #StayAtHome is easier said than done for a very large part of the EU population:

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND) highlighted already in 2016 that “Inadequacies…. still affect a substantial proportion of the population in most Member States. Some inadequacies, such as lack of indoor sanitary facilities, are close to non-existent in some countries while affecting up to a fifth of the population in others.” EUROFOUND also calculated that the annual total cost to the economies of the EU of leaving people living in inadequate housing is nearly €194 billion.
Eurostat has been warning that in 2017, over 15 % of the EU population lived in overcrowded dwellings; the highest rate among the Member States was in Romania (47%).
Looking at EU SILC data, our Observatory highlighted in its relevant briefing that on average 4 out of 10 people on low incomes aged between 16 and 29 in the EU live in a situation of overcrowding.
Housing Europe’s ‘The State of Housing in the EU 2019’ report shed light once again to the alarming trend one can observe in housing-related expenditure. 37.8% of households at risk of poverty spend over 40% of their disposable income on housing . At the same time, when housing costs are taken into account, 156 million people are at risk of poverty, as against 85 million before housing costs are taken into account (EU SILC).
The European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless FEANTSA pointed out that “Staying Home” is definitely not an option for over 700,000 people across Europe experiencing homelessness.
According to EU Energy Poverty Observatory estimations more than 50 million households in the European Union are experiencing energy poverty.

Housing Europe President, Cédric Van Styvendael stresses that:

“Anyone can easily understand that within this housing crisis that Europe has been confronted with for many years now, asking people to stay at home is far from than simple for many of them. We are proud that our sector plays the role of a much-needed safety net during this pandemic, while we also add our voice to international calls to stop evictions anywhere for any reason. More than ever, we are mobilized to make access to decent and affordable housing an essential right. We strongly believe that Europe’s Green Deal must be a social one and must imperatively integrate the challenge of reviving the production of social housing to accompany the unprecedented crisis we are facing.”

The UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Leilani Farha urged on March 18th governments around the world not to allow any evictions, anywhere for any reason as “housing is the front line defence against the COVID-19 outbreak”.

COVID-19 and the public, cooperative & social housing sector

Within this new global reality that impacts directly and hits hard the everyday work of public, cooperative and social housing providers, they are the safety net that millions of people around Europe desperately need at the moment. Below, we put together an overview of the actions taken so far to deal with these tough circumstances:

GdW, the Federal Association of Housing and Real Estate Companies, the umbrella organization of the relevant sectors in Germany along with their real estate sector partners issued a joint statement, stressing how coordinated partnerships are now more vital than ever. They have also called together with the Tenants’ Union for the introduction of “Secure housing funds” in times of crisis. Tenants who are not able to pay their rent or part of it due to COVID-19, should be eligible to apply for support on this new online platform that will be set up.

The Italian Cooperative Housing sector proposed exceptional preventative measures to support low income families paying their rent. In this difficult moment Legacoop Abitanti, one of the Italian Associations of Housing Cooperatives, expressed solidarity towards the most affected people and gratitude to those offering their commitment, including the Social Cooperation sector that has been close to the most vulnerable also during this state of emergency.

The Inhabitants Cooperation is playing its role at the service of the members, keeping some essential services and activating new forms of community resilience, which represents a distinctive sign of our history. #IoRestoaCasa (#WeStayAtHome) truly underlines the HOME question, and the need to re-think it. From an economic point of view, Legacoop Abitanti believes that the impact of the COVID-19 crisis will lead to further difficulties for vulnerable families to pay the rent, causing a very negative social effect in the medium term.

Legacoop Abitanti, through its President Rossana Zaccaria, expresses a positive evaluation about the effort of the Italian Decree “Cura Italia”, in order to face the public health emergency and to preserve both families’ and workers’ safety. However, concerning the Home question, the Decree provided measures referring exclusively to the mortgages (Art. 54) and the suspension of evictions until 30 June 2020 (Art 103, Paragraph 6). Legacoop Abitanti, together with the Alliance of Italian Cooperatives – Housing sector, proposes exceptional measures to support low-income tenants who will struggle in paying rents. Concretely, with an amendment to Art. 54 at the “Cura Italia” decree, they propose an increase of 50 million Euros of the existing “Fondo per morosità incolpevole” (Fund for tenants arrears – due to loss of income ) for year 2020: this can be done with a specific additional spending chapter, with an extension of the pool of the beneficiaries, including families renting both social housing and cooperative undivided property dwellings, since these perform a welfare function allowing the access to the renting market. This provision shall be a preventative measure, using the same operating procedures as for the management of the Fund, therefore with the immediate disbursement of the contribution directly to the landlords in order to avoid eviction procedures – a condition provided by the current mechanisms – for a maximum period of 6 months and covering 70% of the total amount of the rent and related costs. Legacoop truly believes that now the containment of the increase of social fragility is necessary, maintaining access to housing as an essential hub of welfare and community resilience.

Community Housing Cymru in Wales published a guide for housing associations coping with Coronavirus (COVID-19), which is continuously updated. From advice on managing availability of supplies to essential services to flexibility in grant & funding processes.

Union Sociale pour l’ Habitat in France issued a statement on the introduction of organizational measures to allow the seamless continuity of the service, announcing to examine the personal situations of tenants and delivery of customized support, likewise rental evictions are postponed. They have also published a Crisis Management Coronavirus Dossier for their members briefing on how to stay informed and communicate and continue support and care activities.

The National Housing Federation in England stressed in their press statement that ‘’No one should lose their home because of coronavirus’’

The Austrian Federation of Limited-Profit Housing Associations (GBV) urges members to follow a full stop on evictions and rent arrears.

Our Swedish cooperative member HSB shared their own coronavirus-related recommendations calling for coordination between housing associations and state responses.

Guidance and advice for the members of the Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) includes an extensive list of related resources.

Both in Ireland, according to the ICSH, and in Spain, according to AVS, rents will be adapted automatically based on income.

AVS believes that, now more than ever, having a large stock of public, social, and affordable housing, with professional and specialized providers, will be key to prevent thousands of families from being at risk of losing their homes. AVS sends a message of tranquility to the thousands of families who live for rent in the houses of the public park. Its members are taking measures in favour of tenants who have had a significant reduction in their income, due to the state of emergency in Spain.

In the Netherlands, the Association of Dutch Social Housing Companies, Aedes advised its members (managing more than 1/3 of the total housing stock in the country) to seek solutions for tenants who experience payment difficulties as a result of the corona crisis, to avoid evictions and to allow construction and maintenance activities to continue as much as possible, but only if health is guaranteed.

Macroeconomic responses and the housing dimension

The European Central Bank has announced a €750bn bond-buying programme. The central bank said all the extra asset purchases would be carried out this year and cover both sovereign bonds and corporate debt. This so-called Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme will last until the coronavirus crisis is judged to be over. For the purchases of public sector securities, the benchmark allocation across jurisdictions will continue to be the capital key of the national central banks. The Governing Council of the ECB committed to support all citizens of the euro area through this extremely challenging time, ensuring that all sectors of the economy can benefit from supportive financing conditions that enable them to absorb this shock. This applies equally to families, firms, banks and governments.

The European Commission agreed to loosen the State Aid rules, enabling Member States to be more flexible and effective in their support measures. The new Temporary Framework will enable Member States to (i) set up schemes direct grants (or tax advantages) up to €500,000 to a company, (ii) give subsidised State guarantees on bank loans, (iii) enable public and private loans with subsidised interest rates. Finally (iv), the new Temporary Framework will recognise the important role of the banking sector to deal with the economic effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, namely to channel aid to final customers, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises. The Temporary Framework makes clear that such aid is direct aid to the banks’ customers, not to the banks themselves. And it gives guidance on how to minimise any undue residual aid to the banks in line with EU rules.

