Blancards – Sustainable Living – Human Development

Welcome. Our vision is one of a truly sustainable world, both at a human level and at an environmental level. Through diversity of renewable technologies, low carbon footprint living and human development we have a positive outlook for society and mankind’s future. For many years we have offered our Residential Internship Program which combines artistic, therapeutic and holistic workshops and seminars for personal development in our wonderful old farmhouse in southern Ardèche, France and our newest center in Adelaide Australia. Our courses include diverse subjects ranging from Meditation, BioSynergy, relaxation therapy, Gestalt therapy, sustainable living, solar power implementation, bio farming, wind power generation to ‘inner growth’ workshops like improvising on cello and piano, pottery, sculpture, storytelling, voice, inner journey.

We are particularly thrilled with our new sustainable living center in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. The land we have chosen for our self sustainability centre and  community was very carefully chosen and the final decision was based on water close to the surface, elevated land at a reasonably good price, organically enhanced and fertile soil, solar power and wind power or possibly both potential and in a location that is in sympathy for our human development programs.

We run monthly workshops from this stunning solar powered, eco-friendly facility and weekly meditation, sculpture, bio-diversity and solar panel and wind energy implementation classes weekly. Our world renowned international centre in southern Ardèche, France has offered residential courses for over 12 years and continues to flourish. We have a lovely symmetry between our French and Australian centres and many of our clients have visited both centres!

Blancards Sustainable Living Center - Adelaide Australia

As of April 2012 our Blancards Consciousness Center in South French Ardèche, now provides 24 residential courses and workshops per year aiming at personal growth and sustainable living. Our course welcomes individuals and groups with up to 16 participants. Our Adelaide Hills, South Australian Center currently offers 44 courses and this number is likely to grow through 2013. We are thrilled at the ongoing support from our wonderful clients and look forward to seeing you again soon.

Blancards sustainable living centre - France
Blancards Sustainable Living - France

Our Adelaide ”Green Living Workshop” proposed for June 2012 has 40 people signed up already – thank you for this wonderful support- the course outline is around creating an energy efficient home design for truly sustainable living.All aspects of sustainability are covered from bio farming to technical issues including solar space heating panels, a “geo-thermal” heat pump discussion and tank-less water heating systems. Above all, we focus on affordable renewable energy systems, solar and wind and how to create an energy efficient home and how to choose the right appliances. Since the renewable energy workshops are always popular we suggest contact us as soon as possible if you are interested in volunteering or participating in this amazing time!
We explore features of energy efficient appliances and everything related to sustainable living and renewable energy for your home.

We will be posting details of our Ardèche and Adelaide upcoming workshops and courses over the next few weeks and months. All courses are by donation only and we maintain a strong ‘not for profit’ ethic, whilst understanding costs need to be covered to enable us to complete our work. We have been touched by the very kind support of our participants over the last 12 years from our humble beginnings in our rambling French farm house.

How We Found Our Wonderful Blancards Adelaide Hill Centre.

We purchased our Adelaide property from a lovely man, John Foster. John had been looking for a retreat or farm in Adelaide for many years and unfortunately certain areas of South Australia were under the threat from hydraulic fracturing which threatened the water table and integrity and quality of water in many areas John looked. He had hoped
to build an approximately 15 acre retreat and orchard as his partner Anne was a certified apple grower . John had a lot of green skills  such as solar panel system design, grey-water systems, natural spring protection, composting and permaculture. He was also a great builder and had extensive timber framing experience. John, looking to retire, contacted us when he heard of our search for a new location for our Australian centre. It was a match made in heaven! John is a regular contributor to our workshops and is still closely connected to the land on which our centre is built.

Sustainable Living is Happy Living!

We are constantly noticing that visitors to our centres are amazed at what we
have done with such little financial investment to create a paradise of a community with organic, nurturing food and eco friendly shelter and awe inspiring natural beauty. Without exception they are immediately inspired and always want to get hands dirty to have the same kind of lifestyle that we have enjoyed for so many years. They will never be heard
grumbling or complaining about how society controls their life when they feel active love for the land and often want to stay on indefinitely! The lifestyle and teachings offered at Blancards they say, often saved their health and they commit to a sustainable lifestyle and natural living and focus less on accumulating money and material wealth and many say they wish that they would have learned about natural living earlier on in life. Very inspiring!

