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Welcome to the Décentrale

This property is a co-working space where you can self-organize for collaborating on Synergiehub projects. The Synergiehub is an open network, that aims to transform society towards a self-empowered culture of synergetic cooperation for improving the quality of all life and the commons.

This space invites you to participate in projects for fair economy, grassroots governance, free education and citizen journalism. The projects of the Synergiehub include activities in the domains agriculture, housing, health and technology. You are welcome to stay here while working on such projects. Not welcome are activities with a competitive culture, that centralize power or which are in any other way directly or indirectly harmful to other beings.

Please contact us way in advance if you wish to organize a workshop, retreat or use the Décentrale to work on Synergiehub projects.

The rates for using the Décentrale co-working space is 20.- per day and 8.- for a short visits of a couple of hours. As a regular you can become a fellow and get reductions on these rates.

When working together at the Synergiehub and participating in projects at the Décentrale, it is important that we use the Synergiehub tools. Especially make sure to join the Synergiehub Telegram group right away, as it is an essential communication and coordination tool for us.

If you are sleeping here, the concierge will help you find a free space. Please make sure you use bed linen, which you will find in the middle cabinet on the first floor.

The following people can sleep over:

  • fellows staying at the Décentrale for co-working as a group
  • people coming to participate in a Synergiehub related event
  • people participating in retreats at La Décentrale
  • people coming to organize Synergiehub related events
  • people working on agreed tasks at La Décentrale
  • active concierges and staff members

Food and cooking is self-organized amongst the current residents. You will be shown the kitchen and the appliances that you will need to prepare your meals. Be aware that this space is vegan when you purchase the ingredients for your meal plan.

Help to recycle! PET, glas, aluminum foil and cans belong in the recycling (by the fire house near the tennis). Newspaper and magazines, as well as carton boxes, needs to be collected and brought down to the community recycling area in St-Imier. Other plastic, paper and cartons belong in the garbage. Black garbage bags always need to go into yellow bags that cover the garbage tax.

Like every self-organized space, we demand you to clean your own dishes and to organize the different cleaning tasks. The day of your departure, please bring your bedsheets down to the laundry and make sure you clean your room and the spaces you used.

No problems with drugs are tolerated. Getting into an argument about it counts as a problem and the drugs must go. When in doubt whether something is a drug or not, it's a drug.

If the concierge tells you that you have to pack and go immediately, you have to pack and go immediately. No discussion. You can later arrange for an appointment to discuss what happened, how to rectify the situation and whether to go on.

Where to find the Décentrale

Location: Mont-Soleil 59, above St-Imier, Bernese Jura, Switzerland

On Open Street Map: https://www.openstreetmap.org/search?query=Decentrale

The Décentrale is just a 2 minute walk away from the Mont-Soleil station.
How to get from the St-Imier train station to the Décentrale:

Transport

Look up train schedules here: http://www.sbb.ch/

Earliest connections from Mont-Soleil to the Swiss airports:

Departure Mont-Soleil at 6:25

  • Arrival Geneva Airport 8:54
  • Arrival Basel Airport 8:51
  • Arrival Zurich Airport 8:42
  • Arrival Berne Airport 8:39

Monday-Friday (Saturday one hour later, Sunday two hours later)

Latest connections from the Swiss Airports to Mont-Soleil:

Arrival Mont-Soleil at 23:44

  • Departure Geneva Airport 21:02
  • Departure Basel Airport 21:07
  • Departure Zurich Airport 21:13
  • Departure Berne Airport 21:18

Friday and Saturday (Sunday-Thursday 3 hours earlier!)

Funicular times: St-Imier - Mont-Soleil

Funicular times: Mont-Soleil - St-Imier

Train Schedules

Groceries

The Decentrale provides Coffee & Tea for you. Usually oil, vinegar, spices and other foods are available in the house, which you can use in exchange for a contribution. We also have a small shop with products made at La Décentrale and some other spices and food supplies. Individuals and groups are responsible for managing their food supply and self organizing around cooking, shopping and storage. Remember that this is a vegan space when you buy your food supplies.

