Monthly Archives: June 2026

Beth Nawr? Festival

I attended the Beth Nawr? (What Now? in Welsh) Festival this weekend, it was a nice thing to do for the summer solstice. Hosted by the forward thinking alternative education organisation Black Mountains College in Talgarth, Wales, the festival offered workshops and talks aimed at practical system change. In the organisers’ own words:

 

“Blending the playfulness of a festival, the rigour of a conference, the depth of a retreat, and the practical focus of a two-day course, Beth Nawr will unlock our collective capacity to build a future where both people and the planet thrive.”

 

In my opinion the unlocking in question will take a few more than two days, but the event sure gave it a good run, with great conversations, engaging workshop themes and formats, collective singing and a solstice bonfire.

 

I also ran a Soil Microbes workshop, where participants built their own mud battery and had some fun connecting them.

 

Keep an eye out for the next Beth Nawr?!

 

Soil Microbes workshop

Environmental cost of AI’s energy use

The United Nations University just published a report on the crazy environmental cost of global Artificial Intelligence deployment, not the most joyous read of the year but very informative and well researched. More evidence that one should think twice before asking chatgeminigroklaude to generate a video of their cat in a space suit flying over a cheese planet populated by rainbow coloured mice for example.

Read the press release HERE, click on the image below for the full report.

 

Soil Microbes Melodies Workshop

From @centre_for_art_and_ecology

 

On the Spring Equinox at the Art Research Garden and Art & Ecology Laboratory, Goldsmiths University London, organised by CAE members Paul Granjon, Louie Destouches, and Jack Hannam.

 

The workshop opened with barefoot soil sensing, deep listening and chanelling the soil melodies through our humming and vibrating bodies, guided by voice practitioner Natasha Lohan. This was followed by an exploration of how to become human soil sensors, a collective vocal activation with the Singing Compost installation and a picnic in the sun as well as learning about the latest laboratory experiments with Shewanella bacteria.

 

Many rich conversations closed the workshop, touching on the importance of sensory approaches to soil health, the value of semi-informal gatherings and hybrid research formats and the role of small, collective steps in addressing climate anxiety, alongside DIY approaches to both science and art.

 

The workshop was funded by @blackmountainscollege and @britishcouncil as part of the Climate Adaptation for Creatives programme.

 

Images courtesy of @paulgranjon & @emerald_regeneration & @dirt_science

 

@paulgranjon
@petitfi.lou
@dirt_science