After three intense years of building ISSA – The Island School of Social Autonomy, starting with three hectares of land overgrown with pine trees, and the ruins of an old stone house – with no electricity, water or any other infrastructure – together we have transformed the old stone house into a library, installed solar panels, renovated the old water tank, and built new dry stone walls and new terraces.
Besides the continuous manual work and construction, ISSA has also hosted various public and educational events. The most recent annual gathering, held in early October 2024, was a huge success. You can read more about it in the thoughtful piece by Klara Debeljak “Building the archipelagos of the future”
In early October, with the help of hundreds of hands, we started working on a spacious and multifunctional terrace in front of the School for future programs. We also installed our first “fog collectors”, continued building dry stone walls and started developing the circular water system.
Now in early February 2025 we gathered on the island of Vis to continue with the contructions, from woodworking to building dry stone walls. Together with our own Luka (architect/IssaFix) and Igor (geotechnical engineer/Pomalo), we have continued building the terrace and the School’s outdoor kitchen. We have also been joined by the tireless sustainable builders from ZMAG in constructing ISSA’s circular water system, compost toilet, shower, and natural filters. And last but not least, with Predrag we have cleared the terraces for our first ISSA bee colony – coming in summer.
Most importantly, we have been joined by some twenty volunteers from across Europe who have helped us in carrying hundreds of sandbags without stop, shared their energy and wisdom with us. We have learned much from you, thank you for joining and building – and learning – with us together.
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