Black Mountains College Discovery Day
We had a great time on Saturday, at our first 'Discovery Day'. Our aim for the day was to share our vision for BMC, our plans for the campus and our courses. We met loads of people, had some brilliant… Read more
Author: Emma
The latest news, views and ideas from us, and our advisors and partners. To find out about upcoming events take a look at What’s On.
Newsletter : Celebrating Circles (May 2021)
There's a dawning realisation that the push for growth and 'progress' has been at the expense of what really matters; the health of the planet all its inhabitants. In the quest to move forward, we have perhaps been spiralling out… Read more
Living in Circles
BMC’s vocational programme is now open for applications. We have developed our first offering in further education around three ‘future’ skills that we believe will be important and necessary as our economy transitions to a more sustainable footing. We have… Read more
Welsh Farming – All Change?
Havard Prosser, BMC Trustee and former Chief Environmental Adviser at Welsh Government explores the future of Welsh Farming. We have reached a critical phase in the history of Welsh agriculture. In a draft White Paper published in December 2020, the Welsh… Read more
BMC’s campus
We are thrilled that we have secured a 50 year lease on Troed-yr-Harn Farm. Troed yr Harn farm is 1 mile south of Talgarth, and will be our launch campus. We've been a bit quiet in the last year, but… Read more
What is a University?
In our most recent meeting with the Youth Panel, our academic lead and author of Who are Universities for?, Professor Tom Sperlinger, led a discussion asking 'What is a university and who is it for?'. Tom asked us (5 members… Read more
December Newsletter – New Year’s Resolution? Be an Activist
We actively need to change everything... for the better The Climate Change Committee (CCC), has just published its Sixth Carbon Budget, recommending that the UK reduces emissions by 78% by 2035 (from the 1990 baseline). The CCC's recommendation is that… Read more
Help us make BMC a diverse, accessible and inclusive college, by BMC Co-Founder, Owen Sheers
Our plan for Black Mountains College to be a pivotal catalyst in transforming society has a number of dependencies. The most obvious are funding and premises, but the most important is that we have the right people shaping and building… Read more
October Newsletter – The lost open mind
Respect and open mindedness is essential for the planet-wide social transformation we need for our and millions of other species’ existence. Respecting opposing views enables debate, and develops understanding and empathy. And empathy for future generations can help motivate the… Read more
August Newsletter – Solutions
Our latest newsletter focusses on solutions being a series of efforts, trials, errors and collaborations. Read our latest newsletter, and sign up for future ones Read more
#Futuregen – Lessons from a small country, by Jane Davidson.
Why we must put Future Generations at the heart of all policy thinking – in the interests of us all. I’m a baby boomer. And I’ve often worried that my generation are not good ancestors. I believe it’s time for… Read more
The future of fire: Is there a sustainable future for combustion?
William Gold is a research associate at the University of South Wales working on science communication and circular economy for the RICE project and, in his guest blog, examines the role of combustion in a sustainable future. For over a… Read more
The sound of a village, dreaming…
BMC itself is an invitation to dream. Can we dare to imagine a different higher education experience? One taught outdoors, based around re-connecting us to nature, bringing together all that we know about how humans learn to empower students to… Read more
Dreaming the Future
Building Back Better, The Great Reset, The Great Re-think, The Green Recovery, The New Normal, Not Back to Normal… the human race seems keen to use the global shutdown as a springboard for change. Everyone is talking about doing things… Read more
Combining art and science to address the challenges of our time. A dancer’s perspective on BMC, by Kirstie Simon.
Professor of Dance at the University of Illinois. In such tumultuous times, when humanity faces an uncertain future and we have a growing awareness that our perspective on life needs to shift dramatically, it is timely to grapple with the… Read more
Decolonising the Curriculum, by Ben Rawlence
Black Lives Matter is not just a series of protests on the streets of America. It is a long-overdue call for re-examining the ways we see, talk, think, live and work. Re-imaginations, transformations, whether personal, social or institutional are difficult,… Read more
Which way will the world flip after Covid-19?
Colin Tudge hopes for an Agrarian Renaissance Biologist, writer and co-founder of the Campaign for Real Farming, Colin Tudge is our guest blogger. Everyone – even governments! – is acknowledging that the world can never be the same again after… Read more
Regenerative Horticulture for a sustainable future. By Rashid Benoy
For the past few months, I have been doing the groundwork with the BMC team to prepare for the planned Regenerative Horticulture course. Regenerative Horticulture is an umbrella term that encompasses the principles of permaculture (holistic design that simulates natural… Read more
Black Mountains College and our Sustainable Development Goals
by Dr. Libby Pearson THE (Times Higher Education) recently published its Sustainability Impact Dashboard, a tool to empower universities to achieve their sustainability goals. Sustainability and our impact on climate change has always been at the heart of BMC's vision for… Read more
Sue Pritchard on sustainable farming, food and Black Mountains College
Sue Pritchard, Director of the RSA Food, Farming & Countryside Commission, talks about sustainable food, farming and land use, and how Black Mountains College is best practice in education in the light of the urgent need for transformation. With a guest… Read more
Why Black Mountains College is Important: An Artist’s Perspective. By Heather Ackroyd
Heather Ackroyd, of artist duo Ackroyd and Harvey tells us in her video how BMC will be an important driver of the transition for the future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk-Ku_M0W0U Read more
Inspiration from Vitra Campus
Libby went on a trip to Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein last week to imagine what a BMC campus could look like. The Swiss furniture manufacturer's campus is an architectural inspiration. The buildings work with the surrounding residential areas… Read more
Why Black Mountains College is Important: A Conservationist’s Perspective. By Sir Tim Smit KBE
Black Mountains College is possibly the UK’s most exciting and important development in education. It draws together strands of humanities and science into an un-siloed whole, enabling students and teachers to understand the interconnections of all things. Only then can they… Read more
The Black Mountains College Campus
ARWAIN works with Powys County Council to get local people, businesses and communities involved in delivering sustainable, innovative solutions to address some of the economic, social and environmental challenges facing Powys. ARWAIN funded our options appraisal project, which we ran… Read more
Why Black Mountains College is Important: An Author’s Perspective. By Sir Michael Morpurgo OBE
Over recent centuries we have become ever more separated from the planet on which we live. We have used it up mercilessly, squandered the precious resources, ignore its needs, forgotten that our survival and the planet’s survival are mutually dependant.… Read more
Why Black Mountains College is Important: An Academic’s Perspective. By David J. Helfand
Prof. of Astronomy, Columbia University Chair, American Institute of Physics President Emeritus, American Astronomical Society President Emeritus, Quest University Canada I have been privileged to participate in a number of meetings over the past few years with those planning a… Read more
Why Black Mountains College is Important: A Farmer’s Perspective
By Jeff Gwillim. My family have farmed the land above Talgarth since the 1700s and, in this time, much has changed and we are constantly learning to adapt to these changes. We run a traditional all-grass hill farm. That is… Read more
Growing Team – Community Training Coordinator
Amanda Page joined the team at the start of the year as our new Community Training Coordinator. Amanda manages our vocational training programmes. Amanda founded a Community Interest Company called Gap Learning that delivered a programme of courses for all ages… Read more
Discovery Day
Last week we held our first Discovery Day for our NVQ course in seasonal catering which will be on offer from September 2020. Five students from Gwernyfed High School came, along with their teacher. They started with a tour of… Read more
The Story so Far
On a wintry night in 2016, with wind rattling the windows, Ben and his neighbour Owen talked about the frightening future that their young daughters would inherit. We all knew then and still know now that our society and our… Read more