 

Sustainable Living - Renewable Energy - Permaculture
Blancards - Sustainable Living

 

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Blancards Climate Change Impacts Workshop – Adelaide November 2012

Some of you may have attended our fortnightly Green Forum, launched by the Bill Grainger of the Energy and Renewable Resources Centre, on 11 May 2011 at the Blancards Hill’s Centre. The subject of the Forum was “Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerabilities and Adaptations”, and was enthusiastically received by all that attended .It constituted a key
component of a research program between CSIRO and the Department of Natural Global Warming ImpactsResources and Environment.  The research program will run for 3 years, and will seek to improve on previous climate change modelling for Victoria. You may recall that previous work done by CSIRO indicated such changes as higher minimum temperatures across much of the State, and decreased rainfall south of the divide for most seasons of the year.
The new research will seek to improve on the detail and accuracy of these scenarios by employing data from more recent global climate models. Having achieved more robust and detailed climate change predictions, the research will then aim to identify vulnerabilities by
sector. These might include such things as heat stress in dairy cattle, the ability of storm water drains to cope with more frequent storm surges, or the sensitivity of particular species or ecological communities to habitat change. A key method for identifying and
quantifying vulnerabilities will be determining thresholds or tolerances for different activities or areas.

The final component of the research will be to identify suitable adaptive measures or mechanisms which could be employed to mitigate these vulnerabilities. The identification of vulnerabilities and adaptive measures is a process which depends upon informed input from stakeholders, researchers and decision makers in various sectors. For this
reason, we would greatly appreciate your participation in the forthcoming Monday 28 May 2001 workshop, which will focus on biodiversity. Previous workshops have focussed on catchments and water, and agriculture. The remaining workshop, scheduled for
8 June, will focus on coastal environments.

We are thinking around the 28 November for the workshop. The venue will be Blancards Centre, Adelaide Hills. Morning Tea, lunch and Afternoon Tea will be provided. In addition, if you are aware of others who you believe should attend the workshop, please feel free to extend the invitation to them or provide their details to us. Contact Gill Rwloey on 0456448776 for tentative bookings or further details

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Eco – Living. Proposed Course For July 2012

John Grainger – solar guru and sustainability advocate has outlined his Eco Living 2012 course, with preliminary schedule for 14-16 July 2012. John has 30 years experience in alternative living , green energy, solar power installation and Blancards trainer. John runs a solar power installation company with branches around the country. His solar panels Adelaide resource will give you an understanding of the installation of solar power in Adelaide, the current Government incentives and solar rebates. Renewable energy has been John’s passion for the last 15 years particularly solar , but John’s background is very interesting:

John here, hailing from Ireland. I enjoy working with Blancards and have recognized the importance of fundamental change in lifestyle, particularly to sustainable energy practices
for many years, with a focus on solar power and solar panels installation. I relocated from a rented shared house in Melbourne to ‘buy’ a 5 acre property in Adelaide 4 years ago, in order to live in a sustainable way. Many years ago i learned about the benefits of eco-living, bio farming and renewable ‘green’ energy production when i  I lived on a few ‘Kibbutzim’ outside Jerusalem in Israel. A ‘kibbutz’, for those who are not familiar (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz ), is a collective agricultural eco friendly community,
many of which utilize solar energy, wind power and use this in a small industry base.
This experience gave me a strong desire to live in an environment that is in sympathy with our natural environment. This means correct land care, renewable energy production, including my love – solar power in Adelaide, maintaining the bio-diversity and water supply. The Blancards Hills centre is a great example of this where the centre is powered by 20 kilowatts of solar panels mounted on the huge auditorium roof and the building is naturally heated and cooled. The centre  is elegant and beautifully moulded  into the surrounding landscape. The properties natural water supply where food is being grown issafe from harmful chemicals, and waste is managed for productivity. A place where the neighbors, young and old, routinely help one another. There is less traffic in the Adelaide Hills, less pollution and lots of gorgeous open spaces.

