Conference at Clayfest 2025: Community and Collaboration
Our first inspirational speakers for Conference at Clayfest 2025, on Thursday 25th September 2025, are now confirmed!
Tickets on general sale now!
Clayfest Full Event Tickets (including The Conference) Standard Admission £290 + booking fee
Conference Only Standard Admission Price just £120 + booking fee
Support us: Conference Only CPD Large Company Ticket £150 + booking fee
The Elgiva Theatre, Chesham, HP5 1HR
Thursday 25th September
The Earth Building Conference
In no particular order as yet…
Alice Hardy - Global Generation
Alice is Global Generation's Community Build Manager. Alice is an Architect & Lecturer at University College London with a background in sustainable development and community participation in the built environment. Alice has been involved in a number of community self build projects, which developed her training in site management and collective building. Alice has a particular interest in how communities can be involved in the design and construction of our built environment and how this can foster and nurture new connections and partnerships.
TALK: Building Together: Community Building at the Triangle
“Our talk will cover the process of community building, with a special focus of building with clay. The talk will run through the process of building The Triangle Site, a community garden in kings cross which will be the home for Global Generation's permanent site.”
Charlotte Dean and Colin Phillips
Dr Charlotte Dean, Director of Rewilding Youth specialises in facilitating creative and collaborative environmental projects which aim to connect young people to the natural world around them, their community, their history and ultimately to themselves.
Charlotte is particularly focused on engaging young people who are disadvantaged or disengaged and who live in areas where access to the natural environment may be difficult due to location, lack of transport etc and whose voices are less likely to be heard, in projects which promote their social, political and environmental agency.
Colin Phillips is a Youth Environment Project Worker based in Hull, with many years of experience in outdoor education, primarily focusing on bushcraft skills. Throughout his career, he has dedicated himself to helping people connect with the land through experiential learning, fostering a deeper understanding of the natural world.
Colin says, “Since taking on my current role, I have had the privilege of working closely with EBUKI (Earth Building UK & Ireland), where I have acquired a diverse range of earth building skills and techniques. These skills have become central to my work, enabling me to engage young people and local communities in meaningful ways, encouraging them to build a stronger connection to the land.
I have developed a deep passion for earth building, and I am enthusiastic about sharing this journey with fellow educators, teachers, and facilitators. Through collaboration and hands-on learning, I aim to inspire others to appreciate sustainable practices and the timeless wisdom of traditional building methods. My work continues to evolve as I explore new ways to empower individuals and communities to engage with the environment in a thoughtful, sustainable way.”
TALK: Angels with Dirty Faces! Connecting young people to the natural environment through building with natural resources.
The theory and practices behind place-based learning and the ways in which Rewilding Youth uses natural resources to create immersive nature connection activities for young people living in disadvantaged urban areas.
Sharing some of the opportunities that Rewilding Youth provides young people, specifically in relationship to connecting with their natural environment through creating functional spaces and buildings using natural materials. We will also cover the benefits that we have found earth building/working with clay has had on these relationships.
These skills have empowered us to now pass on this knowledge to local young people and communities in Hull, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds who may not have had the opportunity to experience such hands-on learning. By teaching these techniques, we aim to engage participants with the land and foster a deeper understanding of how to sustainably source and use natural resources.
These skills encourage people to reconnect with the land through practical, hands-on activities and explore the importance of these methods in both historical and contemporary contexts. Furthermore, by studying how our ancestors used similar techniques to build homes, manage woodlands, and live in harmony with the environment, we offer an opportunity for people to find meaning and purpose in their work. This connection to our history, combined with modern sustainable practices, helps to cultivate both a sense of pride in craftsmanship and a responsibility toward the environment.
Syrka Helmdach - Okambuva Co-op
I was born in 1967 in Magdeburg, Germany.
From 1985 to 1990, I studied Fine Arts and Design at the Halle an der Saale School of Arts and Design, Burg Giebichenstein.
