Cultivate Offerings, Updates and Views

Dear Cultivators,

Thanks for subscribing to our monthly update and hearing what we are up to and what courses and events are coming up. The Cultivate team have been busy. We recently moved into the new WeCreate Workspace in Cloughjordan Ecovillage where we have an office and host courses. We are also working to animate the co-working space and assisting other groups who are using the centre to organise and facilitate their events.

WeCreate, Cloughjordan

Cultivate recently joined ECOLISE, a new European networking organisation bringing together members from all of the main movements engaged in community-led action on climate change and sustainability, including the Ecovillage, Permaculture, and Transition Towns movement.

This year we are planning our 20th Convergence sustainability festival and will have more details in our next update. The theme will touch on community ownership and how cooperatives can strengthen the resilience of our communities. Cultivate, officially the Sustainable Ireland Cooperative Society Ltd, has been supporting cooperatives during our 15 year history. Last year our Convergence, Open Everything, looked at the potential of a commons and cooperative approach to making our communities more sustainable.

Read on about our current status or jump below for our course and event offerings.

Permaculture Design Course

Welcome Spring by discovering Permaculture in Ireland's only Eco-Village!

A Three Weekend Course: 25 - 26 April, 9 - 10 and 23 - 24 May 2015 | Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Co Tipperary | €350 (Secure place with €75 deposit) | Contact us with this form or Philippa on 0505 56060, philippa@cultivate.ie

This FETAC L5 accredited Permaculture Design Course provides participants with a balanced combination of theory and outdoor practical place-based learning. The course emphasises both ecological and social permaculture covering topics such as perennial plants, agro-forestry, soil health and new ways of thinking about land management. A lively, participatory and thought-provoking experience is guaranteed.

Or join us this Summer for a full residential 'PDC'....

Permaculture Design Certificate

Friday 14 - Sunday 23 August 2015 | Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Co Tipperary, Ireland | Fees €550 / €495 Members | €100 deposit secures your place (detail PDF) | Contact philippa@cultivate.ie

“Sitting at our back doorsteps, all we need to live a good life lies about us. Sun, wind, people, buildings, stones, sea, birds and plants surround us. Cooperation with all these things brings harmony, opposition to them brings disaster and chaos.” ― Bill Mollison, Introduction to Permaculture

Join the ecovillage's resident experts of permaculture, gardening, farming, perma-facture and green building for this unique, yearly opportunity to learn invaluable design and practical skills. This is Cultivate's 7th consecutive year holding the UK Permaculture Association accredited Permaculture Design Certificate Course at Cloughjordan Ecovillage.

Practical Digital Fabrication, QQI Level 5 

7 days during Spring | April 17-19, May 9-10 & 30-31 2015
Cost €500 

Accreditation
A QQI Level 5 course in practical digital fabrication, learn a range of design approaches using computer controlled machines and work on a guided project.

An opportunity to learn about appropriate technology, renewable and embodied energy, and green materials. This comprehensive course includes; how to use a 3D printer, CNC laser cutter and CNC milling machine.

The course location at the fabrication lab in Cloughjordan Ecovillage provides a unique example of sustainable design at work. Course participants will learn design and digital fabrication principles while gaining practical experience using digital fabrication equipment. Participants will work on prototypes and examples of their own designs or work from a brief provided. The participant will be enabled to advance their own business, work in the area of digital fabrication or create a new livelihood. The course will be taught by experts in the fields of digital fabrication, design principles and techniques, CAD, Electronics and Business Development.

New Ways of Teaching and Learning 

21 - 24 April 2015 | Cost €500 for funded participants | €300 if unfunded. There are two bursary placements available for low income or job seekers who would benefit from attending. The bursary includes all fees but not accommodation and food. | Contact davie@cultivate.ie

This is a four-day course for trainers, community educators and facilitators who wish to develop their skills in designing and hosting learning programmes in community. The course will provide an introduction to inviting, active, experiential and place-based learning methods. It will look particularly at the changing role of the trainer / facilitator, as we become more of a catalyst, rather than just a transmitter of knowledge. The course includes the Facilitating Flourishing Communities workshop and a day of practice where participants will co-host a Cultivate Learning Adventure for 25 adults.

Facilitating Flourishing Communities 

22 April 2015 | Cost €70 for funded participants, €35 if un-funded or active in this area and €20 for Cultivate or Ecovillage members. There are two bursary placements available for low income or job seekers who would benefit from attending. Contact davie@cultivate.ie

This is a one-day workshop in the art of facilitating transformative conversations. Conversations are the main medium by which people and communities change. The best conversations open us up, stimulate us, give us access to bigger views and new perspectives, make us feel part of a larger whole and lead to coherent actions. The worst conversations repeat pre-conceived views, involve no listening and change nothing. This workshop will introduce practices that support effective dialogue. The processes to be introduced in this session include the following:

• Circle Work – asserting equality and inclusivity in place of hierarchy
• Appreciative Inquiry – valuing what’s there, rather than starting with problems
• Café Seminar – encouraging participation and cross-fertilisation
• Open Space – enabling self-organising in line with where the energy is

Minimising Climate Change: an Economic Problem with Kim Stanley Robinson

6 - 10 April 2015 at UL and WeCreate Workspace in Cloughjordan Ecovillage | Register Here

One of the most renowned writers of science fiction is coming to Ireland for a week of events organised by University of Limerick’s Ralahine Centre for Utopian Studies. Kim Stanley Robinson is a towering, multi-award-winning figure in science fiction, and he has authored over 20 books, including the Mars trilogy (1993-1997) and Aurora (2015). His work deals with some of the most critical social, economic, and environmental issues facing our world, particularly in relation to ecological sustainability, world building, and utopian possibilities.

A national gathering on cooperative and community food systems hosted by Cloughjordan Community Farm. You are invited to a gathering for people involved, or getting involved in community supported agriculture (CSA), food coops and buyers clubs, community gardens, and local food supply and distribution systems.

Conference ticket only €35 - Pre Booking Essential – (€20 for Cloughjordan Community Farm Members, and €25 for Cloughjordan Ecovillage members) Other side events are priced separately, or by donation. This is a much-needed Community Farm fundraiser. We have kept the fee for the event as low as we can but if that is still a barrier for you, come along and pay what you can.

For booking and further information contact davie@thevillage.ie