About EBUKI
Earth Building UK and Ireland is a registered charity established in 2009.
Its aim was to bring together all the earth building interests, commercial, design, academic, training and research.
We recognized there was interest in earth as a material to design and make with, as a tool for de-carbonising construction, and as a way to shift relationships within both creators and users of the built environment. We knew that earth buildings feel good, but we didn’t know exactly why. We knew there was satisfaction to be found in the manipulation of these materials and techniques, but didn’t have a system or institution to train new users.
Over the years we have partnered with universities and colleges, private institutions, and companies to further the use and understanding of earth building and finishes.
Our mission is to cheerfully foster low impact, healthy construction with earth in the United Kingdom, Ireland and beyond.
We have facilitated and hosted a range of activities and projects throughout the years.
We have joined with partner organisations across Europe to develop first the ECVET Earth Building units of learning outcomes and more recently the JUMP! Training for Trainers modules. In 2022 we worked closely with the CITB to document National Occupational Standards.
We are active partners in the CobBauge research project with universities in France and the UK and we send learners to partners in Europe under the Erasmus+ scheme.
We ran conferences each year until 2015 when we expanded to make Clayfest our annual week long workshop, conference and tour, each year in a different location to make the tour different to previous years. So it may be in Scotland, England, Wales or Ireland or even on the internet if there is a global pandemic.
We continue to grow with long-term projects and new.
Little by little the focus on the materials, their uses and possibilities have opened new levels of understanding within our organisation and further afield, designers, trainers, builders and producers have taken confidence from our continued support and output to push ever further into unchartered territory of making, designing and creating.
EBUKI is to its people what they make of it - there is both personal freedom and personal responsibility. It forms a vehicle for anyone in the UK and Ireland, who fits with the values-driven culture of the organisation and its purpose, to listen in and understand how to find an opportunity to express themselves in the way that their own direction and calling suits them best. The system works more on peer relationships in working circles than with any emphasis on hierarchy or consensus.
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Read about Our Mission, learn how we’re structured in the Map of the Organisation, Meet the Team inside EBUKI and understand their particular specialisms, or read our intro above!
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Go to our Projects page and look at the section on New Projects, guiding you through the opportunities and process.
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Use our Directory to find a wealth of expert tradespeople! If you cannot find what you’re looking for, or don’t know where to start, please feel free to contact us, we love a chance to chat about these things!
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Look at the research papers on our Resources page or read about our Projects involving topics including Research and Development and Training for Trainers.
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Get involved! Our Membership page and Events pages will be of interest. Interact on our social media or ask about our Uplift! Project.
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Have a look through the reports and papers on our Resources page, or see if a member of our team can help.
Visit our YouTube Channel here.