If you are interested in exploring and helping to a create a sustainable energy future , i would love you to join our course. The fears of global warming caused by global dependence on finite resources can be mitigated through implementation of solar panels installation, wind turbines , bio-mass energy and energy efficiency measures. For an inspiring view of sustainable living watch this:

Again , contact Gail Grainger, John’s wife on 0454433798 for further information or Johns solar power Adelaide renewable energy / solar power site for Adelaide. We look forward to welcoming you.

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Blancards Meditation Schedule – Sustainable Living

Jane Singer , our lovely meditaion teacher has put together the following schedule for the sustainable living for allAdelaide Hills centre. Please call Jane on 0456773887 to book your spot.

Jane’s focus in meditation is on learning how to have greater mindfulness, awareness, presence, fulfilment,joy and calm in your daily life, at work and at home

The Teachings by Jane will cover

  •  Posture in Meditation
  • Practices to meditate easily
  • The benefits of meditation and its rewards
  • The latest scientific research confirms the benefits of 20 minutes of deep meditation, both at a physical and mental level
  • How meditation works with your mind & body
  • Techniques to focus and calm your mind and relax your body
  • How to live a more mindful, calm and self-aware life
  • How to deal with life’s stresses, emotions and worries
  • Learn to relax your body
  • Experience a new practice every week

Jane has 20 years of meditation and sustainable living experience

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Permaculture and Organic Farming Workshop August 2012

We have penciled in the first weekend of August 2012 for our Permaculture and Organic Farming Workshop – very exciting! The Course will be run by our dear friend Christine Briggs who kindly introduces herself here:

My name is Christine, I live in Melbourne, Australia, with my husband and two children. We have a 2-acre suburban block (this is bigger than average!), and I grow lots of fruit and veg, organically. I try to follow Permaculture principals, but I don’t always succeed, and
sometimes succumb to the temptations of less-organic methods and products.
Other hobbies include sewing, patchwork, painting and avoiding the ironing. In my spare time (of which I have little!) I run an natural food and permaculture business.
I hope to impart my knowledge over the weekend and am adding more topics for this list, and hope to meet lots of interesting people. I hope to include cooking with organics, more herbs, more fruit from real trees! . A section on  companion plantings beneath trees, and to expand your knowledge of the range of perennial food plants, rather than concentrating on annuals.

I have a section about my favorite subject – guava. I have a big guava tree on my front lawn, suppose I never really thought it unusual as we harvest it each year to make guava jelly. The guava’s are about 1/4 the size of a golf ball, not the tropical ones that are really
big. My kids stand under the tree and eat their fill each year, just like eating candies. They really are delicious. The fruit gets woody when we get too heavy a frost and the young trees are frost tender, but the birds love the guava’s that much and they excrete the
seed so we have guava seedlings coming up everywhere. If anyone is planting these let me know I’ll tell you what I can. I also have about 40 Feijoa trees hedged to protect my orchard. We eat an enormous amount, give mountains away and feed the pigs on the rest. Another delicious fruit and more frost tolerant that guava’s.

 

Guava!
The Wonderful Guava

I am showing my age but everyone who grew up in the 40s and 50s is like your nursery growers. I grew up on Gardening Victoria magazine, for instance. I do remember beginning to use chemicals, but it was not known then…the consequences. There were also other consequences then causing some problems because plants were stressed. The soil for farmers then was recovering, or trying from the Dust Bowl era….and more drought arrived in the early 50s. But there have been many years since then. No need to panic anymore and grab for the nearest new ‘saving’ thing. These guys are the buggy whip makers who won’t grab onto the ‘new’ technology that would make a difference. I doubt anything will change with them until one of them has a severe illness in their family from the chemicals…if a dr will tell them….or they start losing money to a large organic nursery business. I can tell you that side by side in many cases plants grown organically areobviously larger and healthier than the chemical ones. If you doubt this, go to two places that you are certain are either organic or chemical. Buy two plants, one each, at the organic, and the chemical nurseries. Side by side may, or may not be obvious, but once planted it becomes unreal how much difference there is….if you plant them organically. I can’t say for sure about planting them chemically because I haven’t done that for so long and don’t want to do so just to experiment.