  1. Décentrale, FairCoop products
  2. Market at St-Imier on Tuesday and Friday morning
  3. St-I Vrac, Rue Francillon 16, St-Imier

Kitchen, Diet & Dining

Food and cooking is self-organized amongst the current participants. The same applies for cleaning/washing up after meals and making sure the kitchen, surfaces, dining and living areas are left clean, organized and clutter free at the end of the day. Make sure you respect our house conventions and keep the kitchen, refrigerator, freezer, pots and pans of the house vegan.

  • Clean the dining areas, all kitchen surfaces, the oven and sweep the floor after cooking/eating, so others can use these areas.
  • Wash, dry and pack away all the dishes after eating, so others will have an easy time finding/using things.
  • Do not leave leftover food in pots or pans, transfer them to bowls, so others can use the pots/pans.
  • Store all ingredients, bread etc. in designated areas and leave the work surfaces empty, so others can use them.

Make sure to never delay these clean-ups, so the space remains clutter free for others.

Seasonal Produce - http://www.gemuese.ch/Calendrier-des-saisons

Garbage & Recycling Map

PET, glas, aluminum foil and cans belong in the recycling (by the fire house near the tennis). Newspaper and magazines, as well as carton boxes, we collect and bring down to the community recycling area in St-Imier. Other plastic, paper and cartons belong in the garbage. Black garbage bags always need to go into yellow bags that cover the garbage tax. Please do not leave any full garbage bags outside overnight as we have a resident Fox who enjoys its midnight snack.

Exit through the back gate and follow the directions. Large ‘Yellow’ garbage bags go in the large concrete containers and the rest in the designated recycling bins.

Electronics & Adapters

Please ensure that you bring your own electronic equipment. We can not guaranty you that there will be a free workstation in the house. There is free Wi-Fi access for the Internet.

Make sure to bring adapters along that you may need. The type C and J plugs will work fine here:

Housekeeping

Self empowerment towards housekeeping means that Synergiehub participants must self organize around cleaning, making sure that dishes are washed, dried and packed away after every meal, ingredients stored in designated areas, that all surfaces are cleaned, and floors swept/mopped, so others can also use or enjoy the space. Participants will also self-organize around the cleaning of the bathrooms, toilets, work rooms and other living spaces, ensuring that other participants find a clean shower, toilet, basin, floor etc.

You will find cleaning equipment on your floor in the closet marked according to the floor maps below. Keep all your personal belongings in your room, remove belongings from the bathrooms after use and store coats, shoes, towels and other items in the designated areas and return furniture and other items in the house/garden to their designated areas after use.

Ensure that you always cover your mattress, duvet and pillow with the linen provided in the bed linen closet on ‘floor 2’ (see floor maps below) before using the beds.

If you are in a group, before leaving please remove the bed linen and if possible wash/hang it in the laundry room. Individuals can leave their used bed linen next to the washing machine on the left, so as not to waste energy on an empty machine and a small amount of laundry. If there is dirty laundry on the left of the machine, you can add that to your laundry to fill the machine.

Chores for longer stays or groups

Here is the weekly (usually every Thursday morning) chore list for the Décentrale. Participants are asked to self-organize around cleaning and maintaining the house. Workshop, Course or Project groups are asked to run through this chore list before they depart if necessary.

*The order of doing stuff allows for efficiency, as you don't want dust and other stuff ending up on the floor after you already cleaned it. So from the top to the bottom is advised. Not everything is always necessary, so only that which you believe deserves attention.

1. Dust, clean & wipe all surfaces with a damp (not wet cloth, especially wood). - Shelves, Cabinets, Counter Tops, Kitchen Tops, Oven inside & outside, Fridge inside & outside, Desktops, Laptops, Keyboards and anything else you deem necessary.
2. Clean windows & mirrors.
3. Clean toilets, basins, showers, shower walls, empty & clean bins, replace toilet paper.
4. Sweep staircase as it is a hard to reach area with the vacuum cleaner.
5. Vacuum floors & couches etc. - Remove and replace couch covers in living room.
6. Mop any tiled floors & use a slightly damp (not wet) mop on the wooden floors.
7. Replace kitchen towels with fresh ones & wash and hang any laundry that has piled up next to the washing machine
8. Water the plants (2 glasses tall plants/1 glass medium plants/half a glass Cacti).
9. Enjoy

Residents need to properly self-organize to maintain not only the house hold but the house. For the coordination of such activities and projects on the property, organize weekly meetings at 17h on Thursdays. Involve the stakeholders and make sure you have consent. Don't decide stuff that impacts others without involving them in the process.

