Re:Builders Share + Learn Celebration 2025-26

Over the past two years, Re:Builders has taken form as an immersive learning programme in response to an initiative by Innovate UK to demonstrate how Further Education Colleges might support learning and innovation in small to medium businesses.

Hosted through a collaboration between CIVIC SQUARE and Fircroft College, in partnership with Material Cultures and Dark Matter Labs (and funded by Innovate UK), we have worked with two cohorts of tradespeople and craftspersons dedicated to the vital role of retrofit and regenerative construction.

This celebration seeks to ground the work and learnings of this foundational chapter as Re:Builders moves from a learning programme into an active collective of peers developing regenerative construction skills through applied learning on live sites and demonstrator projects across our region.

When you arrive, you can expect a warm welcome, over a hot drink at the historic grounds of Fircroft College. You will be invited move between the different wokshop spaces according to your interestes. Join a deep dive exploration of the dominant and emerging systems surrouding the construction industry in the outdoor tipi tent led by Jenny Ford, curated exhibitions of the Re:Builders Learning Journey, a Retrofit Walkshop and natural building materials taster sessions on the grounds of Fiircrof College . Whether you choose to join us for the full immersive day, a focused afternoon workshop, or the evening celebration, every moment will be an invitation to connect and exchange learning with this growing ecosystem of peers and grounded in the realities of ongoing regenerative practice.
The day will include opportunities to:

• Hear directly from the Re:Builders cohort about the key learning uncovered and the first steps these local companies are taking toward regenerative practices through a showcase of artefacts, photos and screenings created by the Re:Builders to share their learning journey so far.
• Get hands-on with natural, bio-based construction materials alongside guest practitioners .
• Join builders and conservation experts alongside the Fircroft College estates team for an open tour and assessment of the historic site, looking at the complexities of heritage and opportunities for retrofit.
• Learn more about and shape how Re:Builders will evolve into ongoing opportunities to learn skills on active sites, testing new standards for construction in the region through CIVIC SQUARE’s live demonstrator sites.
• Talks and inspiring discussions featuring guest speakers and practitioners from the programme, including Jenny Ford, Smith Mordak, previous and present Re:Builders alongside programme hosts from CIVIC SQUARE, Dark Matter Labs, Material Cultures, and Fircroft College.

• You see the climatic and social risks facing our neighbourhoods and are seeking radical, practical shifts in how we respond.
• You are interested in the ways our built environment can unlock multiple ecological and social benefits beyond just buildings
• You are looking for a opportunities to test and practice regenerative skills and approaches on live, real-world demonstrator projects among a growing collective of peers
• You recognise the vital role of practical and vocational skills in building towards a resilient future for the West Midlands.
• You are ready to move beyond "business as usual."

• A builder or tradesperson looking to transform your skills and practices to meet the realities of our material and climatic futures.
• A educator & training provider grappling with the skills gaps and working to resource and shape training and vocational skills in FE colleges and other learning institutions..
• A visionary or curious practitioner or learner interested in a bioregional/ecoregional approaches to our built environments and neighbourhoods, and want to help resource, fund, and generate knowledge or deepen your understanding to support this necessary transition.
• Working at the intersections of these sectors bridging or collaborating with them in your work.

All are welcome, whether you are early stage in your career or have been in working in these sectors for some long time and seeking ways to learn new skills, or reimagine your work.

Fircroft College has a social and environmental justice mission. It delivers second chance education and retraining to adults funded by West Midlands Combined Authority. For the third year running the college has been shortlisted for a prestigious Green Gown Award in recognition of its work around green skills. The college is residential, set in 6 acres of grounds just off the Bristol Road and is about to build a net-zero classroom.

How to get here

We encourage arriving by foot, bicycle or public transport where possible. Fircroft College is well accessed by bicycle, bus and train routes: details can be found on their website.

If you are arriving by car, there is parking on-site only for those with mobility requirements. Other guests are welcome to use the University car parking at the back of George Cadbury Hall just above the college. You will need to pay for this (using RingGo) £5.20 for 3 hours and then free after 6pm.

When you arrive, please head to the reception and sign in - this is important for fire safety.

Info: Time to arrive and be welcomed to the site. Here you'll be greeted by the team behind the Re:Builders programme and be guided to the part of the programme you would like to participate in for the afternoon. Grab a coffee and we'll gather in the tipi tent at 1:30pm for the event opening and welcome moment.

Info: Join Jenny Ford, Re:Builders Mentor and founder of Materials In Mind  alongside Dark Matter Labs for a facilitated dialogue exploring systems change in the construction and built environment sector. 

Info: Join skilled plasterer and heritage conservationist, Daahir Mohamed as he shares his working knowledge of earth materials in building, using materials available locally and the endangered heritage skills and crafts that could make a resurgence in response to climatic challenges and the urgent need for retrofit.

Info: Join builders and conservation experts alongside the Fircroft College estates team for an open tour and assessment of the historic site, looking at the complexities of heritage and opportunities for retrofit.

Info: Head for the ground for classroom for an immersive exhibition of the journey of Re:Builders and opportunity to explore what's next as part of the live demonstrator sites at CIVIC SQUARE. Meet members of the team alongside Re:Builders to find out more about what the cohort have been learning and how these have been applied live on site, through photos, videos and artefacts from our sessions.

Info: Meet and mingle over food and drink as we wrap up the afternoon workshop sessions ahead of the evening celebration.

Info: Join the evening session for a series of talks and panel discussions with the Re:Builders alongside special guest speakers and practitioners who have been part of the programme as we share reflections from the learning journey so far and what these learnings mean for how we move forwards.

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