Centre for Alternative Technology

Upcoming events at Centre for Alternative Technology

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Build a Tiny House

Gain the practical experience and key skills to build a tiny house all of your own. Whether you’re planning to build your own home or just want to pick up a range of practical building skills, you’ll gain the knowledge and experience you’re looking for on our hugely popular tiny house course. Key information Duration: four days Upcoming dates: Friday 10 to Monday 13 April 2026 (No accommodation available) Friday 1 to Monday 4 May 2026 Friday 5 to Monday 8 June 2026 Friday 3 to Monday 6 July 2026 Monday 12 to Thursday 15 October 2026 Start and finish times: and ends at 5pm on the last day Course cost: £650 – includes lunch, tuition and all materials What to bring: as this is a highly practical course, safety boots are required and waterproof clothing is advised Terms and Conditions: you must be 18 years or over to attend our courses. For full list of terms and conditions click here What you will learn Learn how to make a beautiful and bespoke tiny house from the ground up, including the timber frame structure, interior and relevant renewable energy and compost toilet systems. CAT’s Master Carpenter and star of George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces Carwyn Lloyd Jones will guide you through an inspiring week where you’ll explore all the basic elements of creating your miniature home, including: Building the floor and walls of a simple timber frame tiny house, approximately 6ft x 10ft Understanding the advantages of different layouts Cladding and...

Sun 26 AprCentre for Alternative Technology

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Sustainable Allotment Management: Spring

Learn how to manage an allotment in harmony with nature, using climate-adaptive and organic gardening techniques on this one-day short course focuses on the early growing season, with the autumn course exploring autumnal seasonal skills. Whether you’re new to growing or already have plenty of allotment experience, this one-day short course offers practical skills and ecological insights to help you run a productive and sustainable allotment. Led by CAT’s fantastic gardens team, you’ll explore how to care for soil, plan your growing space, and support biodiversity throughout the seasons. Key Information Duration: one day Upcoming dates: Spring – 11 April 2026 Spring – 22 April 2026 Autumn – 3 October 2026 Autumn – 14 October 2026 Start and finish times:  and ends at 4pm Course cost: £65 – includes lunch, tuition and all materials What to bring: sturdy footwear and weather-appropriate clothing – this is a hands-on course in the gardens Terms and Conditions: you must be 18 years or over to attend our courses. You must be 18 years or over to attend our courses. For full list of terms and conditions click here What you will learn Spend the day in CAT’s beautiful allotment gardens learning how to grow food sustainably and adapt to the challenges of a changing climate. You’ll gain practical experience and take away knowledge to apply in your own plot or community growing space. Topics covered include: Assessing soil, sunlight...

Sun 26 AprCentre for Alternative Technology

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Communicating Transformational Social Change

Join a CAT student teaching week and examine the role of communication and engagement strategies to support behaviour change towards a more sustainable society. Through a series of lectures, discussions, and practical activities you will learn alongside our postgraduate students on our MSc courses including our Masters in Sustainability and Behaviour Change. You will experience what it might be like to study on one of our postgraduate courses at CAT and gain invaluable knowledge and skills around modern communication strategies available for addressing current environmental challenges. Key information Duration: five days Upcoming dates: Monday 13 to Friday 17 April 2026 Start and finish times: starts at 10am and ends at 1pm on the last day Fees: £700 Includes: tuition, all materials, lunch. Full board accommodation, when available for this course: £325 for a single person bedroom for the duration of the course (check-out is on the last day of your course). Accommodation will show, if available, once you have added the course to your booking. What to bring: a note pad and writing materials.

Sun 26 AprCentre for Alternative Technology

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Public Graduate School lecture: Sarah Woods

Join CAT students for a free lecture by Sarah Woods titled ‘As Without so Within.’ Runs Monday 13  are delighted to welcome guest lecturer Sarah Woods to CAT during our postgraduate teaching week for the ‘Communicating Transformational Social Change’ module. The popular maxim ‘as within so without’ tells that the responsibility for creating change in the world lies within us. But what happens when we reverse that idea? This lecture explores how the world we live in affects the stories we tell ourselves, and what feels possible in our lives and our lifetimes. Key information Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes Date: Monday 13 April 2026 Start and finish times: 7pm-8:30pm Location: Sheppard Theatre, WISE building Free entry but limited spaces so please sign up in advance Book an evening meal in CAT’s café and join our students to discuss and debate before the lecture begins. This can be prebooked for £10 alongside your public lecture booking below. Will be served at 6:00pm before the lecture begins. This can only be prebooked before the event and cannot be purchased onsite. Donnelly’s bar open from 8.30pm. Lecture is recorded for student learning purposes only and won’t be available publicly online. Book to join us in person. If you have any questions about this event please direct them to  Speaker bio Sarah is an award-winning writer & researcher.

Sun 26 AprCentre for Alternative Technology

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Virtual Open Day: MArch Sustainable Architecture Part 2

Join tutors from the MArch course and CAT graduates for an introduction to CAT, an overview of our Masters in Sustainable Architecture Part 2 course and a student experience talk on Monday 13 April last roughly an hour and a half and will include an introduction to CAT and our course and give you the chance to ask any questions you might have about studying with us. We will also be able to answer additional questions on fees, the application and accommodation live. Our Virtual Open Days are an online introduction to the course allowing you to find out more about the course and studying with us before applying. We encourage you to join a virtual open day before visiting us in the Spring for an on-site open day. If you would like to attend an on-site open day at CAT click here to see upcoming dates. If you have any questions or need any further information do give us a ring on.

