We have moved and are now open at The Greenhouse, St Andrew St, Dublin 2. See map.
Our mission is to provide access to the knowledge and tools to cultivate sustainable lifestyles and resilient communities. Scroll down this page to see highlights of what's happening at Cultivate and among partners. See Learning and Community pages for full listings.
An exploration into how rural environments can adapt and thrive in these challenging times.
Mondays 8 February -12 April | 7.30pm - 10pm | The Village, Main Street, Cloughjordan. | Course Cost: €180 (includes notes and DVD) | Cultivate Members: €150| To book call: 01-6745773
Organised By Cultivate in association with Village Education Research and Training and Cloughjordan Transition Town
The goal of the course is to examine our vulnerability from a global
and local perspective and explore how we can build local resilience to
adapt to a changing world.
The course is designed for anyone interested or working in the areas of
sustainability, local resilience, the environment, community
regeneration, development, green business and Transition towns. Using a
participative learning format, featuring short presentations, case
studies, games, discussions and multimedia, the 10 sessions are
facilitated by Davie Philip a founding member of both Cultivate and the
Cloughjordan Ecovillage
An exploration into how we
can adapt and thrive in these challenging times
Tuesdays 16 February - 27 April | 7.30-9.30pm | Cultivate at the Greenhouse, 17 St Andrew St, D2
| To book call: 01-6745773| Course cost: €180 (includes notes and dvd) | Cultivate members: €150
The goal of the course is to examine our vulnerability from a global and local
perspective and explore how we can build community resilience to adapt to a
changing world.
The course, using the Community Powerdown Toolkit of learning resources, is designed for anyone interested or working in the areas of sustainability, local resilience, the environment, community regeneration, development, green business and Transition towns. Using a participative learning format, featuring short presentations, case studies, games, discussions and multimedia, the 10 sessions are facilitated by Davie Philip a founding member of both Cultivate and the Cloughjordan Ecovillage.
Sunday 28 February | 10am - 5pm | €95 |Cultivate at The Greenhouse, St Andrew St, D2
10% discount for Cultivate & ÉASCA Members | | Bookings: 01 674 5773
This one day theoretical workshop with Andy Wilson will look at simple house
design and construction, with the emphasis on very low cost construction using natural
and recycled materials. The starting point is the premise that a home should be
affordable, pleasant to live in, and should have the lowest possible
environmental impact. This course is particularly aimed at young people who
want to build an ultra-low cost mortgage-free home in a rural area.
Friday 5 March | 10am – 4pm | €120 | Cultivate at the Greenhouse, 17 St Andrew St, D2
10% discount for Cultivate and EASCA members | To book call: 0- 6745773
This course is designed to provide participants with
the knowledge and practical know-how required to plan a micro-generation system
for a house, a business or a farm. The course will put a particular emphasis on
grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems and small wind turbines.
The workshop will be led by Xavier Dubuisson, Senior
Sustainable Design Consultant at DWECoCo Ltd. Xavier is one of Ireland’s
leading renewable energy consultants with over 11 years experience in renewable
energy technologies, including lecturing at CIT.
Sunday 7 March | 10am - 5pm | €120 | Cultivate at the Greenhouse, 17 St Andrew St, D2
10% discount for Cultivate and EASCA members | To book call: 0- 6745773
Plenty of
people are computer literate these days but how many are energy literate? How many people have sufficient knowledge to make
their own independent assessments of
renewable energy technologies or government energy policies, or have the
ability to properly evaluate payback times, carbon footprints, food or biomass
energy yields, or domestic energy use?
This one
day interactive workshop demystifies energy for the layperson, and helps
debunks some of the big myths surrounding energy technologies. For example,
crunching the numbers soon demonstrates, conclusively, that renewable energy
will never, ever, replace fossil fuels at current levels of energy
consumption. Equally, life cycle
analysis reveals that some renewable energy devices (cheap domestic wind
turbines for example) take more energy to
manufacture than could be delivered during their entire working life. In
order for society to be able to make the best choices towards long term
sustainability, it must become energy
literate.
The
workshop draws upon a wide range of practical examples and case studies in
domestic, national, and international energy use, energy technologies,
greenhouse gas emissions and food production.
Detailed workshop notes are provided in digital
format (students should bring a memory stick)
Mondays 15 March - 19 April | 7pm - 8.30pm | Cultivate at the Greenhouse | €150 for 6 seminars / €80 for three seminars / €30 each seminar | 20% discount for Cultivate and EASCA members | To book call: 01- 6745773
With the
SEI Home Energy Saving Scheme a considerable amount of work is being undertaken
to retrofit our buildings for energy efficiency. In principle,
installing insulation and new boilers is a positive step, however, in practice
there can be pitfalls.
This seminar
series explores the different elements funded under the scheme and details the
best practices for retrofitting for energy efficiency. This series will be of
interest to contractors, energy assessors, landlords, those interestred in buying or selling a home and homeowners considering retrofitting and availing
of the HES scheme. More details follow...
