Representatives from all the partner organizations arrived on Monday September 12th. They travelled by plane, train or car. From the train station in Leeuwarden to the project venue in Earnewâld everybody was transported by electric car. Also during the rest of the event all transport was solely by electric cars.
At the venue the delegations were housed in five bugalows. In the evening a welcoming dinner was held at the park, with afterwards a short introduction of all participants.
The next day, Tuesday September 13th, there was a busy program. It started at the village of Sibrandabuorren with a visit to the local food cooperative and garden. The delegations were able to talk to the initiators, the gardeners and some users and learn how they supply food for about 200 households on a small plot of land. After a lunch with local produce the party proceeded to the village of Gytsjerk to learn about the local energy cooperative Trynwâlden. Here the delegations also had a chance to talk to the initiators to learn about how to start such an initiative, how to run it, what hiccups can occur, etc.
After returning to Earnewâld, it was time for some local culture with a visit to the ‘skûtsjemuseum’ and a short sailing trip on a boat.
On Wednesday September 14th there was a visit to the city of IJlst. They have a solar park using a very democratic process to achieve this. It was also about communal energy. The initiators were able to answer a lot of the questions the delegation had. The second stop was at the village of Heeg. The delegation was informed about Sustainable Heeg in the broadest sense: aqua thermic use, shared cars an a project to cut down on waste. Especially the aqua thermic project is very innovative and raised a lot of questions.
After a lunch in Heeg, the delegation moved on to the house of province in Leeuwarden, where they were met by the regional deputy. First on the program was a short tour of the house of province. Afterwards there was a talk about sustainability and new thoughts on energy transition by Professor Oane Galama. The delegation had a lot of questions for him.
From the house of province the delegation was then transported to ‘it Swettehûs’, a provincial building on the outskirts of Leeuwarden. It is one of the countries most sustainable buildings. The delegation talked to the manager and people working in the building. Dinner was there as well. Back at the park there was an evaluation meeting and afterwards there were bye bye drinks in the pub on the park. In general the meeting was thought to be very valuable. This came out of the evaluation forms sent later on as well.
On Thursday September 15th every delegation left, leaving an impressive amount of new information to reflect upon.
See here full video coverage of the 4th transnational meeting in Frysland, the Netherlands – https://youtu.be/LbSWirkVvJo
