What is Restorative Sustainability and why is Education so vital?

Working with Class of your Own, it is a pleasure to be organising and directing the first Training School for the RESTORE Cost Action to be held in Lancaster, between 14th and 17th November 2017.

The RESTORE Action aims at a paradigm shift towards restorative sustainability for new and existing buildings, promoting forward thinking and multidisciplinary knowledge, leading to solutions that celebrate the richness of design creativity while enhancing users’ experience, health and wellbeing inside and outside buildings, in harmony with urban ecosystems, reconnecting users to nature.

Applications are now invited for the school that will focus on Restorative Sustainability, Biophilia, and Sustainability Education.  In four days students and practitioners from across the EU will gain a deep understanding of Restorative Sustainability and learn about key topics from RESTORE working groups.

Training School trainees (students, educators, and practitioners) will participate in

• Introduction Seminars
• Action Learning
• Presentations (Team and Individual)
• Designing and Delivering a School Sustainability Education workshop
• Study Tours / Interviews with Living Building Challenge Project Teams
• Report Writing
• Evening seminars

We expect the school to be oversubscribed, so get your application in now! Full details, selection criteria and how to apply can be found on the Cost RESTORE website.

Topics to be covered include:

• PLACE:  Relationship with place, ecology, nature, soils, bio-climate,
• ENERGY: restorative and regenerative energy, net-zero, carbon-neutral, energy storage
• WATER: net positive water, building influence, floods, drought, water stress
• WELLBEING: health, happiness, Salutogenesis, biophilia, mindfulness, air, light, comfort
• CARBON: science based targets, 350ppm, 2Deg, 1.5Deg, social impact,
• RESOURCES:  healthy materials, responsible, transparency, conservation, circular economy,
• EQUITY: equality fairness, inclusion, respect,
• EDUCATION: behaviour, next generation, next project, development,

The outline agenda for the four days:

Day One (TUESDAY, November 14)

• Inductions, Welcomes and Arrangements
• Introduction to RESTORE
• Restorative Sustainability Thinking
• FutuREstorative Module
• Introduction to Biophilic Design and Impact on Sustainable Behaviour
• Production of Biophilic Design Plan (for Birth Center (Design or Refurbishment)

Evening

• Guest Lecture Sustainable and Traceable Coffee – Presentation and Coffee Tasting
• Dinner

 Day Two (WEDS, November 15)

• Introduction: Sustainability Education, Inspiring the next generation
• Planning An Education Workshop
• Site Tour Lancaster Castle + Refurbishment Works
• Working Group One: Faro Papers, Intro and Discussion
  • Social Wellbeing, Behaviour
  • Restorative Heritage
  • Regenerative Buildings
  • Economics, Resources ‘the circular economy’
• Guest Lectures (eg Heritage, Biomimicry, Circular Economy)

Evening

• UK ReWilding Guest Lecture
• Dinner

Day Three (THURS, November 16)

• Running a Live Sustainability Education Workshop at Local School (tbc)
• Education Workshop Feedback from students and teachers
• Finalisation of Reports/Presentations
• Public event with sustainability, built environment professionals
• Training School Presentations to Core Group
• Training School Q&A Panel Session (chair tbc)
• Dinner

Day Four (FRIDAY, November 17)

Study Tours to RESTORE demonstration Buildings

• Building Relationships with Place and Nature: Brock Holes (Preston) BREEAM Outstanding
• Site Visit – Living Building Challenge Project, CVP, Lancashire
• Living Building Challenge Design Issues,
• Designing and Building with Natural Materials

• Training School Debriefing
• Post Course requirements

Full details, selection criteria and how to apply can be found on the Cost RESTORE website.