Finally, the Eurogroup (ministers of the euro area member states) acknowledged in its statement the need for flexibility in the Stability and Growth Pact “to cater for unusual events outside the control of governments”.

This newly introduced flexibility is welcomed but must be extended to essential services such as housing providers whose value to society is clearer than ever at this time of crisis.

Apr 21 2020

Hope for cooperative SMEs: EU Adopts Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative to combat COVID-19

By Nikos Chrysogelos | Actions, News | No Comments

Employment & Social Inclusion Entrepreneurship Sustainable Growth

On the 30th of March, the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative has been adopted to ease Member States’ economic effort in the fight against COVID-19 outbreak. Cohesion funds can help SMEs, including industrial and service cooperatives.

European citizens are facing an unprecedented situation characterised by loss and suffering due to the outbreak of the new Coronavirus pandemic. While Italy and Spain seem to be the most affected countries in the EU and are facing the dire consequences of healthcare systems saturation and higher number of deaths, all Member States face severe public health distress and threats.

Most Governments have taken steps to limit the citizens’ ability to circulate and work, through social distancing strategies going from recommendations to mandatory self-isolation since the virus is still largely unknown to medical experts and a vaccine remains to be developed.

The economic consequences of this fight to protect public health are critical. For this reason, the European Union adopted two regulations that will allow Member States to quickly release funding from the EU budget for tackling the COVID-19 crisis. One of the acts amends the rules of the structural and investment funds, while the other widens the scope of the EU Solidarity Fund.

The Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative (CRII) will allow Member States to use EUR 37 billion of cohesion money to strengthen healthcare systems, as well as support small and medium-sized enterprises, short-term working schemes, and community-based services.

Funds from CRII can be used by Member States to support working capital of SMEs.

About €8 billion of the total amount will come from unspent 2019 cohesion money. “The new measure allows member states to spend unused money to mitigate the impact of the pandemic instead of returning it to the EU budget. Another €29 billion will be disbursed early from allocations which would have been due later this year”, the Council affirms.

All expenditure will be retroactive as of 1 February 2020 to cover costs already incurred.

The Council also amended the scope of the EU Solidarity Fund to include public health emergencies in addition to natural disasters.

Apr 21 2020

COVID19: How cooperatives in industry and services are responding to the crisis

By Nikos Chrysogelos | Actions | No Comments

An article written by CECOP, the European confederation of industrial & service #coops which represents 50,000 enterprises bringing democracy and solidarity within the workplace

While the world is facing an unprecedented health and economic crisis, cooperatives in industry and services are reorganizing themselves, finding strength in the people and communities they serve.

At the end of 2019, a new virus, known as Coronavirus or COVID-19, quickly spread around the world and the sheer number of people who have become ill represents a considerable stress test for the health systems in many countries. In the absence of a vaccine against the virus, many States have found themselves forced to take social distancing measures to flatten the curve of the spread of the virus. These measures have led to the closure of most businesses and services whose activities are not considered essential and have forced people to quarantine in their homes.

Overnight, many people have found themselves out of work and businesses do not have the staff needed to guarantee the same continuity of production and delivery of services to the public. Small and medium-sized enterprises, workers (and particularly the self-employed) were the first victims of a virus-crisis that has spread from the health sector to the many different economic sectors in each State. (Read more on the COVID-19 impact on SMEs)

While the virus is said to be egalitarian, hitting everyone indiscriminately, regardless of their social or economic status, the social and economic inequalities, which already exist in our societies, mean that the crisis is having a particularly devastating impact on the most vulnerable members of society. By losing their job as a result of the lockdown, people who are already at risk of poverty are losing their main source of income and being denied access to essential goods and services. People who are already vulnerable and marginalized are now suffering further from limited or even non-existent access to health and social care and are being deprived of their network of support. Women workers are faced with a dual burden: not only do they represent 70 percent of the workforce in the healthcare system globally, they are now being forced to work longer shifts and to carry out additional work at home.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates a 6.7% loss of hours worked, which is equivalent to 230 million full-time workers, in the second quarter of the year due to the epidemic and also expect global unemployment to increase considerably during 2020. The latter will depend mainly on future developments and policy measures, according to the ILO.

From the four continents, CICOPA member organizations are calling upon States to deliver measures to help those workers affected by the crisis, particularly vulnerable workers, such as people with disabilities or workers in the informal economy, who were already in a vulnerable situation beforehand and are now suffering even more as a consequence of the crisis.

How are our cooperatives coping with the crisis?

A post written by CECOP, the European confederation of industrial & service #coops which represents 50,000 enterprises bringing democracy and solidarity within the workplace

Despite the difficulties, cooperatives are demonstrating their ability to reorganize themselves, to reinvent themselves and to cooperate. (Read our solidarity message)

The need for a community-based economic model is vital in these moments. A model that serves its people and its communities and finds its strength in the support of those very same people and communities

In this context, worker and social cooperatives are carrying on doing what they have always done: protecting their workers, responding to the needs of society and acting at the local level.

The following collection of initiatives that have been put in place by cooperatives in the industry and service sector around the world provides us with an opportunity for joint reflection, as well as a series of lessons from which we can learn and draw inspiration for the future. Because, rather than being an act of heroism in a time of crisis, cooperation is a way of being every single day. (Read more: Covid-19 – time to rethink free market capitalism?)

COOPERATIVE INTITIATIVES AROUND EUROPE

Helping people in need is what cooperatives are and what they do.

In order to reach out to the thousands of migrants and foreigners in Italy and to make the measure taken by the government during the crisis accessible and understandable, the social cooperative, Arcà di Noé, has launched a multilingual campaign.
An example of responsibility and commitment comes from the Italian social cooperative Airone di Magenta, where thirteen employees have decided to confine themselves in the retirement home where they work to protect the elderly. “Our role is to protect them”, says the President Sabrina Sacanni. (Read the article in Italian)
As well as all the services previously mentioned, CERCINA (Cooperative for Education, Rehabilitation, Empowerment and Inclusion in Nazaré, in Portugal), also provides a regional radio station, Rádio Nazaré. During the pandemic, the radio plays an important role as a public service agent, providing credible news and general information about COVID-19 and its consequences in terms of public health and economic impact. It is also a friendly companion for the elderly or the digitally excluded, since it helps to combat social isolation.
In Poland, the social cooperative “Równość”, which provides home delivery services, has launched the home delivery of blessed baskets for people who were unable to go to church to have their food blessed on Holy Sunday due to the ban on large church gatherings. This is a very important tradition for many Poles.
Very often, the fundamental role played by cooperatives in the fight against Coronavirus, particularly the provision of services and care to citizens, does not receive the headlines it deserves. However, health workers, social workers and educators now, more than ever, have a greater ethical and professional responsibility in the fight against COVID-19, while putting their own health at risk. (Read about the case of the Italian Cooperative La Macina in Italian)

Many worker cooperatives around the world have converted or adapted (part of) their production to produce personal protective equipment that can save many lives.

