One Planet Centre

We offer courses to organisations and venues of any length from a single day’s workshop to a weekend, week, or part-time year depending on the amount of depth required.

• You’ll be guided through an overview of the necessary stages in writing a ‘One Planet’ Development (OPD) management plan, which is crucial for the planning application.
• We’ll discuss how to find and evaluate suitable land, the planning process, regenerative land management, zero carbon building, renewable energy, food provision, water provision, ecological sanitation, community relations and Welsh culture, business management and marketing, and low carbon transport, with examples from existing OPDs in Wales.
• We’ll visit an OPD and see what they’re up to (they’ve been on site for 3 years).
• We will also discuss the possibilities for intentional ‘one planet’ villages with affordable homes, sustainable employment and training opportunities, guided by a new community land trust we’ve set up.

A key course book will be David Thorpe’s The One Planet Life: A Blueprint for Low Impact Development.

Five weekend workshops will happen in 2020. The following are planned so far:

Sat/Sun February 29-March 1; 9.30am to 4.30pm

Venue: The Centre for One Planet Living, Half Moon, 30 Stone Street, Llandovery SA20 0JP. With a site visit to a nearby One Planet Development on Sunday afternoon.

Booking: If you wish to book, please transfer £55 for an individual or £100 for a couple by BACS (Bank transfer) to: Sort code: 09 01 56 A/c no. 24876489. Bank: Santander. Account name: DK Thorpe T/A Cyberium. In the reference field please put: OPD220 and email david@theoneplanetlife.com to inform us. Some accommodation is possible at the Centre for £15 per person per night extra; send an email to enquire if room is still available.

Sat/Sun April 25-26; 9.30am to 4.30pm

Venue: Swn y Coed, Rhiw Las, Abbey Road, Whitland, Carmarthenshire SA34 0LH.

Swn y Coed is an exemplary OPD with plenty to learn from. Peni Ediker (below) and Stef Balesi will be on hand to demonstrate their educational and harp-making businesses, and their fabulous soil-enhancing land management practices.

Booking: If you wish to book, please transfer £100 for an individual by BACS (Bank transfer) to: Sort code: 09 01 56 A/c no. 24876489. Bank: Santander. Account name: DK Thorpe T/A Cyberium. In the reference field please put: OPD420 and email david@theoneplanetlife.com to inform us. Camping facilities are included in the price. If you want to have two lunches and an evening meal prepared from Peni and Stef’s OPD produce please add £10 per day per person.

Below: previous course participants.

What else do you learn on a short course?

The chief purpose of a short workshop is to map out a management plan for a ‘one planet’ project and understand the other requirements.

Topics include: land assessment, agroecology, renewable energy, food, land-based businesses, zero carbon building and transport, water supply, ecological sewage treatment, land management, monitoring, and planning applications.

Projects may vary in size from a single household to a neighbourhood, to a town or city. Businesses may also work towards ‘one planet’ status.

The goal of the work is to measure and reduce the project’s total ecological footprint. The plan shows how to achieve this in a sustainable fashion.

A ‘One Planet’ Living is a way of living without harming the planet – and actually repairing it.

You will turn your vision into reality by making a draft of your own management plan and by the end of the course have a thorough overview of what is involved.

Please contact us if you want us to run a course in your area or online.