RAISE THE ROOF
Project Host
COMMON GROUND
Revenue
28769
Charity Number
326335
Project aims
We aim to transform how local communities build and what they build with, transitioning from a carbon-intensive and globally-sourced approach, to one that builds with local natural materials and relies on regenerative farming and a reskilling of local workforces.
Project description
We can buy and eat local food, so why can’t we build with locally-grown materials? Answering this question confronts the complex issues of biodiversity loss (caused by industrial agriculture) and rising inequality (resulting from a lack of affordable housing and systemic underinvestment in rural areas). These two critical issues of our time - rising inequality and climate breakdown - require direct and local action. Our project is a local partnership with the Turner Prize-winning social design practice Assemble. It aims to connect regenerative agriculture (the cultivation of bio-based building materials) and rural employment (retraining and retooling local industries) in Dorset with the need for upgrading existing homes and building new ones. By using Dorset-grown materials for local building, varying from regeneration of existing structures to the construction of affordable housing, we aim to enable rural farming communities to adopt practices that improve local ecology whilst growing revenues and building resilience. By sourcing building materials locally, a new kind of value and skilled workforce also emerges, revitalising rural businesses and economies. And being more involved in the growth, processing and production of local building materials, the project also enables communities to take a more proactive role in local development.
Contact name
Adrian Cooper
Phone
07838 344253
Email
adrian@commonground.org.uk
Website
www.commonground.org.uk
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