In Spain, a cooperative of the Mondragón group is adapting its production to manufacture 60 million masks over a six-month period. This project is part of the strategy to stimulate the national production of PPE for the healthcare sector. (Read more here in Spanish)
Inspired by the sixth cooperative principle, namely cooperation among cooperatives, 12 Italian cooperatives affiliated to Legacoop have joined forces to launch the production of 400,000 cotton, washable masks for people working in sectors that are still operating during the emergency. Coopfond, the promotion fund of Legacoop, is financing the project.
A similar initiative is taking place in Bulgaria, where 17 worker cooperatives, employing people with disabilities, are producing high quality face masks, whilst at the same time securing an income for a vulnerable category of workers. (Read more here in Bulgarian)
Whilst on the subject of masks and solidarity, the 58 members of the French worker cooperative SCOP TI, after ensuring the correct protection of workers, have decided to transfer their stock of protective equipment to medical personnel who have been in dire need of PPE since the epidemic began. Together with the masks, they have also sent some boxes of their tea “to warm up” the medical staff whilst they are on duty. (Read more here in French)
In Poland, the pharmaceutical worker cooperative ESPEFA, which has had to stop its activities, is in the process of obtaining permission to start production of disinfectant products in order to deliver them to hospitals and to the general public.
The primary objective of the Polish Social Cooperative “Centrum Aktywizacji Zawodowej” is to reintegrate people at risk of social exclusion and people with disabilities in the job market to ensure that they are able to work. The cooperative which, in normal times, produces wooden decorations that are particularly popular during the wedding season, has decided to convert its production to the manufacturing of masks to be delivered for free to the local healthcare service. The atmosphere of mutual respect and mutual help promoted by the cooperative motivates its members’ self-development and integration within society. (Read more in Polish)
Worker cooperatives affiliated to our Czech member of the Union of Czech Production cooperatives, which are active in the clothing and chemical industry, have adapted their production to the actual needs dictated by the COVID-19 situation, starting with the production of textile protection masks and disinfectant products (Druchema cooperative) to be provided to private and public entities.

Solidarity and inter-cooperation are fundamentals of cooperatives and constitute two important values that help cooperatives to offer effective responses to the crisis.

In the city of Bergamo, which is the epicenter of the epidemic in Italy, hotels managed by social cooperatives have been converted into hospitals to free up beds. Inside the buildings, the all staff have been replaced by nurses. (See the video in French)
In these difficult times, drivers have to guarantee the delivery of food and medicines. In solidarity with another sector in the frontline of this crisis, the board members of Transcoop cooperative in the Emilia Romagna Region (Italy) have decided to donate 50,000 EUR to the local health service to help health care personnel in these difficult days.
In the UK, community cooperatives are reorganizing to ensure the provision of services and meals to the most vulnerable and self-isolated people in their community. A fine example of this approach is the Bevy Pub in Brighton which, following its closure, decided to reallocate staff time to focus on what could be done and now organizes the delivery of hot meals for people in need.
The tourism sector is also suffering from the consequences of the lock down, but on the Platform coop start-up Fairbnb in Italy, hosts are offering accommodation to health workers and are looking to help communities rebuild. (Read more: Relief campaign launched by Fairbnb in Italy)

Working from home? Do it cooperatively.

For those of you who are safe and healthy and would like to keep working cooperatively while at home, two worker cooperatives could provide the answer to your needs: check out Loomio or CObudget collaborative platforms.

CECOP MEMBER ORGANISATIONS’ MESSAGES and ACTIONS

Apr 07 2020

YESclima 3d study visit: Training of Greek and Spanish young experts in Berlin on climate action

By Nikos Chrysogelos | Actions | No Comments

By Hartwig Berger

Training program in Berlin, for the 3d YESclima team Berlin, March 2020

The EUKI project YESclima offers practical training for students on energy audits in buildings. A total of 22 young people, selected on a gender-balanced basis are carrying out energy audits in schools in small towns in the province of Cadiz and in towns near Athens, since autumn 2018. They are elaborating proposals on how these schools can be made more climate-friendly by activities and refurbishment. Two of the teams have already paparticipated in training programmes in Berlin. The third team consisted of 3 students from Athens and 3 students from the province of Cádiz visited Berlin in March 2020 for their training course some days before the lockdown. All were students or had just finished studies in industrial (1), mechanical (2) and environmental engineering (1) and in architecture (2). The Cádiz group have started their activities on 1st January 2020, the Greek group on 15th February.

The training program was planned for two weeks, including two parts:

I. projects and activities of energy saving and climate protection in Berlin and its surroundings, 7 workdays
II. A course in empowerment, employability and entrepreneurship, 3 workdays

After one week, due to the corona crisis, the participants had to return to their homes, so that the first part of the course could not be totally completed. But the second part of the course took place in teleconferences with the participants.Due to corona virus, the project work is now taking place online.

I. Projects and activities to save energy

The study-group in Berlin. Photo S. Stragies

The study-group was assisted by Hartwig Berger, leader, and Sebastian Stragies, assistant of the program.

The study program consisted of

4 “theoretical” lectures
11 visits of energy-related projects and activities in Berlin
sessions for common preparation and evaluation

1. The Urgency of Climate protection

We agreed on the emergency of the global climate crisis and the necessity to act quickly and profoundly. Mutual information and discussion was concentrated on the tipping points in climate change, with far-reaching consequences accelerating the global warming: the braking of the arctic ice and the Greenland shield, the danger of change in the oceanic streams with far-reaching climatic consequences, the melting permafrost in the subpolar region with growing methane- and CO2-emissions in consequence, the change of the jet stream, the methane emissions to be expected from deep ocean grounds. We took into account realistic calculations of the maximum budget for carbon emissions, which must not be exceeded for limiting the global warming to 1,5 resp. 2 degrees in relation to preindustrial time.

2. The European Green Deal (EGD)

The European Green Deal, presented by the European Commission in December 2019, was discussed in its different parts, as well as the targets, which have to be accomplished by the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECP) and corresponding activities in all member states.

In discussing different measures elaborated by the EGD our main focus was upon the consequences of the demand of a high quantity of qualified experts in many different fields and professions to realize the targets, the measures and the activities in climate protection intended by the EGD. In the next years qualified personnel in the sectors of renewable energies, energy saving and energy efficiency will be required on a large scale. In this context, we presented and discussed the results of the ZEW-Klima study commissioned by EUKI, elaborated in the province of Cádiz and the metropolitan region of Athens, just the regions of our team.

3. Energy Autonomy on Regional Level

As an example of successful efforts to make regions autonomous in energy, we discussed the activities of a regional district in Germany, the “Rhein-Hunsrück Kreis” (RHK) in the Bundesland Rheinland-Pfalz. In several aspects the district is similar to the the intercommunal association “La Janda” (LJ), the “work-district” of our project in Spain: Both are composed by small towns and villages, highly similar in extension and in its population size and characterized by a formerly rural economy which has changed (RHK) or which has to be changed (LJ) to small and medium-sized enterprises in the industrial and service sector.

Within 20 years, the German district has achieved the full supply of electricity provided by wind-craft and photovoltaic, exporting at the same time electricity on a large scale. The region presents successful efforts to save energy in the public sector, in companies and in households. A large proportion of the heating systems has been converted to wood chips harvested in the region itself and mainly from waste wood in gardening, parks etc. The region has benefited significantly from this development in its economy, its public revenues, in creating new and innovative enterprises and in offering more opportunities for qualified work in the sector of energy transition and a high employment rate in general.

We discussed the feasibility of regional energy autonomy in the team’s home districts. Decisive for the success in RHK were

Strong impulses given by inhabitants engaged for ecology and peace.
Cooperative and sometimes directly engaged local politicians and administration
Investment funds formed by inhabitants of the middle class and small enterprises as actors in the necessary economic and financial activities
A relatively fair distribution of agricultural land, with a significant proportion of communal property; so that the towns, villages and small land owners receive the tenant prices from the energy-use of land

Not all of these favourable conditions do exist in the “reference regions” of Southern Europe. On the other hand, the conditions for the use of solar energy are significantly more favourable, because of the existing solar irradiation.

