Developing an Eco-social Enterprise Session 1 Monday 24 April, 2023 Tim Crabtree Wessex Community Assets & Plymouth University Outline of the course • What are our concerns? • How might we address our concerns through developing an eco-social enterprise? • Working in groups on a business idea • Systems thinking • Developing a theory of change • Developing a business canvas • Group presentation on Friday = the evaluation Food EnergyTransport Culture Housing Social care & health Education Communication Energy Reclaiming Finance Democratizing & Localizing Ownership 15 ENABLERS SATISFIERS Food Shelter Reclaiming the Commons Question •Name an eco-social enterprise that you are aware of and like for some reason? •What is interesting about that enterprise? wessexca.co.uk Wessex Community Assets: 2003 – 2023 Supporting 50 communities across Devon, Dorset & Somerset wessexca.co.uk Wessex Community Assets: 20 years of innovation • Pioneered the use of community shares. • Supported over 100 eco-social enterprises. • Developed one of the UK’s largest enabling services for community-led housing. wessexca.co.uk Support for Community Housing since 2001 • Working in Devon, Dorset and Somerset • 25 projects completed – over 250 houses; 25 projects in progress Small number of projects with focus on sustainability wessexca.co.uk Christow CLT and Teign Housing completed 18 Passivhaus affordable homes in the Dartmoor National Park The challenge: We need the majority of new houses to be affordable and sustainable…. And we need to transform the existing housing stock. Question: What are the problems with the way we build houses? Timber & other local materials as key inputs Affordable, sustainable houses 2017 Potential local building materials Raw material Product Possible sources Stone Stone facing Existing small quarries Boulders Saddle stones Local farms Lime Lime putty Small scale clamp burning Slate External floor slabs Several local quarries Cobbles External floors and paths Local rivers, streams. Gravel For back-fill and bedding Local quarries Sand For mortars, renders and plasters Local quarries and rivers, seashore, streams Subsoil for cob Cob for mass walling Local farms Clay for plasters Base coat plasters, clay slips and clay/straw infill panels Extensive clay beds in the local area. Also available as processed dry clay in bags Clay for pigments Natural clay and lime based paints Extensive in the local area Naturally durable timber Rafters, beams, joists and cladding and roof shingles Oak, Sweet Chestnut, larch, Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar Non durable timber Studwork and internal boarding and joinery Spruce, Scots pine, Ash, Willow, as well as the above External Joinery grade timber Windows and Doors Oak, Sweet Chestnut, European Larch Floor boards Heavy use Oak, Sweet Chestnut, Ash Straw bales Straw bale walls and staw/clay slip infill Local arable farmers Agricultural hemp Cast lime/hemp shiv infill Local arable farmers Sheeps wool Loose insulation Local Farmers Thatching reed Roofing Sourced from local wetlands Net zero and sustainable construction https://www.materialepyramiden.dk/ Raise the Roof The Raise the Roof project addresses three inter-locking concerns: - The crisis in the housing sector, characterised by lack of affordability, lack of sustainability and lack of security. - The crisis of livelihoods in smaller towns, characterised by low average wages and job insecurity, lack of access to skills training, and lack of support and resources to support the start up or expansion of local enterprises. - The ecological crisis, encompassing climate change, biodiversity loss and poor management of the natural environment, including agricultural land and woodlands, combined with pollution and resource depletion. The Raise the Project seeks to answer these questions: - Can we build or refurbish housing in such a way that we help maintain and create jobs within a resilient local economy? - Can we imagine new and creative designs and construction methods for the houses we want to (re-)build – and ensure they are affordable? - Can we draw on sustainable materials that flow out of regenerative forestry and agriculture? https://vimeo.com/157159413 Connected Everything (EPSRC programme): Development of models & prototypes with Plymouth University’s Digital Fabrication Lab Local authority officers & members People in housing need Architects Builders Community housing groups Economic development organisations Rope & net companies Funders Land management organisations Schools, colleges, universities Housing associations Landowners Farmers Foresters Light engineering companies Town & parish councils Civil society & cultural organisations Social enterprises Assets held in the commons Volunteers Makers & tradespersons Use of local natural materials Digital co-design tools Local fabrication Prototyping 1 Tiny House High (Social) Value Manufacturing Parametric building element for roof placement CNC milled roof trusses and joinery details Traditionally built balloon framing and insulation Prototyping 2 1:1 Housing system prototyping Material approach (Co)design and prototyping through digital fabrication Prototype panel, University of Plymouth Digital Fabrication Laboratory. Image source: A. Carr, 2022.. Digitally manufactured joinery Locally sourced ash timber Digital fabrication parameters and modelling constraints Material approach (Co)design and prototyping through digital fabrication Prototype panel, University of Plymouth Digital Fabrication Laboratory. Image source: A. Carr, 2022.. Digitally manufactured joinery Locally sourced ash timber Digital fabrication parameters and modelling constraints Material approach (Co)design and prototyping through digital fabrication Insulation studies, University of Plymouth Digital Fabrication Laboratory. Image source: A. Carr, 2022.. the harvest in numbers • 15 tonnes of ensiled hemp- forage harvested • 10 small round bales of wrapped ensiled hemp • 8 large round bales of retted hemp • 4 tonnes of loose retted hemp • 50 small rectangular bales • 35 people who came to fibre day Social, e.g. networks & legal format Human, e.g. staff & volunteers Physical, e.g. buildings & equipment Natural, e.g. land, water, sunlight Financial, e.g. grants, loans, reserves Operations Products TRANSFORMATIONINPUTS OUTPUTS What inputs do we need to process hemp? Hemp cultivation harvesting processing Supply Demand Policy & regulation Innovation Education & awareness The concerns we are addressing Affordable sustainable housing The housing crisis: − Lack of affordability − Disparity between house prices and average wages − Lack of security − Lack of sustainability Local enterprise infrastructure The crisis of livelihoods: − Fragile local economies − Job insecurity − Lack of skills & facilities to create regenerative & resilient local economies Regenerative land management The ecological crisis: − Climate change − Biodiversity loss − Pollution, including from intensive agriculture − Resource depletion Question: What am I concerned about? What is it that affects me? What am I drawn to engage with? At this point don’t talk about your idea for an eco-social enterprise. The activities to be delivered by our eco-social enterprise Affordable sustainable housing We will work with Assemble and local community-led housing groups to develop new designs for housing, and create a new cooperative to co-ordinate suppliers, contractors and the off-site construction process. Local enterprise infrastructure We will develop workspace to process timber, hemp and flax into the key elements of sustainable construction materials, including panels, frames, furniture and other fittings. Regenerative land management We will work with partners to support the improved management of woodlands and the cultivation of “woody fibres” such as hemp and flax, linking this to a network of farmers and an on-line platform for co-ordinating the supply of sustainable materials. Question: What is the main activity of your ecosocial enterprise?