About Me (Fedde) – Facilitator and trainer in appropriate technologies.
Between 2007 and 2011 I worked as trainer on AT in Central Asia with the organization Women in Europe for a Common Future – WECF. In Bolivia I did the EMAS course about water technologies made from local materials. Now I can drill for water up to 60 meter (if there are no big rocks). My background is Aquatic Eco-technology (BSc) and International Land and Water Management (Msc). Besides that I experienced life at different organic farms and eco-villages. All these made me fascinated about AT and bottom-up approaches for sustainable living. I decided to share my experiences through cycling around to world and giving workshops on my way.
In 2011 I started in Bali. That year I conducted more then 300 workshop-hours, constructed over 10 technologies, cycled over 6000km and had 3 flat tires. See theturningwheel.org for details. Voluntary contributions keep the wheel going!
“Simple technologies can really inspire and empower people towards sustainability”. Fedde
“Life is like riding a bicycle – to keep your balance – you must keep moving.” Albert Einstein
More info: theturningwheel.org
Contact: ttwheel@gmail.com
TWIST: The Turning Wheel’ started in 2011 to make a bridge between universal knowledge and local wisdom by supporting intrinsic intentions for sustainable living with appropriate technologies.
Vision
Sometimes we experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings, as being far away from the people and nature around us:
On television we see how other people are suffering and entertaining,
our food and goods originate from all over the world,
we rely on fossil fuels,
produce waste,
which we don’t consider to be ours.
We separate ourselves from nature, while
the global economy is offering us complex solutions which we don’t understand.
In this way we are unable to experience the effects of our behavior and we might feel unsatisfied and irresponsible for what we are doing!
‘TWIST: The Turning Wheel’ is seeking a balance between local wisdom and universal knowledge. We believe that solutions are more sustainable when they are locally realized. Appropriate technologies can be made accessible and understandable for everybody. We consider individual inspirations and intentions as most important change.
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” – Gandhi
Getting more connected to people and nature around us makes us less vulnerable and more adaptive towards the changing nature of our social, economical and ecological surrounding.
“In fact, because nothing can be by itself alone, no one can be by himself or herself alone, everyone has to inter-be with every one else.” - Thich Nhat Hanh
Workshops
Awareness and understanding is the key for change and action. Those who understand will get an incentive to act. We can only understand through direct experiences. ‘TWIST: The Turning Wheel’ is offering hands-on education about simple solutions for sustainable living made from materials available on the local market. Including: solar water heaters, eco-loo’s, solar dryers and more… These technologies have good economic payoff and are manageable systems to install or build by yourself. Workshops provide practical knowledge and useful skills and most of all inspiration and fun. The target groups are do-it-selvers, organizations who want to spread the knowledge, youth (14 year and elder) and everybody else who has an incentive for sustainable living. The knowledge is free (open source) but there are costs to spread this knowledge at right places. Donations by beneficiaries and others keep the wheel turning.
At the moment Fedde is cycling around the world and, on his way to Europe, gives workshops for schools, local craft(wo)men, organic farms, eco-villages, transition-towns or other bottom-up initiatives.