4. Green roofs and plants for cooling effects, combined with solar energy

On a green roof of UFA-Fabrik with solar panels moved by the sun. Photos H. Berger

Combined with lectures concerning the energetic and cooling potential of evaporation and the technique of adiabatic cooling, we visited two different buildings in Berlin – the UFA-Fabrik, and the Institute for Physics of the Humboldt-University. The following results seem to be relevant to reorganize buildings like schools in Greece and Spain:

Green roofs with plants, which should be resistant against dryness. The soil should be mixed with extended clay (in UFA-Fabrik 50%-50%), which is conserving much more water than normal soil. Because of being much lighter than soil (4:10 relation), it is preferable on roofs, too. In southern regions of Greece and Southern Spain it seems necessary to test, if the combination of plants with extended clay will give sufficient resilience against the dryness at summer time. We recommend also to use regional plants being particularly resistant against dryness (mainly Sedum plants). In UFA-Fabrik as well as in the Institute of Physics, the plants on the roofs resisted over a long period and without being irrigated even in the summer 2018 and 2019 under unusually extreme heat and drought. The plants on the roofs can and should be chosen under the aspect of bio-diversity: So, in the “UFA-Fabrik”, on every green roof 40-50 different plants are growing.
Green roofs are useful for the inner climate of buildings because of their potential of insulation; furthermore they are lowering the temperature in the immediate environment of the building significantly..
Solar panels, which are changing their position depending on the daily movement of sun. The change of the panels in UFA-Fabrik is arranged by a fluid system, so the panels are turning around together with the sun-movement, without any use of computer and external energy to turn them. Such a system will give more results than inflexible solar panels, oriented only to the south.
The solar panels are combined with green roofs, giving the positive effects explained above. The panels can and should be arranged in a manner not hindering the irrigation of the plants by rain.
Further cooling effects in and outside the buildings could be realized by green facades, by plantation of wine-growing plants as wisteria (glyzinia), wine and/or knotweed, thus improving the micro-climate by shadowing, by filtering dust out of the air and by cooling via evaporation of the plants.
For the irrigation of roofs and plants thereon collected rainwater should be used (see 5.)

Photo: Institute for Physics of the Humboldt-University

5. Rainwater-management

We visited different places and buildings in which the rainwater is managed. In general, collecting and using the rainwater does improve the environmental and life quality in urbanized areas. For our task – to improve school buildings in a more climate-friendly sense – the collected rainwater could be used for irrigating the green roofs, planted facades and the green areas in the surroundings of the building. To improve the local climate it is recommended to unseal as much as possible paved and asphalted soil in the surroundings.

The rainwater to be managed is “harvested” from paved areas in the surroundings, to be saved afterwards in containers in the underground before using it. It is recommended to install systems of cleaning before conserving the rainwater, in case it should be contaminated by the pavement,. The most ecological way of cleaning are pools on site planted with reed. In a more elaborated project, rainwater can be used also for flushing toilets, so reducing considerably the consumption of tap water. To put rainwater in such a use seems considerably important in regions suffering from lack of water and expecting severe water crisis.

Rainwater “harvest” in a basin (bottom left on the picture). Photo S.Stragies

6. Using Straw to insulate Buildings

The rural regions of Greece and Spain are characterized by century-old, elaborated traditions to build houses using regionally available natural materials. Therefore, we have included construction with straw and clay in our work program. We just discussed the use of these materials for the thermal insulation of buildings. In the current season it wasn’t possible to visit a house project at work, so we limited the learning unit to a model house already accomplished.

Using pressed straw bales is a convincing and feasible method of thermal insulation. To guarantee stability, it is recommended to tie the bales into a wooden stand construction. The straw bales are preferably plastered with loam, alternatively with lime, whereby the time sequence should be short in order to prevent the penetration of mould-forming fungi, for example. In Germany, a wall insulated with straw made in this way is accepted by the existing regulations for fire protection. A wall made of straw bales and covered by clay is slightly more secured against fire accidents than thermal insulation with polystyrene.

Other advantages of straw insulation are its health quality, the low energy input in production, environmentally friendly waste disposal and regional availability, especially through grain cultivation.

To build and to insulate with straw as well as with clay are convincing and, paradoxically, at present innovative in regions with similar popular traditions in constructing houses. Alternative regional products for thermal insulation could be other regional resources for the insulation of buildings, for example reed, sheep-wool, cork from the forests and shells from the sea-side.

7. Solarcity Berlin

An employee of Berlin Department for Energy presented and explained the “Master plan Solar City Berlin“, decided on just some days before (10^th March) by the regional government of Berlin.

Starting point of the master plan is an analysis of the solar potential of the roof areas throughout the city: they can provide about 25% of Berlin’s current electricity needs at present. The target of Berlin is to cover 2050 100% Berlin’s electricity completely (100%) by sun, wind and biomass. So, the city has to

make use of the corresponding solar potential as soon as possible
unlock the solar potential on public buildings
support private building owners by the installation of solar systems
Since Berlin is actively involved in climate adaptation, the installation of photovoltaic systems should be combined, as far as possible, with the plantation of green roofs. (Even more strongly recommended in cities of Southern Europe with its more densely urbanization and higher summer temperatures).

The master plan was elaborated in expert meetings, workshops on specific topics and public events, in which NGOs and engaged persons in the city participated. A result of the expert group was a catalogue of 27 measures in 9 fields of action to attain the solar-city-targets as soon and efficient as possible.

Of particular interest to us was the transferability of the concept to urban centres in Southern Europe. To become a “Solar City”, it seems to be most effective to start with the building stock in public ownership and with buildings of private companies. For blocks of flats with owners’ associations, frequent in Spanish and Greek cities, and for houses with private owners, we plea either to lease the roof areas to solar companies or to offer energy contracting between companies or cooperatives and the owners.

In any case, the city needs central players and driving forces like the public enterprise “Stadtwerke Klima” in Berlin. Just in January 2020, the city of Cádiz has started a promising initiative: together with the municipal electricity company there will be offered help and advisoring to enterprises, administrations and private owners to put photovoltaic on the roof, selling the yield to the company or using the yield for prosuming (production and consumtion). The advisoring will include the planning, installation, clarification of legal issues and all necessary administrative steps. Due to the much stronger solar radiation in Cádiz, 1.8 times more than in Berlin, and now favourable regulations for solar prosuming and the neighbourly networking of solar power, the prospects in Cádiz are more promising than in Berlin: The Cádiz-target is to cover 27% of the city’s electricity requirements with photovoltaic power by 2030.

7. Solar Centre Berlin

The lecture on Solar City Berlin was combined with a visit of the Solar Centre Berlin, founded by the “German Association for Solar Energy (DGS)” and financed by the Berlin government. Main tasks of the Solar Center Berlin are:

Consultation on solar energy including on-site visits and assistance in the evaluation of offers.
Information services for craft companies, architects and engineers.
Presentation of best practice examples.
Trainings and qualification programs.

Our group in the Solar Centre Berlin. Photo S.Stragies

9. Heating with Renewable Energy: in the building complex of the housing company “Märkische Scholle” in Berlin

The cooperative is managing a building complex with 841 flats, constructed 85 years ago. Lately all buildings were refurbished by thermal insulation, equipped with a new heating system that combines thermosolar, heat storage in the earth, the heat recovery from waste air and photovoltaic.

We visited the heating system. Its central part is a low-temperature heating system that operates using two electric heat pumps. Their power supply is mainly provided by photovoltaic modules. The energy for heating is obtained from three sources (solar thermal, ventilation systems with heat recovery, geothermal heat). Outside of the building there are areas in underground and insulated to the environment serving as storages for the overshoot heat of the thermosolar panels used in the cold season The interplay between heat supply and storage is automatically controlled by a dynamic energy manager.

