Based in WeCreate, the Green Enterprise Centre in Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Cultivate is a national NGO and Civil Society Organisation focused on education, communication and citizen engagement. Cultivate support a greater understanding of whole systems thinking as a key to sustainability and see community-led projects being essential for a happier, healthier and more resilient future.

Alongside our practical courses, events and publications, we have embraced appropriate technologies such as community energy, digital fabrication and open-source hardware in our work. We are interested in how these new technologies can be harnessed appropriately to build resilience and help us monitor and protect our environment.

• • Community Resilience
  • Permaculture
  • Learning Journeys

• • Events and Festivals – Global Green, Convergence, Elements of Change, …
  • Networking

History & Milestones

Beginning it’s life in 2000, Cultivate managed a Sustainable Living and Learning Centre in Dublin’s cultural quarter, Temple Bar for 8 years. Moving on in 2008 to establish ‘The Greenhouse’, in the former Irish Government centre for information on the environment, ENFO, and transforming this central location into an education & training hub for sustainability. Utilising the building in 2010 as the nerve centre for the Labor Market Activation/Green Works Programme in the Green Economy, supported by the European Social Fund. Cultivate ran courses in Green/Eco building, land use, business and tourism, with 1600 graduates and 3k people taking part overall.

In 2012 Cultivate made a rural relocation to Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary, joining forces with Sustainable Projects Ireland as part of the EcoVillage project in Cloughjordan, and establishing a new centre in the North Tipperary Green Enterprise Park, WeCreate Workspace.

Cultivate has produced many information packages over the years from the original printed Source Book 2000 a guide and directory of green businesses  and sustainability organisations operating in Ireland, to the Powerdown Show 2009 a 10 part TV series exploring community responses to global energy and climate problems which has been broadcast in Ireland and internationally.

For nearly two decades Cultivate have run the annual Convergence Festival focused on building sustainable community. This unique programme of events has celebrated community resilience and social inclusion while championing the changes needed to create a sustainable economy, society and built environment.

Global Green – Cultivate co-ordinate the Global Green area at the Electric Picnic, Ireland’s largest music and culture festival at the end of August. Over 20 different entities working together to create a vibrant hub of fun and fascination. Cultivate have a long term agreement with the organisers of the Electric Picnic to develop and manage this dynamic sustainability area of the festival.

Permaculture – Cultivate has been teaching Permaculture Design courses since 2003, running a full PDC in Cloughjordan since 2010.  Using the ecovillage as an example of permaculture in action, this course is a unique experience in Ireland and always attracts a diverse and multinational group.

In November 2016 Cultivate began a 3 year Horizon 2020 funded project the GROW Observatory (GROW) which underpins our current work plan. The GROW Observatory Project  means engaging citizens both nationally and across Europe to generate and share data and knowledge on growing and the land. The objective is to progress more sustainable land use practices, smart soil and land governance and policy, and create a unique data repository for science.