Fréttir

24.08.2009 : SEEDS 08. Reykjavíkur Maraþon

Freshly arrived in Iceland for most of us, our first stop after the hostel was the marathon office of Iceland. We didn’t really know what we had to expect but we were not really scared. Very soon, We discover that a marathon was much more than runners in the street. We had two weeks before the marathon start and we had thousands things to do. We started our week with the medals: put stickers, pack, count a full program for these awards. Then we started the numbers: 15.000 numbers had to fly in envelopes with some leaflets and flyers. Fortunately, we were helped by local volunteers and it was a good opportunity to meet Icelanders. We also helped during the « Pasta party », a nice event to take care of the runners the day before the race. On the day of the marathon, we could help in the lazy town run organized for the children and the free time we had during the marathon races itself gave the opportunity to one of us to run the 10 kilometres and win a well ranked position.

After the work and the dinner, we were resting and enjoying the evenings in the marathon office building where three different rooms with comfortable beds were freed for us. We also had access to a nice conference room for our meetings, evening games and environmental activities.

But during these two weeks, we were not only working. We had the chance to do the golden circle, a travel trough some of the wonders of Iceland. The visit of the geothermal power plant, the powerful waterfall of Gullfoss and the famous Geysir area. We also went to the Blue lagoon enjoy the milky blue 40°C water of this half natural pool. Beside these two main activities, we could enjoy Reykjavik and it’s unique lifestyle. Everyday, we were enjoying the close swimming pool and it’s 10 different pots for free. At the evening, we were often going out in downtown to discover the Reykjavik night life and we can all say that «  it is crazy ! ». After the marathon, we also had the chance to attend this once a year event which is the «  cultural night ». A night with about 250 free concerts.

What a great sensation to contribute to this big event and at the same time enjoy the city of Reykjavik and Iceland!

19.08.2009 : SEEDS 07. Suðureyri. Like in the old days!! (1)

The workcamp was located in the West Fjords, near Bildudalur in a small area called Suðureyri. The landscape was beautiful (as always in Iceland!). The volunteers stayed in a small house at the end of one of the Fjords, near an old whaling station. The workcamp was very isolated and involved a 20 minute drive along primitive gravel road in order to get to the house. We had no electricity and no shower! Subsequently trips to the local swimming pools and hot pots were common. The hot pots, in the middle of the fjord, and the view was beautiful. Sitting in the hot pot at 3am with a beer was definitely one of the highlights of the workcamp!

The work involved renovating an old whaling station located 100m from the accommodation. The whaling station was in poor condition when the volunteers arrived, and the aim of the SEEDS volunteers was to cement the tower and the walls below in order to make the walls more sturdy and strong. So cementing the walls for two weeks followed. Cementing the bricks on a tower on scaffolding was a challenge with only the bravest volunteers daring to climb to the top.

One group was also in charge of fishing in the sea next to the accommodation. The local host had provided a small boat and every day a group of volunteers would go fishing and berry picking in the mountains. Our record number of fish caught was 13 caught by Czech, French and Belgian volunteers. Despite this success, a mishap with the fishing boat occurred, with the boat somehow managing to come untied and drift out to sea! Fortunately, Bingen, a Basque volunteer from Spain was onhand to swim in the freezing sea and rescue the boat.

On free days, we moved into local accommodation owned by the host in Bildudalur. Free time activities involved hiking one of the fjords located next to Bildudalur, a boat trip to a nearby fjord, trips to nearby hot pots and a night watching a local musician play in the ‘Monster Museum’ in Bildudalur. The hike up the fjords was a highlight, with the view from the top of the fjord being breathtaking. The host asked us to write in a book at the top of the fjord, and so we all wrote our names and also a short poem was written.

During freetime the local host cooked traditional icelandic food including sheep's head and sheep’s heart. This was a great experience of Icelandic culture and some us even tried sheep’s eye. The local host also cooked horse meat, raw whale meat, fish and lamb. Takk fyrir.

Three environmental activities took place in the workcamp. The first activity was the World Trade Game, a game which is intended to be a simplified version of the world’s economic trade, with volunteers having different resources and trading with each other in order to make products out of paper. Other activities included an activity involved hydropower and dams, where volunteers were asked to create a court room (with jury, defence and prosecution) putting Landsvirkjun, Iceland’s national energy supplier on trial. The last activity was a small fun activity involving quizzes and other activities to do with water.

Overall, the workcamp was fun, enjoyable and a great experience. Thank you to Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and England for your volunteer’s participation in the workcamp!

17.08.2009 : SEEDS 36. Reykjavík - SEEDS Photo Marathon 2009

22 volunteers from Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and the UK, came to Reykjavik for the annual SEEDS Photo marathon. The volunteers were there to work around the city of Reykjavík whilst also receiving formal lessons in photography, presentations from local and international photographers and having time to put their photographic skills into practice and display their work.