In 1992, my first child was born, and between 1992 and 1998, I worked as a freelance fashion and illustration designer in Germany.
In 1995, my second child was born.
In 1998, I moved to Spain, where I continued working as a freelance illustrator and began teaching illustration at the BLAU School of Design and the Institute of Industrial Design (IDI) in Palma de Mallorca until 2004.
In 2004, I relocated to Sagunto, Valencia.
From 2005 to 2007, I worked as a fashion designer in Valencia.
In 2007, together with my family, I began building our own house using natural materials.
In 2008, I started organizing workshops and learning camps.
In 2014, together with my husband and four partners, I co-founded the Okambuva cooperative.
To date, I have specialized as a professional plasterer, teacher, interior designer, and consultant on clay and lime materials, completing numerous exciting and meaningful projects around the world.
Okambuva Coop has worked in Austria, France, Costa Rica, Argentina, Germany, Singapore, and Spain.
TALK: Running a Cooperative of natural builders in Spain
How our cooperative grew in 10 years, without bank loans, simply by doing what we believed was right: working with natural materials, learning and understanding nature, using modern technologies, and achieving modern design results.
Iza Thompson - Wandering Earth Builder
Iza Thomson is an earth-builder, designer, and artist who is passionate about making natural materials more accessible for the well-being of people and the planet.
After completing their Bachelor of Architectural Studies in Aoteaora (New Zealand), Iza spent four years travelling the country to engage with real building projects beyond academia- building and retrofitting tiny homes on rural community land, deepening their craft through an earth-building apprenticeship, and cohosting inclusive and connective community workshops. In 2024, they relocated to the British Isles to weave together their practical and theoretical learnings by pursuing a Master’s in Sustainable Architecture at the Centre for Alternative Technology.
TALK: "Build something and it builds you"
I will share projects that highlight the transformative power of community-led earth building. These projects bring a wide diversity of people to live together for the duration of a build, harvesting and processing natural materials from the land to co-create spaces that are not only healthy and sustainable, but also deeply meaningful. These workshops demonstrate how building with earth can transform both our external and internal environments -empowering people with practical skills while fostering connection, healing, and purpose. This process challenges conventional construction site culture and reconnects us to a traditional, ancestral way of building that deepens a sense of belonging to the land- something desperately needed in our current political and environmental climate.
I will cover new-build, retrofit, earthen sculpture, ovens, and scraffitto murals. These projects incorporate light-earth, cob, and clay plastering techniques.
Beth Williams: Momentum Engineering
Beth joined the Momentum Bath office in 2024 with over a decade of experience in low-energy and low-carbon design. A Chartered Engineer and Certified PassivHaus Designer, she has a particular focus on timber frame PassivHaus buildings and low-carbon retrofit.
Her project portfolio spans from small domestic extensions to sports centres and high-security NHS facilities.
Beth’s passion lies in simplifying the construction of low-energy buildings, making them accessible and affordable for everyone.
Alongside her role at Momentum, she is a visiting tutor at architecture schools in Bath, Sheffield, and UWE, and leads the Bristol & Bath Local Group for the AECB.
Outside of work, Beth is a keen climber and an average paddler, so you’ll often find her on rock or river!
TALK: To be confirmed!
We will confirm details of Beth’s talk soon!
Lewis Jones - Matter at Hand
Matter at hand is the design practice of Lewis Jones, a designer working across architecture, material science and construction. His work is rooted in an investigation of the materials and processes that shape our built environment. Through deep material research and hands-on experimentation, he works with waste, industrial by-products, and natural resources to develop more resourceful and equitable ways of building.
Jones co-founded the architecture and design collective Assemble in 2010, helping shape an award winning body of work setting out to rethink how buildings are made and who gets to make them. From 2012, he led a long term collaboration with residents of the Granby Four Streets in Liverpool to help rebuild their neighbourhood, a project awarded the Turner Prize in 2015.
