The Alliance for Bio-based Construction in Ukraine (ABCU) has been registered as an official organisation in the Netherlands, and Mike Devéria is its chairman.
ABCU was invited to participate in the Rebuild Ukraine Green hackathon in September/October. We pulled together an international 14-person team of experienced architects, artists, trainers, and builders (five of us are STEPpers) who worked on developing a plan to give straw bale building training to disabled veterans and war widows. This should result in building a community center with accommodation for 10 families, all with a maximum 500m2 footprint.
This plan was developed into an impressive 10-minute presentation based on the three locations in Ukraine that the Synchro Space team (https://hub-synchro.space/en) had selected. Twenty judges, including Cypren, considered the presentations (8 in total) at the Synchro Space event. We are delighted to report that we came a close second, meaning that we were near the top, but unlike the winners, we are not committed to working on any of the three selected sites.
Rather, the team will start working on a pilot plant at Orzhytsya, the home of one of the team members. The very enthusiastic mayor has provided a site of 1.5 hectares in her hometown next to the Orzhytsya River. The architectural development and fundraising have begun, with work hoping to start in March or April 2025, depending on the weather, funding, and security situation.
Anyone interested in helping with this projectshould contact Mike Deveria Mikedeveria@strawbuilding.eu or join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1064798448570386