The aim was to make the building, and thus each individual apartment, completely self-sufficient in renewable energy through the coordinated use of solar and geothermal energy, exhaust air heat and heat recovery. Up to now, the aim is reached by 80%. Holding into account the reduction of energy demand by the thermal insulation, the use of fossil energies is reduced by about 90%. The rental fee for the tenants grew only moderately, because of the reduction of energy costs necessary for the flats.

Can the experiences from the 841-apartment project in Berlin be transferred to southern European conditions? In a winter normally far milder, it seems possible to provide the heat supply completely by combining thermosolar panels, geothermal storage, photovoltaic and the use of exhaust air heat. The resulting costs for tenants and owners, which are considered moderate by the company in Berlin, should have to be checked on site.

In a control center in the basement of the building complex. Photo S. Stragies

Because of the premature return to their homes the teams were not able to visit four projects which were planned in the course.

10. Innovative Energy Engineering in a new Building

We had planned a guided visit of the energy system and management of the building of the daily newspaper “taz”, just finished end 2018. For the targets of our project, the system of cooling is particularly interesting:

The building prevents the interior from overheating through efficient insulation and effective sun protection on the facades. The thermal storage capacity of the building material has positive effects too: it warms up more slowly and absorbs the coolness of the night. Recirculating air technology with climate convectors is used for the interiors. An “adiabatic” system on the roof with evaporative ventilation is lowering the temperature of the water using normal tap water. (A preferred solution, the use and the evaporation of rainwater, could not be realized because of an incomprehensible veto of the waters works in Berlin). The water with a lower temperature is transferred by pipe-system in the interior of the building. In the first summer 2019, just at a time of exceptional heat (in Berlin near 40 degrees) the cooling system, was sufficient to keep a maximum temperature of 26 degrees Celsius inside the buildings: The inner climate was felt as agreeable, compared with the heat the users suffered outside the building.

In the cold season, the pipe system is used to heat the rooms; the heating capacity will be taken from the server centre of the newspaper and from the restaurant and the kitchen area. (The additional heating on frosty days is provided by a district heating system to which the building is connected).

In the taz building, a ventilation system with energy-saving climate convectors is used. The staircase also serves as an exhaust air conduct. The exhaust air is led to the convectors where it is cooled and recirculated together with the outside air.

11. Energy Management in the Free University (FU) of Berlin

At the FU Berlin, – with 11 departments, 32.500 students and about 500 professors – there exists since 2002 a “Unit for Sustainability and Energy Management”. Its results, put into numbers, are promising:

- reduction in energy consumption 2001- 2011: -26%
- reduction in heating oil: -99%
- reduction in heat consumption (without increase): -35%
- reduction in CO2-emissions without increase in floor space: -36%
- reduction in CO2-emissions in electricity (own PV-capacity: 675 kW plus contracts of deliverance from green energy companies): -81 %
- avoided costs due to the reduction of energy consumption: 4.2 million €
- aggregate avoided costs since 2003: 42.7 million €
- accumulated costs for investments to reduce energy use: 20.2 million €

Decisive to reach these goals were amongst other things:

A permanent working staff for energy management in the unit.
Voluntary environmental teams (employees, students, professors) in the departments and buildings, being occupied with the “every day energy management” and other themes of environmental relevance in the work places and surroundings.
Introduction of a “bonus system” in energy reduction: starting from accorded baseline adjustments per year, each department receives an increase in their yearly budget, amounting to 50% of the value gained by energy reduction (temperature adjusted); vice versa the budget will be reduced in the same proportion.
Introduction of a green IT-programme to overview and control the energy consumption in all departments of the FU.

12. A reform school as an example…

…how to combine an ambitious energetic renovation with a particular organization of learning and the involvement of the pupils in energy saving activities

13. A nursery school

Cooling of the rooms exclusively by a system of natural ventilation, without using any external energy

Overview of the Learning Units

Learning unit possible application (example)

The European Green Deal.	To reach the targets which are relatively ambitious, the member states have to start concrete activities, oriented towards their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECP). To realize these activities, they need hundreds of thousands of qualified, mainly young people.
Emergency of Climate Crisis Because of the highly dangerous tipping points in the process of global warming, it is irrefutably urgent to start immediately with ambitious projects to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases quickly!
How to find a way to achieve Energy Autonomy in a whole region. An example of a German region with about 103.000 inhabitants and 991 km². Presented by a film	To develop a masterplan for a Greek or Andalusian region for how to reach Energy Autonomy (a highly interesting but very ambitious project)
Green roofs in buildings, together with solar panels. Thus you can combine an -although limited – form of insulation of the roof with climate adaptation (better local climate) and the use of renewable energy	To elaborate such a proposal for new or for existing buildings in your region. Managing drought by using extended clay or volcanic material to conserve rainwater and plants resisting dryness in your region. Proof stability of roof.
To build and to insulate with straw, with different advantages: good insulation-factor and sanitary conditions; product from the regional economy; no energy wasting in the preparation of the material	A model project in a rural environment
Rainwater management, to save water, in using it for toilets and/or irrigation combined with a greening of the environment of the building, for a better local climate
Plants on or before the walls of buildings, with shadowing effects in summertime and climate adaptation
Heating Supply for the apartments (and for warm water) in a complex of buildings, by combining thermosolar panels, storage of the solar heat in the earth and use of waste heat from the ventilation of the buildings. In the Berlin-example between 60 – 100% can be provided.	For applying this in buildings there must be already heating pipes. Therefore: application in Southern European regions seems to be possible only when building new edifices
The masterplan for a Solar City Berlin. In particular are instructive 1. the manner of outworking the plan by a staff of experts, together with participation of citizens in public events 2. The definition of different fields of action (in Berlin 9: look the pdf-presentation page 22ff), to realize the solar potential of an urban area	A project could be: to elaborate a masterplan “solar …” for a particular complex of buildings in a town or city
The recently founded Solar Centre in Berlin	The foundation of a solar centre in an urban area, financed by public funds and for example with the following tasks: – Consultation on solar energy including on-site visits and assistance in the evaluation of offers. – Information services for craft companies, architects and engineers. – Presentation of best practice examples. – Trainings and qualification programs.
Learning units which had to be cancelled:
The new building of the national newspaper taz: Heating and cooling is provided by: an adiabatic system the use of energy produced by the digital centre and the restaurant in the building natural techniques in the ventilation of the building green roof and solar panels
A reform (“Montessori”) school: A particular interesting example of energetic renovation; combined with energy saving activities of the pupils in the school
An outstanding example for a strategy of energy saving and energy efficiency in the “Free University of Berlin”, profitable economically as well
Cooling only by natural ventilation, without using any energy. The example of a nursery school and of buildings projects in Southern Europe

Apr 06 2020

Overcoming COVID-19: Time for solidarity! An unprecedented crisis that requires an unprecedented EU response to restore economic and social progress

By Nikos Chrysogelos | Actions, News | No Comments

SEE open letter to the President of the European Commission, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Parliament

Brussels, Monday 6 April 2020,

We are facing an unprecedented crisis in Europe and worldwide with dramatic public health, economic and social consequences due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

From Social Economy Europe (SEE), as the voice of the 2.8 million social economy enterprises and organisations in the EU, we are sure that we will collectively overcome the pandemic and its economic and social consequences if we are able to take unprecedent actions guided by the values of cooperation, democracy, solidarity and responsibility, that are at the core the European Union and of the social economy enterprise and organisation models.

From a socio-economic perspective, the European Union and Member States must design measures fit for all types of economic and social players, taking into account the diverse legal forms that enterprises and organisations have across the EU, especially those pertaining to the social economy, which is an essential part of our social market economy.

We call on the EU Institutions and Member States to take into account the fundamental role of all social economy enterprises and organisations – cooperatives, mutuals, associations, foundations and social enterprises, among other organisational forms, specific to each Member State – and to support them to overcome this shock that might result in an irreparable loss for Europe.

