From Sonairte
CARDING AND SPINNING (ADULTS)
With Annette Englishby
Discover the magical process from fleece to yarn.
Date: Saturday, August 15th
Time:10am - 4pm
Cost: €75 (Lunch included)
MAKE YOUR OWN FUZZY FELT STORY BOARD (AGE GROUP 5 - 10 YEARS)
With Deirdre Rogers
Using card, felt and wool children can create their own story board or poster that they can change with their imagination by adding wool or felt shapes. Parents will be welcome to stay with their child.
Date: Saturday, August 22nd
Time:10.30am -12pm
Cost: €15
HOW TO MAKE PERSONALISED BOOK-MARKS AND PLACE MATS (AGE GROUP 7 - 12 YEARS)
With Deirdre Rogers
Using drawings and photos each child will make their own personalized image, which will be laminated and transformed into placemats, coasters or hung in a frame. If available please bring photos or drawings (1 or 2) the child may want to include in their finished piece.
Date: Saturday, August 22nd
Time: 1.30pm - 3.30pm
Cost: €15
HERBS FOR HEALTH
With Louise Murphy
Learn how to use herbs to improve and maintain your health. Make an organic herbal Supertonic to combat winter colds & flues. Learn how herbs work effectively to enhance your natural health and metabolism. Duration: A full day course
Date: Sunday, September 13th
Time: 10am - 4pm
Costs: €75 per day (including lunch)
DRY STONE WALL BUILDING
With Bob Wilson - A founder member of CELT environmental charity and builder of many traditional walls throughout Ireland and the UK
A mainly practical introductory level course covering the basic techniques for construction of a strong dry-stone wall from foundation to capping. Also corners, steps, stiles, retaining walls and garden features plus an introduction to the use of lime mortar. Strong boots and rainwear recommended.
Date: ***NEW DATE***Saturday and Sunday, November 7th and 8th
Time:10am - 5pm
Cost: €150 (Lunch included)
DIY SOLAR HEATING
With Andy Wilson
Andy Wilson is editor of Sustainability magazine and has written many articles on small scale renewable energy. He currently lives outside Westport on a site powered by solar PV and micro wind. Andy works as a renewable energy and sustainable building consultant and has a particular interest in low cost DIY projects. This workshop willl look at how to make a high quality solarthermal panel out of recycled materials. Contrary to popular perception, solar panels are not hard to make and the basic materials can cost as little as 50 euro. The type of panel featured in this workshop has the capability to heat water to 50 degrees celcius as early in the year as February and to over 70 degrees on a regular basis during the summer. By the end of the workshop a fully operational (and very professional looking) solar panel will have been built, weather proofed, mounted and plumbed in. This workshop is aimed at the people with little or no previous experiencce who want to learn how to make their own solar panel.
Date: Saturday, September 12th
Time:10am - 5.30pm
Cost: €120 (Lunch included)
THE WILD LARDER – FORAGING FOR WILDFOOD (AUTUMN) (15 places)
With Emma Reeves
Walk in the grounds of Sonairte. Learn how to identify wild plants that are safe and good to eat with Emma Reeves.
Date: Sunday, September 13th
Time: 2pm - 4pm
Cost: €20
LEARN HOW TO MAKE CIDER
With David Llewellyn - a Craft Cider Maker
Cider making is the best way to save and preserve surplus apples in
the autumn. Have fun making your own natural cider using the simplest
household equipment.
Date: Thursday, September 24th
Time: 10am - 5pm
Cost: €75 (Lunch included)
CREATING NATURAL PLAY AREAS
With Richard Webb
We will begin by discussing the importance of play in the natural environment. This will
be followed by looking at how to create magical play areas in schools, play groups and in
community spaces. We will look at the potential for creating natural play opportunities
in Sonairte. Richard is chair of Sugradh, an organisation promoting better play facilities for
children. He also carries out inspections of play areas throughout Ireland and is a chartered
landscape architect.
Date: Saturday, September 26th
Time: 10am - 5pm
Cost: €75 (Lunch included)
DIY OFF THE GRID
With Andy Wilson
No frills part theoretical and part hands-on workshop which takes a hard look at the
practicalities of providing off grid power supplies from renewable sources.
Date: Saturday, September 26th
Time:10am - 5.30pm
Cost: €120 (Lunch included)
INTRODUCTION TO HOMEOPATHY
With Ashling Lupton
An enjoyable day learning all about this holistic system of healing. The course will cover the
origins and principles of homeopathy, some major remedies and what they can cure. You’ll also
learn how to prescribe in acute cases such as fevers, tummy bugs or colds/flus.
Date: Saturday, October 3rd
Time:10am - 5pm
Cost: €75 (Lunch included)
TREE DAY (Organised by Crann)
With Dale Treadwell
Environmental education activities, games and tree planting.
Date: Thursday, October 8th
Time: 10am - 5pm
Cost: Free
LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ESD) - UNESCO
In these times of uncertainty, strong leadership both globally and locally is essential to promote a
more sustainable and equitable society and workforce. This workforce will explore best practices
and the most recent developments in ESD thinking. Through ESD methodologies, this one day
training programme will help participants ‘decode’ the meaning of sustainability, helping them to
create a vision of a more sustainable future. Key words: Holistic/systems thinking, vision, synergy,
ESD methodologies.
Date: Saturday, October 10th
Time: 10am - 5pm
Cost: €50 - UNESCO Members, NGO, Community and vol sector €80 all other (lunch included)
INTRODUCTION TO LOW COST DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
With Andy Wilson
Want to build a home for 20,000 or even less? 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 an ultra-low cost mortgage-free home in a rural area. The type pf structures examined in the workshop will certainly not belong to the soul-less ‘vernacular’ post seventies concrete block-based architecture which has blighted Ireland. In post-peak oil Ireland, it is assumed a more enlightened approach to low-impact structures will naturally evolve. It is encouraging to see that planners in West Wales have now granted favourable planning status to certain dwellings which meet their strict critera for low environmental impact. Participants will be shown how to produce scaled drawings and will be encouraged to design and draw their own simple structures during the workshop.
Date: Sunday, October11th
Time:10am-5pm
Cost: €120 (Lunch included)
BASIC BUILDING ENERGY AUDITING
With Andy Wilson
This comprehensive one day energy-auditing workshop with Andy Wilson will enable course
participants to carryout their own energy audits up to the standard used in the Building
Regulation Technical Guidance Document “L”. The workshop will cover a wide range of
conventional and alternative building materials and will examine the energy relationship
between the different components of a building.
The workshop will also examine the influence of draughts/air leakage and look at ways to
estimate the performance of a building when the standard of workmanship is less than best
practice - something which is not addressed in the Irish government’s recently introduced
Building Energy Ratings.
The final part of the workshop looks at the use of electricity for lighting and for running
appliances and considers ways in which electricity consumption may be reduced. Off-grid
power based on renewable sources of energy is also discussed in detail. The workshop is aimed
at sustainable builders, architects, third level students and householders wishing to learn more
about domestic energy use.
Date: Sunday, October 25th
Time: 10am - 5pm
Cost: €120 (Lunch included)
