OCLT / Material Cultures: Regenerative Construction (Talk)
How we can build homes in a way that replenishes rather than depletes the natural environment? Join us to find out.
Tuesday 21st January, 5:30-6:30pm (GMT)
Makespace, 1 Aristotle Lane, Oxford, OX2 6TP
How can we build affordable homes in a way that not only does less harm to the natural environment, for example by reducing carbon emissions, but which actively replenishes it? In other words, how can we build regeneratively, and move towards a construction industry that is both ecologically safe and socially just?
To find out, join Oxfordshire Community Land Trust for a talk by the brilliant designers, makers and researchers Material Cultures. Everyone is welcome.
About Material Cultures
Material Cultures bring together design, research and strategic thinking to make meaningful progress towards a post-carbon built environment. Their approach involves examining the whole supply chain of materials used for construction projects – from their extraction and/or production through to their final use and disposal – to ensure that the way we build is not just sustainable, but as environmentally regenerative as possible.
They've shown how this approach can result in beautiful buildings that both enrich the natural environment and may have significant benefits for the people who use and inhabit them.
Material Cultures are one of the architecture practices working on “The Phoenix” in Lewes, East Sussex, a sustainable neighbourhood on a former industrial site (image below). They provide design services, undertake hands-on construction and refurbishment projects, and work with public, private and third sector organisations – often in a highly participatory way that involves local communities.
You can find out more about their work here.
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Member
Josh Booth
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
I'm the community building coordinator at Oxfordshire Community Land Trust, which works to empower local communities across the county to take ownership of land and manage it in ways that are meaningful for them. My job involves building relationships, capacity and momentum among communities so that they can shape and participate in OCLT's projects. At present, the focus of these projects is affordable housing that places care for both people and planet centre stage. One big advantage of developing housing on this relatively small, local scale, is that we can do so in an innovative way. So we're experimenting with how we can build in a way that is not just low-carbon, but regenerative, using biobased materials produced locally. Our hope is that by doing this we can demonstrate what a different kind of construction economy might look like – one that takes our planetary limits seriously while also improving human health and wellbeing.
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Member
Siobhann Mansel-Pleydell
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Founder of Make It Good which is dedicated to accelerating regenerative futures. Most recently part of the Oxfordshire Doughnut Project Team. Funded by Oxfordshire County Council and hosted by Aspire, the project seeks to accelerate understanding of Doughnut Economics in application across three core work streams - developing a preliminary data portrait as a springboard for engagement, understanding how to move from impact assessment to doughnut-informed Decision Making Wheel, and to consider how to begin to apply these tools to strategic economic planning in Oxfordshire.
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Member
Joel Petterson
Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Hi, I've have recently completed my MSc Ecological Economics in Leeds. Since then I have been the Oxfordshire Doughnut Project Data Lead across the Four Lenses for the Preliminary Data Portrait: • Global Ecological Lens: based on planetary boundaries model, downscaling data to county or regional levels and applying and improving on best practice methodologies. • Global Social: designed a data methodology applying material footprinting data to Global Social dimensions (aligned with Sustainable Development Goals) to build a coherent narrative around local consumption and global social impact. • Local Social and Ecological: supervising and producing calculations across all dimensions and their visualisations. Looking forward to see where this doughnut goes and what opportunities for engagement arise from it!