Social economy enterprises and organisations cannot be excluded from support programmes dedicated to enterprises and specifically to SMEs. More so because the social economy is a key actor in the response to the crisis and is currently at the frontline of the battle against the potentially destructive consequences of the COVID19. The social economy is contributing by:

Providing healthcare for all, and producing and distributing pharma products;
Providing social services, especially for the most vulnerable in society, such as the elderly, people with disabilities, migrants and refugees, the homeless etc.;
Producing and distributing food through agri-food social economy enterprises and social economy retailers;
Ensuring financial and business support to the social economy and the real economy through cooperative and ethical banks and financiers, micro-credit institutions and credit unions;
Providing insurance cover to their members/policyholders;
Being an important industrial player present in strategic sectors, including the production of hospital devices and bio-services;
Ensuring the provision of other basic services such as energy, water, tele-communications, cleaning, recycling etc.

Many social economy enterprises and organisations are also doing their part by promoting tele-working and implementing strategies to ensure that jobs and the economic activities are maintained throughout and after the pandemic. We are resilient enterprises and organisations, putting people and the societal objective before profit, and we will do our utmost to overcome this pandemic and be a key contributor for the economic and social recovery that Europe needs.

SEE welcomes the measures taken by the European Institutions and Member States:

Social Economy Europe welcomes the European Union’s swift reply with the adoption of the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative that will give Member States access to €37 billion of cohesion money to strengthen healthcare systems, and support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, short-term working schemes, and community-based services.

We support the adoption of the State aid Temporary Framework, that enables Member States to use the full flexibility foreseen under State aid rules to “ensure that sufficient liquidity remains available to all types of enterprises and to preserve the continuity of economic activity during and after the COVID-19 outbreak”.

We are please to see the decisive action of the ECB through its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP), the actions of the EIB Group to guarantee access to finance for all SMEs (including most social economy enterprises and organisations), that should be further strengthened, and the activation of the General Escape Clause of the Stability and Growth Pact, giving further flexibility to Member States to deal with this unprecedent crisis.

Social Economy Europe supports the European Commission proposal of a short-time work scheme SURE, that should be accessible to all forms of enterprises and organisations.

Member States are also urgently adopting measures to ensure that enterprises and jobs can survive to the economic slowdown and pave the way to an economic and social reconstruction. We welcome these actions and the efforts of the several Member States that, together with Social Economy representative organisations, have extended and adapted these support measures to all forms of social economy enterprises and organisations. Again, we recall that all Member States should support all forms of enterprises and organisations throughout this crisis, taking into account the vast diversity of enterprise and organisational models that characterises the EU Single Market. Specific attention should be paid to Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) and their workers, especially the disadvantaged individuals; as well as to “atypical workers” in cultural activities and the digital platform sector, to ensure that all workers regardless of their employment status can access to social protection and unemployment benefits.

Not-for-profit healthcare and social services providers who are confronting the public health crisis and taking care of the most vulnerable individuals, such as the elderly, people with disabilities, migrants and other collectives at risk of exclusion; should also be specifically supported by EU Institutions and Member States. Despite the crisis, the allocation of public resources committed for these strategic actors should remain untouched and even increased to address the growing healthcare and social needs.

From a public health and humanitarian perspective, we welcome the joint procurement at EU level of medical and protective equipment, as well as the joint repatriation efforts of European citizens. EU initiatives that should be further strengthened to address the current collective challenges.

The way forward- Unprecedent strategic investments in the social economy are required

We are convinced that in the coming weeks, additional urgent and extraordinary EU investments will be needed to support Member States, enterprises and organisations, workers and citizens in a situation of social or economic vulnerability throughout this disruptive outbreak. We call on the European Council to send a clear message of unity and solidarity to overcome the public health, economic and social crisis.

We call on EU Member States to contribute on the basis of solidarity to the budget of an ambitious European Economic Reconstruction Plan for this year and possibly for 2021, which has already been proposed by several Member States and welcomed by the European Commission. We should do whatever it takes to protect our economies and social cohesion, ensuring their resilience and paving the way for a sustainable recovery.

We also call on the EU Institutions to approve an ambitious Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 as soon as possible, that takes into account the new socio-economic situation, and serves as powerful leverage for the economic recovery but also addresses the strategic investments that the EU needs to lead the ecological and digital transitions, especially areas such as the circular economy, and to further strengthen and modernise our welfare systems (that constitute our first defence against the effects of the pandemic).

Unprecedent investments on innovative social economy projects should be mobilised through the ESF+, the InvestEU programme and the ERDF, among other instruments and funds, particularly in strategic areas as healthcare, social innovation, digitalisation, social services, inclusion, circular economy, industry, production of renewable energies, efficiency, skills, education, agri-food, transport etc.

In the coming weeks, the EIB Group should also strengthen its investments in the enterprises and organisations that are more concerned by the economic slowdown, with special attention to Europe’s more affected regions. The access of social economy enterprises and organisation to these guaranteed investments should be ensured, and the cooperation between the EIB Group and social economy financial institutions should be further promoted. SEE is ready to cooperate with EU Institutions, the EIB and the EIF, to ensure that the offer meets the demand and that EU financial instruments are fully accessible for the social economy.

The European Action Plan for the Social Economy, that the Commission has announced for 2021, constitutes a unique opportunity to put social economy at the heart of the efforts to restore sustainable growth and social cohesion in Europe. A clear EU operational conception of what the social economy is and of its specific features and concrete needs will be required. The participation of social economy employers in the European cross-industry social dialogue should be promoted.

The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that we are confronted with global challenges that we are unable to tackle on an individual basis: collective solutions are required. We will only overcome this crisis in an effective way with more cooperation and solidarity, values that are at the basis of the success of the social economy, and that are more needed than ever to ensure a future of economic and social progress for all Europeans.

Juan Antonio Pedreño,
President of Social Economy Europe

Mar 27 2020

ICA advocates for regulatory improvements in Greece to help agricultural cooperatives

By Nikos Chrysogelos | Actions, News | No Comments

In February 2020, ICA’s director general Bruno Roelants presented a speech at the parliament in Greece to advocate for agricultural cooperatives. At a parliamentary hearing attended by members of the Permanent Committee of Production and Trade, Mr. Roelants requested that further attention be given to a draft law which contains provisions that do not fully embrace cooperatives principles that have been fully endorsed by the government of Greece.

Mr. Roelant’s attendance at this parliamentary hearing was done in coordination and urging of ICA member PASEGES – the Panhellenic Confederation of Unions of Agricultural Cooperatives, to address the lack provisions to protect and promote the cooperative identity of its members.

Below is the speech in its entirety:

Esteemed Members of the Permanent Committee of Production and Trade,

International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), established in 1895, currently headquartered in Brussels (Belgium), is the global representative body that unites, promotes and serves cooperatives worldwide. As of January 1, 2020, the ICA represented 309 member organizations from 110 countries worldwide with a diverse array of membership hailing from different business sectors, international cooperative umbrella bodies and government departments.

In 1995 the ICA with the Statement on the Cooperative Identity provided a definition of the cooperative, which has been broadly accepted ever since, as well as a list with the cooperative values and principles, as they emerged and were consolidated by decades of cooperative practice. The latter is what distinguishes cooperatives from any other type of business, especially the stock companies.

The legislation can play a significant role in safeguarding the cooperative identity, as well as guiding and encouraging cooperators to embrace it in the everyday business life of their cooperative. Within this context, an adequate legal framework for cooperatives’ development has been highlighted by a number of regional and international actors, such as the EC, the ICA, the ILO and the UN.

