Western MA, New England regional RMH workshop and build--*what's your utopia*?

Hello permies in the New England area,

I'm looking ahead to organizing a rocket mass heater workshop and build with one of the leading experts.

Just today I had an energizing conversation with a creator of something called NVC-plus, and he suggested that a project begin with the question "what's your utopia?" I love the idea of hosting a rocket mass heater workshop and build and including that question to start off and tap into everyone's biggest energy.

Some of my thoughts on what my utopia is in this regard:

--everyone has the opportunity to heat with only renewables from nearby branches/deadfall (burning 1/10th the wood of a conventional wood stove, using mostly locally available free materials to build, having it last for centuries without costly repair needed)
--everyone has a basic level of confidence with building a rocket mass heater from soup to nuts, from digging subsoil to making the barrel look purty
--we get to use our creativity within the bounds of safety and in service to real sustainability
--everyone has a rocket mass heater who wants one in New England, and it's clear why people would want one.  people walk away from the workshop with enough knowledge to build their own next, and keep the cycle of learning going to yet more new people
--in the future, if you want help building one of these, you can always find a good-enough expert within walking distance, and an expert expert within 50 miles.
--the workshop draws out the best in everyone, and taps into every individual's strongest inner motivation as well as the collective motivation for the group and for the community outside the group, finding the balance ratio of being and doing.

There are more tools that this NVC-plus toolbox provides that we might tap into also, I'm just sharing the one that struck me at this moment as salient.

(Erica and Ernie also have a huge checklist of what makes a workshop go well in practical terms.)

(And you could get a SKiP badge or two out of this!)

Who in the New England area is interested in this?

If you're not in the New England area, but want to be involved, it may be we could work out videoconferencing parallel builds as I think Uncle Mud and others have done with Eastern Europe.

Please respond here or send me a purple mooseage.  Thanks!

In community,


Joshua

I would be interested in attending such a workshop, to pick the brains of one of the experienced experts and to share my experience. I have several different types of RMH and rocket oven builds that I can offer insights and real world experience on. I am east of Binghamton, NY. When are you thinking of holding this event?

Hi Joshua,

Too bad the site doesn't get more traffic and/or maybe there are just too many thread topics so these get buried
I'm replying months later but just wanted to raise my hand and say, "I'm interested!!"

What I am REALLY interested in is learning how to build an earth house: cob, straw bale, mud ram, anything like that.

I'm dying to find a local workshop that does NOT require masking and does not ask for participants medical history.

It appears this thread has been dormant for a while.  Did the discussion of a New England RMH workshop/brainstorm move somewhere else?

Randy Butler wrote:It appears this thread has been dormant for a while.  Did the discussion of a New England RMH workshop/brainstorm move somewhere else?

I'd like to know the same!

We did do the build, and sorry I didn't get back to folks who posted here.  It was rather rushed but a few folks I know from permies did come for some of it, so that's a plus.

I'm not aware of any cob house building workshops around here specifically, but we did make cob for the build.

I have taken on one practice from this thread, which is any time someone comes to help out or do paid work here on the land I ask them to make a wish for something about a better world--even the excavator guy who was pretty taciturn said one, which I appreciated.  So we can definitely do that.

Currently I'm looking to get people up here for badge bits as I posted on my other thread that I started ("badge bits in north central massachusetts" or something to that effect).