Supported by Innovate UK, and brought to you by Fircroft College the programme will be delivered in collaboration with CIVIC SQUARE, Dark Matter Labs and Material Cultures as a fully funded course. Working alongside further education colleges in the region, the programme seeks to develop new approaches to providing bespoke training and innovation support to businesses across a range of key sectors in the region.
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In October 2024, we launched the first Re:Builders programme, working with 10 construction SMEs in the West Midlands, along with independent collaborators to explore the present and future of regenerative built environment practice in the UK. On this journey, we co-built alongside practitioners at the forefront of bio-based construction, travelled across the country to visit a range of precedent projects, and reflected on how small-to-medium businesses can strategically shift their organisational practices towards more regenerative materials and methods. The journey culminated in a range of new connections and opportunities for both the peer cohort and the facilitating organisations, and collaborations between the Re:Builders and CIVIC SQUARE have continued beyond the programme’s conclusion.
In September 2025, we are opening up the opportunity for a second cohort of Re:Builders — with a particular focus on how regenerative construction can interface with the urgent need to retrofit our homes, streets, and neighbourhoods. We know that, in terms of thermal efficiency, the UK’s housing stock is among the worst-performing in all of Europe. We also know that, paradoxically, we do not have the carbon budget to retrofit all of these homes using current methods. So what does that mean for the role of built environment practitioners in the midst of these seemingly contradictory conditions? Through the Re:Builders programme, we will explore how methods of circular and bio-based material retrofit represent the potential to create a more energy-efficient, healthier, and regenerative built environment for all.