10 Jul Can Sustainable Design Transform Communities?

Can Sustainable Design Transform Communities? Goldfinger launches new academy courses to teach craft and sustainable woodworking to the community.

Our friends at Goldfinger recently announced the launch of their much anticipated Goldfinger Academy. A place of learning, inclusion and empowerment for the local community that aspires to encourage young people to achieve full-time employment.

Our Academy has a vision to reach out to young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), a high number of which we recognise are within our local community. We aspire to reach out and empower these people by providing woodwork courses and training opportunities whilst learning about zero waste principles.

Earlier this year, the Office of National Statistics revealed figures that from October to December 2018, 788,000 young people (aged 16 to 24 years) in the UK were classified as NEET. The percentage of all young people in the UK who were NEET was 11.3%; the proportion was up 0.5 percentage points from July to September 2018. These statistics are a reminder that young people are in urgent need of opportunities, and we hope these courses will offer exactly that, whilst providing a sense of joy that working with your hands provides.

Working with wood in particular has added benefits, and something we feel is rather extraordinary. When we touch aluminium or plastic our blood pressure rises. When we touch wood, it doesn’t. Wood is literally one of the healthiest materials in our environment, which is just one of the many reasons we love to work with it!

The evening featured an inspiring panel discussion: ‘Can Sustainable Design Transform Communities?’ chaired by TV presenter Julia Bradbury with panellists Steven Overman – Author of The Conscious Economy; Juliet Kinsman – eco and luxury travel expert, our own Richard Holland and Nadira Lalji – Founder at Inhabit Hotels.

You can read more about the event on Goldfinger’s website here.