A four week workshop with Gavin Harte that explorers the
science, causes, impacts and responses to climate change
Thursdays 25 March to 15 April | 7.30 – 9pm | €60 | Cultivate at The
Greenhouse, St Andrew St, D2 | 20% discount for Cultivate Members | To book call: 01-6745773
In a recent European poll on attitudes to
climate change, nearly half of all Irish people said the Government and
businesses are not doing enough to tackle it. Yet in our personal lives we
still do not or will not change our behaviour to reduce our carbon footprint.
Understanding climate change is critical if
we are going to do anything about it. Gavin Harte’s multimedia presentations
offer a mix of photographs, video clips, games and animations with the most
up-to-date information and thinking on the climate change story.
This workshop will suit anyone interested
in finding out more about climate change, its implications and how we might
respond to this global challenge.
Sunday 18 April | 10am - 5pm | €120 | Cultivate at The Greenhouse, 17 St Andrew St, D2
10% discount for Cultivate and EASCA members | To book call: 01-6745773
This part theoretical and part demonstration workshop looks
at energy use in the home and examines options for domestic energy saving. The
emphasis is on identifying the most effective, low-cost energy saving measures,
and the techniques, skills and materials required for successful
implementation. As most domestic energy use is in space or water heating, these
are the areas that will be examined most closely.
Various mock ups of walls, ceilings, loft hatches and floors
will be used to demonstrate insulation and draught-proofing techniques. The
respective merits of different types of insulation, glazing, and heat sources/
heating systems will also be discussed.
The workshop will include a wide variety of practical
examples and case histories. Savings from successful implementation of
energy-saving measures are typically in the region of 20-40 percent, but have
been considerably higher in some cases.
A final part of the workshop will look at the role of
renewable energy in domestic heat supply
Wednesdays 29 April to 3 June | 7 - 9pm | €180 | Cultivate at the Greenhouse, 17 St Andrew St, D2
10% discount for Cultivate and EASCA members | To book call: 0- 6745773
This course uses Patrick’s popular book, The Energy Efficient Home,
as the core reading. By the end of this series participants will have
the confidence and knowledge to make the big decisions in managing a
new build or renovation. Dr Patrick Waterfield is a Chartered Engineer
and a Fellow of the Energy Institute. He is the author of 14 conference
and journal papers and numerous periodical/magazine articles.
From the Caves at Lascaux to the Cusp of Collapse - Ecology and Economics
Tuesdays 4 May to 22 June | 7.30 – 9pm | €80 | Cultivate at The
Greenhouse, St Andrew St, D2 | 20% discount for Cultivate Members | To book call: 01-6745773
We
find ourselves at a truly unique point in human history. We face an
array of ecological threats, yet seem unable to reduce or manage them.
A battered world economy has probably seen the peak of global energy
and food production. Yet our tightly interconnected and globalised
civilisation, and the economy which support it require increasing such
production to remain functional.
This is a cross-diciplinary
course that aims to give a systemic overview of how we got to this
point, where we are, and the most likely scenarios in the coming years
and decades. The course is anchored in the sciences, but draws upon
history, the arts, and participants' own experiences.
At the end of the
course we will have a working knowledge of human systems' ecology;
human behavioural ecology; the thermodynamics of civilisation;
complexity and complex systems; key structures in the economy and
monetary system; and myths and stories of our own predicament. From
these we will have an insight into the implications of peak energy on
economic and financial systems, food security, and climate change.
Finally, we ask what all this means here and now, and how we can move
from theory to action.
All
are welcome, we assume no particular academic knowledge or background.
There will be plenty of time for discussion and participation. Detailed
notes will be provided.
the powering up of community, creativity and culture
"Bursting with insightful analysis and creative solutions to the
twin challenges of climate change and peak oil, The Powerdown Show is
an inspirational pointer to life beyond fossil fuels. Essential viewing
– a flash of light in the darkness."
- Rob Hopkins, Founder of the Transition Movement
the powerdown show is a 10-part TV series that takes a fresh and
engaging look at the community responses to the converging challenges
of climate change and peak oil. We have a golden opportunity to
create a far better, more sustainable way of life. Millions around the
world – many in your own community – are already making the transition
to local resilience. Your vision is needed too. Welcome to The Powerdown Show....
the ten films are a core element of Cultivate’s unique active-learning course: Community Powerdown - Training for Leadership, Livelihoods and Local
Resilience. This course has been developed to support the Transition
Movement.
Produced by Cultivate Centre, Dublin, Ireland. powerdown@cultivate.ie. Supported by BCI and DCTV.
An exploration into how rural environments can adapt and thrive in these challenging times.
An exploration into how we
can adapt and thrive in these challenging times
Friday 5 March | 10am – 4pm | €120 | Cultivate at the Greenhouse, 17 St Andrew St, D2
| Cultivate at the Greenhouse, 17 St Andrew St, D2
Mondays 15 March - 19 April | 7pm - 8.30pm | Cultivate at the Greenhouse | €150 for 6 seminars / €80 for three seminars / €30 each seminar | 20% discount for Cultivate and EASCA members | To book call: 01- 6745773
Sunday 18 April | 10am - 5pm | €120 | Cultivate at The Greenhouse, 17 St Andrew St, D2
Wednesdays 29 April to 3 June | 7 - 9pm | €180 | Cultivate at the Greenhouse, 17 St Andrew St, D2
From the Caves at Lascaux to the Cusp of Collapse - Ecology and Economics
