Blueprint 200 Plan – Regenerative Refugee Settlement

Blueprint 200 Tamera will be a scalable model refugee settlement and educational demonstration site for 200 people, located in our visitor center. It will be a place where we can work and test detailed solutions for regenerative settlements with the Blueprint Alliance. Initially we decided to work on two concurrent projects – one in Tamera and the other in a post-disaster area in Pakistan. However, we realized that we wanted to focus our strategy first on one project, so we could formulate a solid foundation, apply it to our lives and turn it into an educational place for projects around the world. We’re presently in the planning stages of phase 2 and are working on funding proposals to continue the work.

Blueprint 200 Pilot at Tamera

We’re already a strong center for education, running courses on Water Retention Landscapes and the work of the Solar Test Field. Tamera is also a safe haven and base camp for many people. By creating this training center as a model for regenerative autonomy, we will show how to apply the results worldwide.

The pilot site in Tamera will have a capacity of 200 people, which is why it’s called Blueprint 200. It will be a seasonal educational demonstration model, as well as a functional living space, for summer visitors and students. Built near the existing visitor lodgings, it will incorporate all the components of an autonomous settlement including:

  • sleeping spaces
  • living and gathering spaces
  • toilets
  • bathing facilities
  • cooking facilities.

There is a political thought in using it to house our visitors: every visitor, resident and student will gain lived experience of the principles of regenerative design. We want the model to radiate out through people going back to their workplaces and sharing this knowledge. We also want to show how refugees around the world could live in such healthy model camps.

At the same time, we want Blueprint 200 to serve as an educational site for partners and students from our global network to learn about regenerative principles and solutions, so that they can apply them in their home countries according to their local needs and conditions.

Planning and Documentation

Up until the end of 2017, the project focused on planning, design and documentation. Two teams have been working on:

  • Phase 2 of the plan, including:
    • formulating principles for the design of regenerative settlements
    • evaluating data from camp visits and interviewing experienced practitioners and workers of various disciplines within the humanitarian sector (inside and outside of the Blueprint Alliance) and asking them what is most needed, so that what we formulate is current
    • creating a design framework (based on a pattern language), which is informed by the research carried out during phase 1 and which continuously evolves through further feedback
    • creating a “Regenerative Continuum” – a road map to show the possible evolution of settlements from degenerative to sustainable to regenerative
    • developing a detailed design for the Blueprint 200 demonstration site in Tamera.
  • A Living Manual, written during and after the design and construction process, detailing the principles of integrated regenerative design for designers, builders, engineers and managers of refugee camps and temporary settlements. Addressing the common problem of ecological destruction caused by temporary camps, the open-source manual can be used to construct more permanent settlements, and to encourage temporary camps to be designed in a way that they can be easily converted into permanent settlements. The Living Manual also serves as a guide so that people who can’t visit Tamera can access the research and reference materials, such as photos and detailed diagrams. We want to continuously develop the Living Manual so that it will gain more and more complexity and intelligence and respond to the changing situation of displaced people. By using it, people around the world will be able to add information and refine it – which makes it “alive.”

Fundraising

The Grace Foundation has already supported phase 1: the design.

We’re currently raising funds for the next phases. Download our fundraising brochure and consider supporting financially.

www.tamera.org