Ondurdis patronizes Urban Villages Group.

The Norse mythology presented us with Skade, daughter of the Jotun. She enjoyed skiing and hunting in the Norwegian mountains. The fairies hailed her as Ondurdis, the godess of skiing. She keeps an eye with the activities of Allgrønn, her earth. Now she has returned from the mountains to patronize the conditions of life in villages and urban areas.

In Allgrønn's office in Oslo, Ondurdis found the books "Urban Villages" and "A Vision of Britain", and she immediately proposed to go to England to protect the important work of the Urban Villages Group which was initiated by HRH The Prince of Wales. Ondurdis asserts that a society with great personal freedom demands commitment from all its members in its own development. If the development is left to the market forces, the sectional interests may conflict with the interests of the society, Unfortunaltely, this is what has happened to the urban development of our time, as we can see too many buildings and developments out of proportions for human life, thus making our environment inhuman.

To promote a better and more balanced development, it is essential to be capable of presenting the objections to the strong marked forces. Urban Villages Group works for all of us by taking care of the environment of the urban area and describe area development in human dimensions. Their effort have become a substantial argument in the debate about the future development of towns and cities. The Urban Villages Group works interdiciplinary and with a general view. They maintain important traditions, and take care of fine details which often were parts of ancient buildings, and show how important these were to the environment. Urban Villages Group, to full extent, deserves Allgrønn's godess for the powerful kick; Skade, the daughter of Jotun, "Ondurdis". ( The photograph shows Allgreen's spokesman Erling Okkenhaug give the Ondurdis prize to Charmian Marshall in The Urban Village Forum )

"Allgreen" was the name our old Norse gods used for the planet earth. We have borrowed this name to form a non-political, non-commercial movement, whose primary concern is to take care of our cultural heritage and to influence developers to do the same. ( The Sculptor Arne Vinje Gunnerud made this bronze relief. ) About other Allgreen Projects:

Arendal, the town with the canals. The idea to dig up and revive the South Coast town of Arendal's ancient canals was launched in 1989. "The Canal Association for the enrichment of Arendal's environment" has now more than 1500 members and supporters and is encouraged by the Department of Environment.

Dale-Gudbrands Gard, Hundorp. The Centre for Norse Mythology was opened in Gudbrandsdalen in 1991, initiated and designed by Allgrønn.

Oslo Harbour. In 1991 we initiated the effords to visualise Oslo Harbour Corporation's dispositions in the capital's seafront and its negative consequences. Our six reports have resulted in an initiative by the Council of Oslo to reconsider the plans for a new harbour development.

The Villages. We have realised the demand for a renewed debate about human environment and its influence on the quality of life. Our objective is to establish competence to develop the Village concept in Norway. Format and scale present problems in large developments. We would like to see new developments where the civic qualities of the ancient villages are maintained.

Les rådene fra Prince Charles om byutvikling

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