As soon as they arrived, the workcampers showed their enthusiasm to take part in the project and everyone started to get to know each other very quickly. The days were divided into sections in which photography lessons were given and work was done around Reykjavík, mainly painting over graffiti and trying to make the center of the city a nicer place.

The lessons and discussions helped many of the group to think about their photography in a different way and to get the most out of their cameras. After photography sessions we had time to present pictures and to discuss the ideas and decisions behind them.

Over the two weeks, the photography lessons were supplemented by presentations from some local Icelandic photographers, and also a presentation from our Israeli workcamper who has worked as a photographer for over 20 years.

In the middle of the camp we had the opportunity to work as volunteers on the preparations for and during the Gay Pride parade and celebrations in Reykjavík.

The main task was to build the rainbow balloon snake which would be released at the end of the celebrations. The work was much harder than might have been expected but our volunteers did an incredible job and the snake looked really good at the end.

During the camp we went on a trip along the south coast of Iceland and the workcampers had a fantastic day, bringing home many beautiful pictures. Some of these pictures and those taken around Reykjavík formed the basis of our exhibition which took place in the ‘Heart Garden’ in Reykjavik city centre.

The exhibition remained there for two weeks and received much attention and many compliments from the public.

At the end of the camp we had a joint international evening with another workcamp, which we held in our very comfortable accommodation, sampling dishes and drinks from all over the world.

At the end it was very sad to leave the camp as it had been so successful and the group had formed very close bonds over the two weeks. But we were all very satisfied, having made new friends, learned a little bit about Iceland and photography, and had even had our work exhibited. We will all take home happy memories of the camp, it could not have been more perfect!

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10.08.2009 : SEEDS 40. Green Days in Reykjavík & Film Festival

The SEEDS Green Days in Reykjavík will start next week and our team has been preparing the different types of activities to be developed in the capital of Iceland!

The Green Days’ events aim at raising awareness and stimulating citizens, businesses, non-governmental organisations, local authorities and other urban actors to improve the environment's quality by implementing changes in behaviour.

Apart from raising awareness, the activities provide citizens with information and exchange opportunities about the current and future environmental work of the local government. It will be an environmental education initiative that encourages all stakeholders to take steps towards becoming more environmentally-responsible.

The organisation of the events intends to allow local discussions on environmental issues to be linked to the wider global level through a participatory movement. The local government further profits from promotion of its work for the environment through the Green Days.

It will be a showcase to see the relevance of our actions on the environment and the challenges we are facing.

One of the aims of the Green Days in bringing together key players and stakeholders is not only to listen and to see but also to try to move towards feasible and cost-effective solutions; increasing the promotion of environment protection while saving or gaining in finances (of individuals, institutions or companies) that will result on better quality of life and health.

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22.07.2009 : SEEDS 21. The old mine of Helgustaðir

Eskifjorður is a town in the East Fjords and located on the opposite side of Iceland´s capital, Reykjavik. It is known for its fishing industry and since 2005 for the massive and controversial aluminium smelter built just behind the city. The aluminium smelter employs a significant number of local inhabitants and dividing the Icelandic society into its supporters and opposers.

The first day of the workcamp, our group of 7 volunteers had great opportunity to see the southern part of Iceland during about 11 hours of drive by minibus to Eskifjorður. Spectacular views, walks to waterfalls and a glacier…this all was a great appetizer for our work in the field.

The task of our group was to fix a short (about 800 meters long) walking path to the old mine in Helgustaðir. This crystal mine played an important role in Icelandic history and is now under protection of the Environmental Agency of Iceland. After about 30 years, we were the first group of people to fix the trail, which was badly affected by water and soil erosion and in need of better marking for the increasing number of tourists visiting this site.

The work involved building of water drains, steps, removing big stones from the path and other stone construction – stones, stones, stones. All this helped to make the path safer for tourists and to conserve it for next generations. All necessary support was provided by both the local community and the Environmental Agency of Iceland.

In leisure time, we caught a few fish in the fjord from small boats (not enough to feed our group, though), we hiked to the highest mountain it the area and enjoyed the beautiful local swimming pool with hot-tops, slides and sauna as our second home. Of course, this all took place after the work.

A visit to the sci-fi like aluminum smelter, further discussion and inquiry in the town with locals helped us to understand better the positive and negative impact of the smelter on the local and national environment, society and economy.

During the last night, a farewell party and an international evening in one, the local community let us feel that our work was appreciated. It might even be “the small stone which will help to move the rock,” meaning that it might bring even bigger positive changes in the future for the path and the local environment.