Harrison Gardner

THE STORY  

Meet Harrison Gardner, an eco builder, educator and sustainability designer. A man on a mission to show the nation how to make a home without breaking the bank. You may also recognise him from RTE ‘Build Your Own Home’ series and as the author of ‘Build Your Own - use what you have to create what you need'. Having worked on building sites in Australia since he was 14, he subsequently travelled the world with NGOs to build off-grid shelters and homes and is now settled in Clare with his wife Erin and daughter Iniri.

The culmination of these experiences along with countless conversations at the dining room table, fuelled by coffee with his wife, was a programme called Build School. A community learning space where Harrison demystified the art of building homes and empowered people with the practical skills needed to construct their own homes. “When I started Build School five years ago my mission was trying to simply put a roof over people's heads”

This mission, with support from pals and co-founders Finn and Spider, has evolved into a social enterprise called Common Knowledge. An inclusive project that encourages people to come together to learn, share and grow.“My mission now with Common Knowledge is to help people create sustainable, accessible, and joyful lives by providing them with tools, confidence, and community support”

Common Knowledge HQ is situated in the beautiful Burren, in North Clare. The space is on a thriving, wild 50 acres of land and is home to various eco-builds. They run courses such as DIY home skills, organic gardening and stone wall structures, connecting people, creating community and encouraging knowledge sharing. “It was only a few generations ago that we lost our skills on how to cook, how to build shelters, how to fix and how to be self-sufficient''

Common Knowledge aims to change the culture around learning and skill sharing. They hope that communities will eventually self-support, encouraging each other to share knowledge and find solutions together.

“Our goal is to make Common Knowledge redundant. We hope one day communities will share knowledge, believe in each other's potential and support each other's crazy ideas”

THE WHY  

''There is something magical that happens when you teach someone how to use a tool for the first time. It feels like an important thing that needs to keep happening so it’s important we keep creating space for those opportunities”

THE CLIMATE ACTION 

''Learn how to do things for yourselves. So you use less, waste less, buy less and are able to solve your own problems"