In 2016, he moved to Liverpool to oversee the growth of Granby Workshop, a design led ceramics manufacturer rooted in the neighbourhood. Over seven years, the Workshop evolved into a thriving, employee owned business producing architectural ceramics from local waste materials, while acting as a live testing ground for sustainable materials and finishes.
In 2025, Jones established Matter at hand, a research-based design studio, guided by the belief that inventive and unexpected solutions to the problems at hand can be found in a deeper understanding of the materials and resources around us.
TALK: Poured Earth
Talking about my experience working with Darwen Terracotta as part of the Art in Manufacturing programme at the National Festival of Making. Working over the course of this year and next with Darwen to test and develop unfired, earth construction applications that draw on their expertise in slip casting to develop prototype 'poured earth' components and internal finishes, combining clay with fibre and mineral waste streams generated in the North West.
Jeffrey Hart
Jeffrey Hart is a natural builder with over 15 years of experience working with sustainable materials, specialising in earthen floors, clay plasters, timber, and natural fibres. His work combines traditional techniques with a modern understanding of building performance, creating homes and spaces that are healthy, low-impact, and deeply connected to their natural surroundings. While earthen floors remain a particular passion, Jeffrey describes himself as a generalist—comfortable turning his hand to a wide range of natural building methods, from straw bale and timber framing to finishing work and restoration.
In addition to his practical work on site, Jeffrey is the host of the Building Sustainability Podcast, where he interviews designers, builders, makers, dreamers and doers from around the world. The podcast is his way of staying curious, deepening his understanding, and sharing knowledge with others who care about creating a better built environment. Whether he’s laying a floor or recording an episode, Jeffrey’s work is rooted in a commitment to craft, sustainability, and lifelong learning.
TALK: Something about earthen floors and community!
How to bring the community together to create a beautiful earthen floor
Nic Donati - back for 2025!
Nic Donati, Rancho Mastatal's Director of Natural Building and Appropriate Technology and lead builder. He has been at the ranch for over 10 years and in that time designed and personally built many buildings including his own house.
He first came to the Ranch in 2007 and fell in love with the community and lifestyle he experienced there. Always good with his hands and wanting to get stuck in meant he was able to develop a wide range of skills both at the Ranch and other farms around the world. The lure of the Ranch both as a community and working environment have continually drawn him back and he now considers the Ranch community and Mastatal his home.
He believes that to engage, educate and nurture a desire in people to change the way we live and take more responsibility for every aspect of our lives from food production, to healthcare, to energy production and everything else in between is the only way things are going to change.
TALK: Earth building at Rancho Mastatal
Nic says. “I will mainly focus on our evolution of building in the wet humid tropics and the design strategies and techniques we employ to effectively create beautiful natural buildings in a very harsh environment! Our buildings are typically traditional timber framed and wattle and daub and our style has evolved to create modern looking structures with refined finishes to make them appealing to local people.”
Catriona Rawsthorne and Imandeep Kaur - CIVIC SQUARE
After more than 10 years of organising in their home city, CIVIC SQUARE are actively working on site to co-build Neighbourhood Public Square as an significant demonstrator, orientating development and construction towards the many layers of redesign required for regenerative civic infrastructure at the heart of our neighbourhoods.
Together with many people and partners they are reimagining land stewardship, finance, and governance, as well as deeply committing to ecological building design, bio-based material retrofit, and acting in an infrastructural capacity to enable wider built environment transition.
Neighbourhood Public Square will democratise access to the spaces, tools and resources for our homes, streets and neighbourhoods to be at the forefront of their own social, ecological, economic and climate transition in ways that are bold, imaginative, distributed and held in common for generations.
Whilst rooted in place, CIVIC SQUARE are working openly to discover and share new forms of public goods to meet the challenges and opportunities that our neighbourhoods will face now and in the future, as part of a wider ecosystem of interconnected movements at local, national and global scales.