More information at http://permaculture.org.au/

I look forward to seeing you all soon at this wonderful workshop – It should be wonderful!

Contact Chris on 0455665442 for more details.

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Tentative Program Q2 2012 – Sustainability – Solar Power Adelaide – Organic Farming

The Adelaide Blancards Centre announces a tentative Q2 2012 schedule. Please contact John or Janice on 0455334887 to confirm places and for any assistance. We’ve been searching the Adelaide Hills area for new, qualified trainers and are very excited to introduce some wonderful new people into our program for Q2 2012.

John Grainger – Solar Power Adelaide Guru!

Hello, im John – I’ve always applied to all cooperative living situations, hoping for a
rent-to-own buy-in option to the community I fall in love with. My degrees
are in Solar Power Technology, Sustainable Ecology and Conservation of Natural Resources I often speak at renewable energy conferences around Adelaide. I have installed solar panels on hundreds of Adelaide roofs and have an extensive knowledge of solar power technologies. My solar power web resource at solar power adelaide has been running for several years as there is a need for impartial solar power and solar panel information in Adelaide and South Australia. My training at Blancards will focus on solar panels installation for your Adelaide home , why install solar in Adelaide and what solar rebates, both Federal and State Government are available. I have been thrilled to find that the Blancards community is promoting ways to live sustainably in Adelaide-we all want to live with strong sustainable communities and my solar power and green tech background should provide an enlightening workshop.

About Me: I live in Norwood, Adelaide with my dog Sheba-  She is most happy living with other dogs to play with on her breaks. I spend my days by installing solar panels on Adelaide homes, advising on price of Adelaide solar installation and the rest of my day spent on the inevitable  bookkeeping, computers, IT, database keeping, hospitality and cooking for visiting friends. I have a healthy lifestyle and I’m a lifelong vegetarian, only vegan if I can’t find free-range eggs and truly happy dairy cows (still looking for them in S.A. despite the ads!) I enjoy exchanging info and ideas with other careful consumers, perhaps buying groceries together for bulk savings. I can cook a big veggie meal and clean up a kitchen pretty well! I enjoy an occasional good bottle of wine with friends.

The Course, specifically discusses solar rebates S.A. and how the feed in tariff arrangement works, Adelaide solar panels installers – which ones are good and which ones are not!

solar power adelaide
Typical Solar Installation In Adelaide

I am also here to learn from you and the group – i do not know everything about solar power and am happy to learn from others.I really look forward to meeting you and to be of assistance and contribute where I can. I am also interested in off grid Adelaide solar panel systems. I decided to go off grid  because electrical services in Adelaide are expected to go up by 20 percent per annum until 2018! Get that! In the Hill’s are where power is not always available in the rural areas there are many people choosing to install solar power systems. We show you how a good Adelaide solar installer can put a solar P.V. (photovoltaic) system on your roof for less than $2000 – hopefully, after completing our course you will have the confidence to truely assess solar power installtion for your home and the upside and downside.

Cheers – John Grainger

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Blancards – Adelaide Centre

The Blancards Adelaide centre is an off-the-grid, 90 percent self sufficient facility in the Adelaide Hills  near the middle of the Barossa Valley wine country. We run on nothing but Solar Power, and a joyous heart!

We  have 15 acres of secluded land in a beautiful forested area, which we gather together on and enjoy our learning and training.

Our Land is not too far from Glen Haven, which is a very lovely example of small town in South Australia, set in a very beautiful area, with lots of Gum Trees and where Three Creeks Converge. Our philosophy is  Sustainability and Grace that we all deserve, in our opinion.

Our Community was created to build a natural non toxic centre on, with Solar Energy and organically grown food and above all to offer skills and learning. If people need a place to do some experimental  farming, where the land is good and the water is clean they have come to the right place.We are planning on maintaining a maximum group of 17 people and the community will be based on sustainability and living and learning together, on just 15 acres of land.

Eco Permaculture Structure - Adelaide Hills centre
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