The first ever Director of Sustainability joins Dartington this December, making the charity one of the first organisations in the UK to bring Sustainability to the top table. This is a credit to the work that has taken place over the past 12 months to spearhead a sustainability drive at Dartington – aiming to transform the estate into a carbon and waste neutral ‘Living Classroom’ by 2015.

Charlie McConnell (who is former Chief Executive of both the Carnegie Trust UK and the Scottish Community Education Council) has ambitious plans to build on the initial success of Dartington’s three sustainable development cornerstones, the internationally renowned Schumacher College, the sustainable land use project Land Scope and Dartington’s much publicised sustainability drive ‘One Planet’.

With Charlie now at the helm and significant inroads already made into environmental and climate change education and sustainable land use – The Dartington Hall Trust is well on its way to becoming a UK centre of excellence in Sustainability education.

Chief Executive Vaughan Lindsay said, “One year ago The Dartington Hall Trust announced that it was on an ambitious mission to turn an energy leaching 1,200 acre medieval estate into a sustainable teaching trailblazer. In the last 12 months Dartington has reduced its energy use by 7% – just by improving energy efficiency and working closely with staff and residents to raise awareness.’

‘Over the next few years we intend to make the estate carbon positive, focusing on new innovations in renewable energy and environmental education – daring to pioneer experimental solutions to some of the most pressing environmental problems of our time.”

Dartington and the Road to Sustainability – The story so far 2007/2008

Cornerstone 1 – Creating a Sustainable ‘One Planet’ Estate

Since employing Dartington’s first ever Sustainability Officer Dr. Jon Rae– the charity has achieved the following successes:

Energy and Fuel

• Cut its energy use by 300,000kw/h
• Saved enough energy to heat 25 domestic homes
• Improved energy efficiency by 7% (figures take into account the warmer winter)
• Cut its carbon footprint by 11.5%
• Increased recycling from 25% to 60%
• From 1 October, Dartington swapped supply over to EDF Green Energy. This is a 12 month stop gap while we put in place our own energy systems, as we recognise that it would be far more ideal to generate our own renewable energy than take a share of that which is already being produced.
• All 38 domestic buildings on the Dartington estate have been accepted for insulation improvements, funded through West Country Energy Action. With around 15 homes seeing noticeable improvements before Christmas.

Dartington Hall

• Dartington’s Medieval Courtyard and Accommodation has achieved the ‘Excellent Standard’ for energy efficiency– in accordance with International Hotel Standard.
• Dartington Hall earned a Silver Green Tourism Award for its hotel, conferencing and catering services.

New Technology and Inventions

• In February we used a heat seeking camera to take detailed infra red footage of the whole of Estate, including all the commercial building and some domestic properties – Draft proofing will begin this month, leading to an estimated 10% reduction in all energy costs.
• The White Hart bar has replaced its outdoor pub heaters with a carbon neutral brazier designed by KEVICC student.
• We will be trialling 3 solar panels/ wind turbine combinations to power LED street lighting on the estate – this is the first combined system of its kind in the UK.
• Plans for making our 21 vehicle fleet sustainable are progressing positively – and we hope that by April 2009 we will have our first electric van, powered by water.

Staff Incentives

*Car Share and a cycle purchase scheme are now in place. *Love Carbon project has been started to help staff and residence make energy efficiencies at home.

Cornerstone 2 – Land Scope

In 2007/08 the Land Scope project led by Julie Richardson has helped establish 4 sustainable land use projects on the Estate (including an organic farm, a sustainable timber mill, a forest school education programme and a reforestation project. There are currently a further 6 projects in the pipe line.

Already on the ground (2007/2008)

1. On Track Training – A Forest School Initiative that helps disadvantaged children gain valuable social skills
2. Greyfield Timber – A carbon neutral saw mill that aims to supply the South Hams community with locally sourced timber and bio-fuel.
3. Moor Trees – A woodland Charity working with local people across Devon to create and restore native woodland.
4. Foxhole Organics – A horticulture nursery experimenting in different models of organic farming – aimed at providing local produce to sell to the Dartington community.

In the Pipe Line (2008/2009)

Through the Dartington Land Scope project, the estate will be trialling a number of renewable energy schemes, designed to generate power and heat from the estate’s woodlands. The first of these is the generation of wood chip bio – fuel, as a bi-product of the work at Greyfield Timber.

The second is a Wood Gasification process that burns wood in limited oxygen which derives a gas called syn gas, which is cleaned and put into a generator – producing 40% electricity and 60% heat. This gasification technology has the potential of supplying all of heat and electricity for the whole Dartington estate – and beyond.

Other renewable energy sources in the pipeline include the introduction of anaerobic digesters on the estate and further experiments in renewable fuel sources.

Land Scope is also currently working towards a ‘Green Burials’ site and further examples of climate change farming.

Cornerstone 3 – Schumacher College

Now in its 17th year, Schumacher College is a unique international residential adult education centre located at Dartington. It provides individuals and groups from the public, business and social enterprise sectors around the world, with the opportunity to learn on numerous levels about subjects relating to environmental and social sustainability.

The College runs an extensive program of short courses from 4 days to 3 weeks on a whole range of subjects including economics, business, design, ecology and climate change. A full time MSc in Holistic Science, the first of its kind, is run from the College as well as a Certificate in Education for Sustainability. There are regular open evenings, seminars and joint projects happening at the college throughout the year. The College is an active partner in the Transition Towns movement.

Over the last 12 months:

• Over 1,400 people participated in Schumcher courses during the last twelve months.

• The inaugural year of the Certificate in Education for Sustainability, in which 10 participants successfully completed the course. These students are now preparing to spearhead a new wave of educational initiatives around the globe.

• The launch of the Certificate in Sustainable Health, starting February 2009

• The Schumacher College Msc in Holistic Science entered its second decade with the most internationally diverse group ever.

• New courses launched in Biomimicry (Bio-inspired design for sustainability) and Ethical Pioneers (for aspiring Entrepreneurs)

• Over the last 2 ½ years the College has been transforming the land around us, growing our own fruit and vegetables. Over the past six months approximately 10% of the produce needed by our college kitchen was grown onsite, marking a significant increase on previous years.

The Trail to blaze – 2009 – 2018

Dartington still has a long way to go to reach its goal of becoming a carbon and waste positive ‘Living Classroom’. Many of Dartington’s historic and listed buildings are still in desperate need of large investment to make them sustainable and this is part of the ‘One Planet’ mission – but if the massive success of the last year is anything to go by, we are optimistic that we can deliver the changes needed to become an international champion of Sustainability.