The ICA at the behest of the New PASEGES submitted a response to the online public consultation on the draft law on agricultural cooperatives and noted that a number of provisions needed to be further examined by both international and national actors, as they may appear as not fully embracing the cooperative principles and the R. 193/2002 of ILO, which is worth mentioning that it has been endorsed by Greece.

Despite the minor changes to the draft law that was submitted to this committee, its conformity with the cooperative identity and the R. 193/2002 is still an issue to be resolved. In particular, some of the most pressing questions on the draft law’s provisions are the following:

– the omission of provisions on the formation of cooperative unions and federations (with the sole exception of ar. 38 on the national union of agricultural cooperatives) which poses an infringement to the 6^th cooperative principle on Cooperation among Cooperatives, to Paragraph 6 (d) of the R.193/2002 that reflects the above principle, while it disregards relevant provisions that constitute the norm of national European cooperatives laws (such as the case of France, Spain and Portugal),

– the lack of prescribing for indivisible reserves, which does not protect cooperatives from their dissolution for personal gain and infringes the 3^rd Cooperative Principle on Member Economic Participation [Articles 26.10 & 33.4],

– the absence of provisions for special auditors trained in cooperatives to ensure audits are done in line with cooperative way of business as Paragraph 6 (c) of R. 193/2002 stipulates [Article 24],

– the obligatory provision on the minimum share capital (10.000e) under the Draft Law, which seems to be restrictive in enabling cooperative business, especially for micro and small cooperatives [Article 9.1],

– the obligation to submit 75% of the annual produce to the agricultural cooperative, which poses the question on whether it is maintainable in view of the autonomy of cooperatives, the international norms of monopolistic restrictions of trade practices and competition law [Article 8.1 f]

– the taxation of surplus that is to be distributed to the members, which should not be taxed at all, as its refund is a price correction (deferred price reduction or price increase) [Article 27.2]

– the newly added provision that enables the conversion of cooperatives to any other type of business without any reference as to what happens with the assets of the cooperative [Article 29.8],

– the absence of any measure in favor of the cooperative education (5^th cooperative principle), which is the sole responsibility of the national union of agricultural cooperatives [Article 38.4c].

Based on the above remarks, the draft law’s content in many aspects introduces many traits of stock companies to agricultural cooperatives, while drifting away from the ICA Statement on the Cooperative Identity and the R. 193/2002 ILO.

Mar 12 2020

Visit to the Archelon centre and the Glyfada beach write up! All one “family”, volunteers, refugees, WELCOMMON HOSTEL guests

By Nikos Chrysogelos | Actions | No Comments

On Sunday the 8th of March, the Wind of Renewal /Days of Welcommon family organized a visit to Glyfada at the sea turtle rescue centre «Archelon» and the beach just next to this centre. The group included volunteers, refugees and Welcommon Hostel guests – all one ‘family’.

We left the WELCOMMON Hostel at 1pm and we went to took the metro to Elliniko, then we took a bus to Glyfada to go to the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre. We had a short visit of the centre with some explanations about the turtles, how they are being injured and what the volunteers team is doing to take care of them 🐢. Sea turtles tend to get entangled in fishing gear and such incidents may often result to injuries or drowning. They may also fall victims to collisions with speed boats, especially near nesting beaches. Several cases of deliberately killed animals washed ashore are also reported from different sites.

The nationwide Rescue Network of ARCHELON is activated in cases of reports of injured or sick turtles or strandings of dead animals. The network is set up and supported through the organization of information events in cooperation with Port police authorities, fishermen, volunteers and environmentally active organizations. Injured or sick animals are transferred to the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre in Glyfada, near Athens. About 50 sea turtles are treated annually and when fully recovered, are released back to the sea. First aid Stations for sea turtles are set up in the areas of Rethymnon, Crete and Amvrakikos Gulf.

After the visit, we headed to the beach just next to the centre to do a little clean up, to enjoy the quietness of this place and to chat all together. It was a very pleasant moment 😉

We ended the day by going back to Syntagma square and wishing us a good evening. That was such a good day ! ☀️

FUNday trips are every Sunday 13:00 – 17:00, always meeting at Welcommon Hostel at 13:00. In the past, we’ve visited the Acropolis, had a picnic, and played football in a nearby park. Anybody is welcome, just come along to Welcommon Hostel on Sundays at 13:00.

#ErasmusPlus #volunteering #volunteers #socialinnovation #socialinclusion #empowerment #art #intercultural #withrefugees #EuropeanSolidarityCorps #GreenSocialInnovationESC #SocEnt #GoGreen #hostels #cooperatives #WelcommonHostel #WindofRenewal

Mar 12 2020

Could you support a humanitarian, win-win solution for the refugees and the local communities in Greece, our “remain human-welcome” project ?

By Nikos Chrysogelos | Actions | No Comments

Dear friends

You are certainly informed about the very difficult situation in the Greek hotspots on the Aegean islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos for the refugees and migrants coming through Turkey mostly from Syria and Afghanistan. It is evident that apart from what European and national institutions should do, there is a task also for private organisations and individuals to do their best in order to guarantee to refugees the right to live in dignity, to participate in the social life and to be able to find a job. In this way, there are win-win solutions for all, the new-comers and local communities.

The social cooperative Wind of Renewal (Άνεμος Ανανέωσης) and the Welcommon Hostel, in Athens, Greece, are willing to contribute to the accommodation, empowerment, social inclusion, job integration for a number of persons in our place. We address this offer, to the most vulnerable persons (families, single / pregnant women, disable persons, victims of trafficking, torture and rape etc) and we are ready to collaborate with NGOs and refugees / migrants communities for the next months, until there is a clear situation. Despite the problems created by coronavirus, there are many people who would like to help also the vulnerable groups in a period of crisis. But we need support in order to be able to finance:

the cost for accommodation, breakfast, social empowerment, job training, non formal education, language lessons and preparation for a job,
the hiring of a number of refugees as employees for such a project.

We need donors immediately to be able to support our “remain human-welcome” project. Donations of all sizes are welcome and necessary. You can also support us informing your social networks, friends, universities, through social media, real life social networks and all other communication channels. You can make donations now through our bank accounts:

– ANEMOS ANANEOSIS / WIND OF RENEWAL

Cooperative Bank of Karditsa

ΙΒΑΝ GR 7608900100003010003540200

Bank of Karditsa’ s BIC / Swift Code is STKAGRA1

– ANEMOS ANANEOSIS / WIND OF RENEWAL

Piraeus Bank
IBAN: GR83 0172 0180 0050 1807 7868 253

Piraeus’s BIC code is PIRBGRAA

Please send us your details for the invoice and inform us if you are willing to publish your donation at our website for transparency reasons.