Rooms, Yurt & Tipi

Be considerate towards other participants in the shared dormitories.

In order to reduce waste and conserve energy, do not leave windows or balcony doors open longer than 10 minutes while the house is heated. Closing the door of the rooms will also help keeping a comfortable temperature.

Ensure that no candles are used anywhere in the house or in any of the exterior living quarters, such as the Yurt, Tipi etc., because of fire hazards. When enjoying the fireplace or lighting fires outside, make sure they are extinguished before you retire.

To ensure energy savings, turn off all the lights in the house before you retire, apart from the small kitchen light above the kettle.

The house is strictly non-smoking, that includes the balconies, Tipi, Yurt, Caravan and other living areas, apart from the terrace adjacent to 'workshop 2'. Smoke outside.

In order to reduce the risk of 'bed bug' infestation, we prefer if you use the bed linen provided for the beds and do not use sleeping bags or sleeping sacks in the house.

Do not remove any mattresses, bedding or other items from the house. If you will be making use of the Yurt or Tipi, bring your own sleeping mat and sleeping bag or ask in advance a staff member if they can provide you a sleeping bag and mat.

Heating

There is a surcharge for heating during the colder months. The Décentrale has central heating in addition to the fireplace in the main salon, for both of which we obtain fire wood from the local region. The following chart may help to estimate the heating cost (shared amongst occupants) for typical weather conditions:

  • Oct 10.-/day
  • Nov 20.-/day
  • Dec 30.-/day
  • Jan 40.-/day
  • Feb 45.-/day
  • Mar 25.-/day
  • Apr 15.-/day
  • Mai 10.-/day

You can also purchase fire wood for making a cosy fire in the salon for 5.- per box.

Problems with drugs and disturbances

No problems with drugs are tolerated. Getting into an argument about it counts as a problem and the drugs must go. When in doubt whether something is a drug or not, it's a drug.

Hostile and aggressive behaviour (verbal abuse, threats, bullying, harassment, mobbing, shouting etc.) towards other participants will not be tolerated. If the resident concierge tells you that you have to pack and go immediately, you have to pack and go immediately. No discussion. You can later arrange for an appointment to discuss what happened, how to rectify the situation and whether to go on.

Working Hours & Rest

As the Decentrale allows for a diverse group of individuals participating, we consider it a best practice to maintain quiet in the house from 23:00 - 06:00. During this time you are of course free to use the kitchen and other areas, but please ensure that you consider your fellow participants who might be resting or sleeping and that you leave areas clean, clutter-free and organized for other participants, before retiring and that you don't leave behind any personal belongings.

Close the doors of the living room, kitchen and ‘workspace 1’ if you use these spaces after 23:00. See floor maps below. Refrain from using ‘workspace 2’ after 23:00, as there are dorm rooms adjacent to this workspace. If you will be working late, use 'workspace 1'. See floor maps below.

Do not sleep in the living room, dining room or other social spaces. Sleep in the dormitories only. If your group needs extra space for sleeping then you can bring tents to put up in the garden, if the time of year allows it.

Switch off all the house lights if you are the last one retiring, apart from the small kitchen light above the kettle.

Communication

House Layout

Basement

Floor 1

Workspace 1 - 10 people
Dining Area - 25 people

Floor 2

Room 1 - 5 Beds
Room 2 - 2 Beds
Workspace 2 - 25 people

Floor 3

Room 3 - 3 Beds
Room 4 - 5 Beds
Room 5 - 5 Beds

welcome.txt · Last modified: 2019/12/03 14:10 by v3g