Add your voice, ideas and thoughts to the development of the Solar Village Open Source Education - email: john.wilson@thesolarvillage.com with your updates and under which section, item number or paragraph they apply.

Purpose

Develop an open source hands-on educational program that teaches the essentials for individuals within their community to become the leaders by example of how to build their Solar Village. Based on the Gandhian principle of "be the change you wish to see in others", each participant will learn hands-on, how to first create their own sustainable, solar powered home, with the view of then being able to spread this knowledge and experience to their neighbors, and through them the community or Solar Village as a whole. Eventually this knowledge can be shared through the thousands of communities around the world, creating Solar Villages everywhere.

Focus Areas

1. Agriculture - Result: Ten by ten foot vegetable garden for growing food.
   1. Permaculture
   2. Organic
   3. Greenhouse
   4. Vegetable garden
2. Site Planning - Result: Site plan document for living in a building, growing food near by, transportation as required.
   1. Permaculture design for site planning
   2. Living space
   3. Growing food
   4. Water and waste management, reuse
3. Building - Result: Ten by ten foot straw bale structure complete with a green roof, solar panels, battery electric storage and rain water collection.
   1. Design
   2. Construction of a passive solar structure
   3. Use of renewable materials like straw bales
   4. Green roofing
   5. Solar heating and hot water
   6. Natural cooling
   7. Solar photovoltaic systems, electricity and battery storage and recycling
4. Transportation
   1. Use of walking path plans, biking, and other human powered options for transportation.
   2. Considerations for access to requried services by transportation (integration of transit systems)
   3. Electric car charging
   4. Small electric tractor for agriculture

The intention is to develop a program that can be taught hands-on, in a week, that provides the essential skills for building a sustainable habitat for individuals, while at the same time providing the tools to teach neighbours and the broader community.