TALK: Building Skills for Regenerative Transitions with Civic Square
“In this session, we’ll share our learnings from our work at CIVIC SQUARE, where we are demonstrating regenerative civic infrastructure in the heart of Ladywood, Birmingham, co-building and democratising access to the spaces, tools and resources for a distributed and regenerative transition, held in common for the neighbourhood.
Drawing from our recent research 'Building Skills: A Material Strategy for Birmingham and the West Midlands' in collaboration with Material Cultures, and interconnected learning journeys - Material Matter[s]: A Skills For Transition Learning Journey and Re:Builders - we’ll share how we’re opening up bio/eco-regional knowledge, connecting with regional producers, and co-designing participatory learning infrastructures that support a dignified and regenerative skills and bio-based material transition across our homes, streets and neighbourhoods.
Through this, we'll reflect on the role we believe the natural building and craft community can play in addressing the deep skills gap within the urban context—and in shaping a more democratic, ecologically-safe and distributed future for the UK's built environment.”
Rowland Keable
Rowland Keable, Honorary Professor UNESCO Chair on Earthen Architecture
CEO Earth Building UK and Ireland, EBUKI, and Director Rammed Earth Consulting CIC
A founder of EBUKI Rowland works towards earth in the mainstream of construction. This includes work in a European earth structures and trainers standards group. He chairs the NOS review for earth building and plasters and has written construction codes and standards in the UK, Europe and Africa.
Through EBUKI Rowland works to bring together networks of builders, teachers, trainers, researchers, designers, publishers and taking an ‘all necessary means’ approach to earth as a building material.
Rowland has worked with moulded and rammed earth technologies since 1985, most recently with HG Matthews in Passivhaus housing schemes and commercial laboratories in central London. He consults for non-earth specialist designers and contractors.
Built work has concentrated on public buildings with some private housing work. Strategically public buildings are more useful in the publicising and normalisation of earth building and that’s why schools in the UK and Africa, offices, visitor centres, and hotels have been the focus of work. This approach means giving up control of the process, trusting architects, engineers, surveyors, contractors and builders to use the materials, guiding best practice as far as possible.
TALK: Advocating for Earth Building
How to be a member of EBUKI, opportunities, all the foundational Standards work that EBUKI has created, the direction EBUKI is headed.
Maria Lisogorskaya + Kaye Song (ASSEMBLE)
Assemble is an award winning architecture, art and design studio based in London. They design and make buildings, artworks, gardens, playgrounds, furniture, exhibitions and events; as well as running interdisciplinary studio spaces across London.
Maria is a co-founding partner, interested in how we build; the people and the materials that shape our environments. Maria's recently completed and current projects include the new Atelier LUMA building in Arles France in collaboration with BC; community buildings and a campsite in Toyama, Japan due to open in '27, and a renovation of a 1960s factory building outside Treviso in Italy.
Kaye joined the collective in 2020 and has been developing the practices portfolio of workspace projects, as well as practicing as a photographer and facilitating events that engage communities with the building process. In their current and recently completed projects Kaye and Maria explore the use of bio-regional materials, innovative reuse and connection to agricultural materials in construction.
TALK: Earth, Lightly
Light earth construction, artists and industrial moulds, experimentation with different fibre mixes.
Maria and Kaye will present their research from the Bauhaus Earth/ Experimental Foundation Fellowship they undertook in 2025. The fellowship includes research trips and tests with the light earth construction method - testing various mixes and forms. The research also connects to a live Assemble project in Treviso, Italy - where light earth construction method will be used for renovating an existing factory building. There is also possibility to run interactive workshops during the Clayfest.
Pricing - Conference Only
Standard Admission just £120 + booking fee
CPD Large Company price: £150 + booking fee
Full Event Tickets include The Conference
Conference Tickets only do not provide access to Camping and The Gathering at H.G. Matthews