Context


It is clear we should stop the destruction of the ecological systems and the exhaustion of the (natural) sources we have left. Therefore we need to develop systems that can facilitate our consumption patterns (needs) in a sustainable way, or change our lifestyle to prehistoric standards. A reduction of our life standards is unlikely to be accepted, so we might want to focus on the first option first. This implies we need to concentrate on the use of renewable sources (solar, wind and gravity power) but also on minimizing the use of non-renewable sources and optimizing the efficiency of the used sources (intelligent design and use of sources, recycling). In a lot of ways sustainability is associated with extra costs, beards, rejection of luxury and denial of nowadays standards. We believe that intelligent and innovative approaches make it unnecessary to downgrade our lifestyles. However, attention is needed to show not only the inevitability but also the benefits and possibilities of sustainability, in order to get the acceptance and understanding of the greater public (marketing!).

Our workshop is based on the above stated philosophy. The themes this workshop deals with are:

· recycling (re-use of materials, renewable sources)
· energy: (alternative sources, efficiency based)
· the role of mobility (alternative transportation systems)
· intelligent design (lightweight, efficiency based)
· the image of sustainability (bigger and better, no beard required)
· the sustainable features of hovercrafts in relation to conventional boats

Aim

 Mobility plays an important role in nowadays life, and it is not likely we give up our needs in this. We have to develop means of transportation that will be sustainable in accordance with the above stated philosophy. As EASA takes place on Friland, a peninsula in a country that mainly consist of islands we chose to work on transportation over water.
From the perspective of energy efficiency hovercrafts are providing us with an alternative for transportation by boat. Hovercrafts are much more energy efficient means for transportation over water. The idea is that we build a hovercraft that will be big enough to carry approximately two persons, and that we have it fully operating within the available two weeks that EASA lasts. To keep the budget down and the environment clean, we use the scrapheap concept as main source for materials. The hovercraft will be constructed from recycled materials and wood. The hovercraft will be powered by a engine that is as small as possible, or if feasible, (also) by manpower. The hovercraft is seen as a metaphor for the contrast between nowadays typical life and the sustainable questions we are faced with.