Sun 26 AprCentre for Alternative Technology

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Carbon Literacy for Citizens and Community Organisations – Online

Empowering you and your community to take meaningful climate action on this Carbon Literacy short course. Join this interactive online course designed specifically for individuals and groups working to build net-zero communities. Whether you’re part of a charity, campaign group, voluntary or third sector organisation, or a place-based community initiative, this course will equip you with the knowledge, confidence and tools to make a real difference, and gain Carbon Literacy certification in the process. Reduced pricing available until the end of March Reduced price course for the end of the financial year 2026 – £60 per person (usually £95) Cost includes accreditation administration and Carbon Literacy certificate. This reduced-price training is also offered for a bespoke course on a date to suit your group or organisation – to secure this training rate, book and pay by the end of March. Please get in touch soon to secure your dates. Why Carbon Literacy matters Carbon Literacy is more than just awareness. It’s about understanding the climate impact of everyday choices and being empowered to take action – individually, collectively, and organisationally.

Sun 26 AprCentre for Alternative Technology

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On-site Open Day: MSc and MRes Courses

Join Graduate School of the Environment staff during an on-site open day on Friday 17 April 2026 for an authentic and informative taster of what it’s like to study on CAT’s MSc and MRes courses. The day will provide the opportunity to chat with current students and our lecturers to find out if studying at CAT is right for you and give you the chance to visit CAT and the WISE building where most of the Graduate School teaching takes place This is an open day specifically covering our MSc and MRes open day, if you are interested in our MArch Sustainable Architecture Part 2 course then please look at our MArch Open day instead. If you wish to study with us via distance learning or cannot travel to CAT for an on-site open day why not take a look at our Virtual Open Days which cover the most important parts of our on-site Open Days during an online session. If you would like to attend a virtual open day instead then do take a look at our upcoming dates. About the day The day takes place at the end of one of our on-site study weeks and provides a chance to: Talk with lecturers and current students Learn more about the Graduate School and courses through the introduction and course overview presentations Tour the CAT site, including teaching facilities Join taster teaching sessions to get a flavour of what it will be like to study with us Meet fellow applicants who may be starting their studies at the same time as you The day will run from 9.30am to 4pm on Friday 17...

Sun 26 AprCentre for Alternative Technology

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Reedbeds and Compost Toilets

Join us for a one-day practical course exploring compost toilets and off-grid water treatment systems, and learn from CAT’s decades of experience on this topic. On the course, you will gain a foundational understanding of the principles, benefits and limitations of sustainable, low-energy wastewater systems. This will be delivered in two key parts: compost toilets and off-grid water treatment systems. Both of these will have a theory and a practical component, taking advantage of the off-grid water systems here at CAT as a learning tool. If you’re living or working in a remote location and need low-impact, eco-friendly options for wastewater management, CAT is the place to come for inspiration and advice. You’ll leave knowing how to get started when creating public or private cost-effective low-maintenance amenities in remote locations or where no other option is available. Key Information Duration: 1 day Saturday 7 March 2026 Saturday 18 April 2026 Saturday 16 May 2026 Saturday 20 June 2026 Start and finish times: 9am to 5pm Fees: £125 Includes: tuition and lunch. What to bring: we also strongly advise you to bring waterproof clothing. Terms and Conditions: you must be 18 years or over to attend our courses. For full list of terms and conditions click here What you will learn Overview of alternative water systems and how they can contribute to a sustainable future, saving water and energy and turning waste into a resource Biological processes of...

Sun 26 AprCentre for Alternative Technology

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Renewables for Households: Solar PV

Rethinking household energy provision – explore the how to’s of solar PV for households. Solar panels: where should you put them? How much power will you get? How much money will you save? What will your emission reduction look like? This one day course aims to answer these questions and more through a series of lectures and hands on sessions. Key information Duration: one day Upcoming date: Saturday 18 April 2026 Start and finish times: starts at 9:30am and ends at 3:30pm Fee: £125 Includes: tuition, Lunch. What to bring: waterproof clothing is recommended Terms and Conditions: you must be 18 years or over to attend our courses. For full list of terms and conditions click here What you will learn This course will give you the ability to decide if solar panels are suited to your needs, develop a cost benefit analysis and quantify the emissions reductions. It will give an overview of the different commercially available PV panels, and how to assess their efficiency. You’ll learn how to undertake a solar photovoltaic resource analysis, calculating the likely annual output for a given site. Your expert tutor Alan will guide you through how to select the best location and orientation, size of system, and methods of connecting solar PVs.

Sun 26 AprCentre for Alternative Technology

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Restoration Ecology

Join our postgraduate students on a CAT teaching week and investigate restoration methods for habitats, setting goals, and what a successful ecosystem restoration project looks like. You will find what it is like to study on one of our postgraduate courses at CAT while analysing the theoretical science and practical implications of species reintroductions, rewilding and invasive species control, the value of policy, and community involvement and public support. Key Information Duration: five days Upcoming dates: Monday 20 – Friday 24 April 2026 Start and finish times: starts at 10am and ends at 3pm on the last day Fees: £700 Includes: tuition, all materials, lunch (accommodation can be booked separately) What to bring: good boots and waterproof clothing is advised Terms and Conditions: You must be 18 years or over to attend our courses. For full list of terms and conditions click here Attendees will receive a certificate of attendance for joining the course at the end of the week. If attendees wish to enrol on a postgraduate course at CAT and take the module within their future course, they will be able to receive a discount on tuition costs. Who is this course aimed at? This week is aimed at people who wish to have a taster of studying at postgraduate level at CAT, with an interest in ecosystem restoration projects. What you will learn During this short course participants will look at the role of ecosystems in sustainability, focusing on their role as a...

Sun 26 AprCentre for Alternative Technology

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