Pioneering green educators open doors to new students

Shift Bristol’s Practical Sustainability Course is a unique Bristol offering that attracts students from round the world. The pioneering year-long training is now open for its next round of applicants.

The course features hands-on, solutions-focused workshops and field trips to visit the UK’s best green practitioners, projects and livelihoods.

It’s been running for more than a decade and has trained over 300 students in regenerative horticulture, sustainable building, green energy, woodland management and community engagement.

Tutors include Mike Feingold, founder of Glastonbury Festival’s long-running permaculture garden, and facilitators from local projects such as Sims Hill Shared Harvest, Grow Wilder and Heart of BS13.

Shift estimates it has invested over £1m of course fees into the local economy by paying local tutors, renting community spaces, and supplying consultancy and labour to green projects, spaces and businesses.

Mike Feingold, renowned regenerative horticulture practitioner and founder of the Glastonbury Festival permaculture garden, is a tutor on the course

The course is a source of education, inspiration and hope for those looking for practical ways to act on climate change and live more sustainably.

It is a critical actor in the move towards a green future, with students going on to diverse careers from plants to politics, energy, health and campaigning.

It also provides a viable alternative to expensive university education, where degrees offer no guarantee of employment.

The course gives students the skills and vision required to take on green sector jobs, meeting a demand only set to increase as climate impacts intensify and councils push to meet net zero targets.

In response to increased interest in the sector Shift are coordinating a green careers fayre, taking place in Bristol on October 20.

Students learn the art of sustainable flower growing at Hartcliffe’s Heart of BS13 project

Hannah Padgett was a student on the 2018 practical sustainability course and now works to support new regenerative farmers at the Ecological Land Cooperative (ELC).

It’s a lifeline for aspiring farmers with limited capital as land is prohibitively expensive and new entrants struggle to get a foot in the door.

Hannah is also an assistant cheesemaker at Neals Yard Creamery, runs a compost club and grows her own. She actively pursues a collaborative sustainable lifestyle, in line with Shift’s holistic approach to education.

“The course was such a rich and abundant experience,” she says; “It gave me a great overview of everything to do with land work – how to interact with the environment, all the riches to be shared, the sadness of destruction.

Shift students learn the practicalities of producing vegetables on a consumer scale at Sims Hill Shared Harvest

“The course spans the gamut, from the emotions caused by environmental devastation to straight-forward horticulture training like how to put a polytunnel up, to the minutiae of the global energy system,” continues Hannah.

“It was amazing to be taught by the leaders in those fields. Learning about people’s all-encompassing relationship with the natural world really blew my mind.

“I draw on the knowledge the course gave me all the time, and continue to be in touch with the whole amazing network. It’s just endless brilliance!”

Hannah on the natural building module of the practical sustainability course in 2018 – photo: Hannah Padgett

Hannah is now teaching the community engagement module on the course, which she says is vital in equipping people with the skills needed to ensure a green future:

“It’s clear we’re moving further into crisis. Protests are of course great but to move forward we need more heartfelt, solutions-focused people with practical skills who know how to treat the land right.

“We’re starting to see similar courses springing up all over the place. Shift were the frontrunners, and the structure of the course is so radical; now we’re seeing other places following suit.

“Demand for these skills is growing. Young people see them as a necessity as what we’re facing is so extreme.”

The 2023 course starts in September. Find out more and apply at shiftbristol.org.uk/about-the-psc

All photos: Shift Bristol

Read more:

• Damning report claims Bristol failing on climate action progress
• Delays hit plan to boost renewable power in Bristol
• Food justice: Bristol’s food producers ready to step up

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