Date: Tuesday 26th March 2024
Attendees: Cypren Edmunds (UK), Herbert Gruber (AT), Rikki Nitzkin (ES), Annie (UK), Mike Deveria (NL), Zuzana Kierulfova (SK), Eileen Sutherland (UK), Issy Budd (UK), Johanna Lindinger (Stepper, AT), Moritz Reichert (DE/PL), Bert (Stepper NL), Viktoria Sobieska (Stepper, PL), Przemek Vos (PL), Laurynas Marcinkus (LT), Sven Aluste & Mikk Luht (EST), Bjorn Kierulf (SK), Kateryna Pylypchuk (LT), Dorothea Mix (DE), Katarina Kierulf (NO), Julian Mills (UK), Charlotte Leuvard (FR), Wojciech Owczarzak (PL), Undala Alam (UK), Josef Podmolik (Stepper, CZ), Martin (FR), Eric Rigaudie (FR), Rainer Schmidt (DE), Dominique de Braekkelaer (STEPper, BE), Rob (UK), Simone (UK)
Minutes of the Meeting:
00:00: The meeting commenced with greetings and a proposal to record the session. All participants agreed to the recording, followed by round-robin introductions where each member briefly introduced themselves and their location. Representatives from various organisations and countries shared their affiliations and roles. The diverse roles ranged from board members to architects, with participants hailing from countries including Slovakia, Spain, Austria, the UK, Norway, Poland, Lituania, France, Estonia, Czechia, Germany and the Netherlands.
16:30: Discussions regarding the 2025 ESBG conference was led by Rikki Nitzkin of RCP Spain, including activities such as a logo and theme competition, a video project, and a poster presentation session. The need for simultaneous translation was acknowledged, and a preliminary program schedule was presented.
33:00: Herbert mentions, that there is a problem with gmail-Accounts, some of ESBA’s invitations and messages are not delivered. If you encounter a problem with not getting invitations, please send your Email-contact to ESBA.
35:00: Introduction of new ESBA members: NJH Forening by Katharina Kierulf. Katarina presents the Norwegian Earth and Straw Organization’s goals and activities, followed by a full membership vote (26 yes-votes, 100%) and discussions about past members and their involvement.
43:33: Introduction of new ESBA associate members: Active Home by Erick Rigaudie. Erick provided an overview of the Activum project, detailing the transition from industrialisation to a circular economic model and the development of a straw filling machine for construction. Undala Alam (UK) queries carbon credit sales and alternative materials, Rigaudie highlights rising credit value and straw’s potential.
1:04:10: CALL TO ACTION: Cypren Edmunds and Herbert Gruber invite all members to the new ESBA Action Groups (interested members at the moment):
1) Straw Construction Standards (chair: Katharina Lehmann, members: Herbert Gruber, Dominique De Braeckeleer, Katarina Kierulf, Przemek Vos)
2) Innovative Tech & Practices (members: Mike Deveria, Dominique De Braeckeleer),
3) Workforce Growth & Training (members: Mike Deveria, Herbert Gruber, Dominique De Braeckeleer, Eileen Sutherland, Katarina Kierulf),
4) Financial Strategies (members: Cypren Edmunds),
5) Efficient Project Delivery (chair: Cypren Edmunds, members: Herbert Gruber, Dominique De Braeckeleer),
6) Promoting Adoption (members: Mike Deveria, Dominique De Braeckeleer),
7) ESBA supporting Ukraine (chair: Mike Deveria, members: Alissa Bankovska, Kateryna Pylypchuk, Dominique De Braeckeleer, Eileen Sutherland),
8) Communication Group (members: Mike Deveria, Herbert Gruber).
1:17:02: Action Group Discussion, F&A
If you want to join or chair an Action Group, please fill out this questionaire. Invitations for a first Zoom-Meeting will then be sent to you as well in June 2024.
1:29:26: Initiatives for rebuilding Ukraine. Mike Devéria outlines Ukraine rebuilding initiatives, highlighting straw bale building and healthcare projects. Kateryna Pylypchuk elaborates on the Urban Hackathon partnership, aiming to fund eco-housing and raise straw awareness among decision makers. Undala Alam brought to the meeting the Foreign Office project for Ukraine.
01:38:30: Herbert Gruber about an initiative of former president of LeGabion, Richard Lacortiglia about an Erasmus+ Application for a training program at the University of Cherniev, Ukraine.
01:48:47: Cypren Edmunds questions ongoing research projects of ESBA members: Przemek Vos (OSBN) about testing in Poland, Herbert and Dorothee Mix (BiWeNa) about prolonging the ETA test certificates from FASBA in Germany, Annie about especially humidity testing in UK, small discussion about BIM models (a result from Interreg project).
02:00:27: Cypren Edmunds and Przemek Vos question, what ESBA members would expect (as support or topic for funding) from the European Commission. The next meeting with European Commission is planned for June, so if you have an input, please send it to board@strawbuilding.eu.
02:02:33: Kateryna asks about the interval of ESBA Meetings (meetings are planned for the beginning of each season, so the next will be beginning of summer 2024, around June 20). In the future reports from Action Groups will be presented in the 4 seasonal ESBA meetings. Members are again invited to share news in ESBA newsletters and
02:06:45: Introduction of additional members, who joined the meeting later: Dominique de Braekkelaer (STEPper, BE), Rob and Simone (architects from UK)
02:22:20: Herbert Gruber stresses climate change mitigation and EU supply chain strengthening via an amazon-style web shop for natural building materials around straw building. The platform aims to foster good sources for (ideally local) materials in all European member countries, knowledge exchange, link builders with local suppliers, and maybe enable organizations to generate extra income through materials resale (more in Action Group 5).
02:16:45: Cypren Edmunds and Herbert Gruber propose the idea of using WhatsApp groups, highlighting their advantages over traditional email communication (most of the participants vote for this solution). If you are interested in getting informed about ESBA meetings, News or Action groups, please send your WhatsApp number to board@strawbuilding.eu.
02:22:21: Info about the recording of this meeting and last round of all (remaining) participants. The meeting concluded with gratitude expressed to all participants and a reminder to stay connected for future updates.
Minutes Prepared by: Cypren Edmunds, added by Herbert Gruber