Donors-institutions able to contribute €5,000 or more will receive an original painting of their choice from our collection of quality artworks provided by local artists who wanted to help us to achieve the social and environmental objectives.
Donors – Individuals can pre-book their stay in our WELCOMMON HOSTEL with 30% reduction of the room cost (before taxes) in the next 2 years

We remain at your disposal

Yours sincerely,

Nikos Chrysogelos PolinaGkioka Apostolos Ioakimidis

Chairman of “Wind of Renewal” vice-president treasure of the board

About Wind of Renewal, WELCOMMON center for refugees and the WELCOMMON HOSTEL

Wind of Renewal social cooperative

It was established in 2014 as a center for the promotion of social economy and green innovation, intercultural dialogue, climate action and energy transition.
In September 2016 the innovative center for refugees, WELCOMMON (Welcome in common), was established in a seven floor old hospital with the support of UN and the Athens regionin order to host in dignity more than 600 vulnerable refugees. It operated as such until February 2018.
In this context we have employed and partially hosted more than 300 volunteers from all over the world for supporting non formal education, socializing, empowerment, art therapy, social inclusion and language / intercultural lessons for refugees, migrants and locals (staying in our premises and outside). We also organized the “Days of WELCOMMON”, to offer intercultural courses with the volunteers.
We are very proud that our social cooperative enterprise ANEMOS ANANEOSIS / WIND OF RENEWAL has received 5 European-level distinctions for our contribution to the social economy, social green innovation and intercultural dialogue

Please find out more about:
www.facebook.com/daysofwelcommon
https://anemosananeosis.gr/en/vol765/
https://anemosananeosis.gr/en/5prizes/

The WELCOMMON HOSTEL

After the interruption of the funding for housing of refugees (9/2016-2/2018), WoR opened in June 2018, the WELCOMMON HOSTEL, without any grant, capital or support. The aim was to continue the work on social and ecological solutions by providing training and employment for refugees and unemployed young Greeks. At the same time, we improved our tourism offer by providing opportunities for guests to stay and collaborate with us. We use five stores of our seven-floor building in Exarcheia, Athens, to welcome visitors. The remaining two stories are used for our social and ecological projects. Despite the lack of financial resources we were able to continue, not without difficulties, our innovative, volunteer-led program of social inclusion and integration activities (music, art, film, family picnics, cooking workshops, co-learning opportunities and sports) for refugees and
In 2020, we :

– Provide free language classes/intercultural courses for refugees and local Greeks

– Offer a rich program of inclusive cultural activities

– Support integration through music, art, comedy and film events

– Raise awareness of our next generation to tackle the climate crisis by training 200 teachers from 73 schools in Athens to harness the enthusiasm of over 3,000 students, in the frame of EUKI Climate Schools Be.Ath

– Support 11 young Greeks to gain professional qualifications in energy reduction and transition-creating social and ecological change holistically, in the frame of EUKI YESclima

– Are ready to engage and support any other project in line with our objective for social inclusion and climate action – from family picnics to seminars on the green economy and everything in between

Please find out more about the Hostel in:

– Welcommon Hostel: www.welcommonhostel.gr

– Welcommon Hostel in facebook: www.facebook.com/welcommonhostel

– Welcommon Hostel in instagram: www.instagram.com/welcommonhostel
– Our building and sustainable tourism: www.welcommonhostel.gr/rooms-list

More about us:

– Welcommon, a model housing and social inclusion centre for refugees (9/2016-2/2018) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMBwqRxDotk&feature=youtu.be

What the refugees themselves and others told about the role of WELCOMMON

–Documentary “WorkingWithRefugeeCommunities in Greece”, by the “In place ofWar” (IPOW) in cooperationwith Anna LindhFoundation

–Bibiche, fromKongo, “Whatyoureallyknowaboutthe refugees”

–Beshir, fromSyria, “Whatyoureallyknowaboutthe refugees”

–Ghassan, from Syria, “Whatyoureallyknowaboutthe refugees”

– We are more thanpapers

– An article published by the e-newsletter «Cooperative.news»: «Taking steps to meet the long-term needs of refugees»

–Our history: www.welcommonhostel.gr/slider/you-can-feel-the-history-of-welcommon

– Social change in our community: www.welcommonhostel.gr/social

Wind of Renewal: www.anemosananeosis.gr, www.anemosananeosis.gr/en/about-us-en/ ,
Six years of innovation: https://anemosananeosis.gr/en/sgi5667-2/
social media: www.facebook.com/socialcooperatives

Feb 20 2020

Art trip open4 all write up!

By Nikos Chrysogelos | Actions, Χωρίς κατηγορία | No Comments

Art trip write up!

On Sunday, 9th February, the Wind of Renewal/Days of Welcommon family took a trip to the Municipal Gallery of Athens.

The group included volunteers, refugees and Welcommon Hostel guests – all one ‘family’.

We walked 2 km to the gallery, where they were showing an exhibition of Greek expressionists: Exceptions

The theme of the exhibition was the exceptional nature of Greek expressionism – against the art world mainstream of its time, and nowhere near as widely acclaimed as expressionism in Germany and the USA in the early twentieth century.

We spent time looking at the artworks on display, and had a brief conversation about the expressionist art movement – which sought to portray internal feelings over external reality.

Outside the gallery, we created our own artworks inspired by what we’d just seen. We used found materials, felt pictures, watercolours, cardboard, pens and pencils to make our original pieces. Then we celebrated the day with our own exhibition space outside the gallery!

Later, we went to the Gas Works (Technopolis) nearby to look around the old buildings and enjoy the quiet space away from busy roads!

Feb 20 2020

Join our community – we deliver real social and ecological impact in Athens

By Nikos Chrysogelos | Χωρίς κατηγορία | No Comments

Join our community – Days of Welcommon – Green Social Innovation

Wind of Renewal (Άνεμος Ανανέωσης) – our social enterprise, and Welcommon Hostel – our innovative hostel with social and ecological impacts – want you to collaborate with us as we deliver real social and ecological impact in Athens, Greece. We believe in being a part of the change we want to see in the world – and we want you to be a part of it too.

We are a beacon of sustainable tourism in the heart of Athens; a community centre for refugees, migrants, volunteers, travelers and local Greeks to come together, learn essential life and language skills and be empowered; and an inspirer and educator for climate change action.

Every week, we – the volunteers of Wind of Renewal from many countries – do the activities in the frame of “Days of Welcommon” and “Green Social Innovation” (European Solidarity Corps) – below at a minimum. We try to be as flexible as possible so that we can meet the needs of people we work alongside, only doing what’s wanted. And there’s always more room in the schedule for great ideas led by new collaborators!

– FUNday activities,

– Non-English language practice,

– English language practice

– Family language practice

– Movies

– Kickboxing exercise

– Karaoke

– Music

and many others

Activities Details

● FUNday activities (Sunday 13:00 – 17:00) We take suggestions for outings and day trips from the people we’re working with in regular classes and plan a fun day out each Sunday. In 2020, we’ve been hunting for treasure in the Acropolis, looking at art and making our own at the Municipal Gallery of Athens, played football in Alexander Park, and been out for a picnic in the sun!

● Team meet (Monday 13:00-14:00) We get together as a volunteer team every Monday to discuss any important business, assign lead facilitators for activities, come up with new activities or bring suggestions to the group, and refine our flexible language practice offer.

● Non-English language practice (Monday – Thursday 14:00 – 15:00) At the moment, we can help people with German and French as well as English. We’re always looking for more language skills to share from volunteers and our wider Welcommon family!

● English language practice (Monday – Thursday 15:00 – 17:00) Right now, we split English learners up by ability and practice English in groups of around eight or ten. We are not teachers! We don’t give lessons, but we can facilitate language practice with native or fluent speakers for free to anybody who wants it

● Family language practice (Monday – Thursday 17:00 – 18:00) We also facilitate language practice for families for an hour each day. We ask a parent to learn alongside their children, and help the whole family practice a language together

● Meet mentor and coordinator of the volunteers (Monday 18:00 – 19:00) We try to meet them once a week to run through any changes, ideas, new work or events coming up

● Planning (Tuesday – Thursday 13:00 – 14:00) We make sure we have a few hours each week to plan language practice activities, evening activities, FUNday, and anything else we need to get done like posters and social media

● Karaoke (Tuesday 21:00 – 00:00) Karaoke in the main reception area for Welcommon is hugely popular! We just connect a laptop, projector, microphone and speakers and play YouTube videos of karaoke or lyrics – whatever people ask for!

● Movies (Wednesday 20:00 – 23:00) We get movie suggestions from everybody who’s interested. If we show a movie for grown-ups then we make sure we also have a short feature for the family beforehand.

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