SCOPE Zimbabwe becomes a sustainable lifestyle learning and knowledge hub

Schools and Colleges Permaculture (SCOPE) Zimbabwe is a PELUM Zimbabwe Member paving the way for sustainable development in Zimbabwe. The picture shows rammed earth buildings under construction at the SCOPE Zimbabwe centre which is known as chitubu (spring) because of its sustainable lifestyle and building model. Rammed earth buildings are constructed using old tires and sandbags. Their main advantage is their flexibility and therefore higher resilience during earth moving hazards such as earth quakes. Photo: Maria Namatira / SCOPE Zimbabwe

The construction of buildings and the impact it has on climate change, human health and the natural environment is an aspect that is hardly discussed in Zimbabwe. This silence is costing the nation billions of dollars annually yet a solution lies 22 kilometers from the Central Business District in Mount Hampden at the Schools and Colleges Permaculture (SCOPE) Zimbabwe’s Knowledge Hub.

The National Coordinator for SCOPE Zimbabwe, Linda Kabaira says her organisation’s newly constructed Knowledge Hub efficiently uses energy and water. Linda says the Hub has been designed to reduce waste, pollution and environmental degradation.

“Our buildings are thoughtfully designed in shape, materials used, and sizes to demonstrate sustainable living, off grid living, cutting the green house gas effects caused by construction, use of water, energy and consumption. They cut across the four dimensions of sustainability [which are] culture, society, ecology and economy,” says Linda.

Studies have shown that there is a connection between buildings and climate change because buildings contribute almost half of the GHG emissions. Linda says a fundamental shift about the way we see buildings is needed.

The SCOPE Zimbabwe Knowledge Hub uses dry composting toilets which provide immense benefits not just for non-edible gardening but also for water conservation and urban health.

“The waterless toilet saves more than 6,600 gallons of water annually for each person that visits the bathroom. Cholera and typhoid cases are on the rise in urban Zimbabwe due to pollution of ground water. Composting toilets enhance natural bacteria that allow the compost to kill toxins in human waste,” says Linda.

The buildings at the Knowledge Hub also features rammed earth buildings. Linda says the Knowledge Hub demonstrates the possibilities of living sustainable lifestyles.

“Sustainable lifestyles mean rethinking our ways of living, how we build, grow food, cook, eat, buy and how we organize our everyday life. It is also about altering how we socialize, exchange, share, educate and build identities. It means transforming our societies and living in harmony with our natural environment. This is what the buildings at SCOPE are about,” says Linda.