Building skills, building homes : community sustainability, straw bale construction, and indigenous perspectives

Abstract

This narrative inquiry explores how the Building Skills, Building Homes Project, which was undertaken in Saskatchewan, Canada from April – November 2003, exemplified a learning strategy for self-sustainable community development through the straw bale construction of two buildings. Being self-sustainable involves searching for an interconnected way of living with our environment. Finding a strategy that connects what is ecologically sound, such as straw bale construction, with current modes of living, is a complex process that necessitates new kinds of community education relationships. A retrospective analysis of the author’s experience with the project and a conversational interview with one of the participants of the Building Skills, Building Homes Project will illustrate the adult learning that happens between learners working together on a joint project, which facilitates a growing awareness of what self-sustainable living entails. The research question framing this study is: What links can community educators make using the Building Skills, Building Homes Project as an example of ecological community sustainability?