Cultivate

BACKGROUND

Cultivate, the Sustainable Ireland Cooperative, is a practical sustainability organisation focused on active education, communication and citizen engagement. Cultivate supports a greater understanding of whole systems thinking as a key to sustainability and sees community-led projects as key to a more resilient future.

CURRENT PROJECTS

After 10 years managing sustainability centres in Dublin, Cultivate are now based in Cloughjordan Ecovillage and manage the WeCreate Workspace. This community innovation and social enterprise centre includes a classroom and workshop space that is regularly used by local, national and international organisations, coworking desks and a digital fabrication lab (Fab Lab). To increase the capacity of Cultivate and other organisations to work more effectively at international level, they are developing a digital learning and virtual communications environment at WeCreate. This will enable effective engagement for virtual participants at events hosted in the building.

Cultivate offers a range of development education workshop and courses in areas such as climate action, permaculture design and community resilience. Cultivate is currently delivering a programme funded by LEADER called Communities 4 Climate Action and hosting an annual Permaculture Design Course.

Cultivate coordinates the Global Green at the Electric Picnic, Ireland’s largest music and culture festival held at the end of August every year. More than 25 organisations and NGO’s take part in this sustainability area at the festival providing a platform to raise awareness, share information and highlight sustainability actions, through displays, activities, talks, music and community connections. Global Green also fosters awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals. Elements of Change is a new, small festival held in Cloughjordan Ecovillage as a local iteration of ‘Global Green’. Cultivate welcome contributions to these events from interested organisations.

At European level, Cultivate is involved a number of projects exploring the potential of digitisation and appropriate technology for the sustainability of rural regions. As part of an Erasmus project, they are pioneering the use of information and communications technology in conferences and learning.

Cultivate offers event design and facilitation to other organisations involved in sustainable development and development education, and can host events at the centre in Cloughjordan Ecovillage. www.cultivate.ie