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If you are interested in hosting a workshop, you should review the following information. We tend to discourage people from hosting workshops, not because we don't want them to do it, but rather because it can be alot of work and you need to be really serious and dedicated to make a workshop happen. In our view, it is better if a workshop is never scheduled, then if it is cancelled at the last minute.
Normally hosts who have not taken a "Basics of Cob" course before will be expected to pay for the course just like other students though you will receive the maximum of all discounts offered for the workshop. Typically, other instructors will not offer workshops on sites where the host has not already taken a basics of cob course to ensure adequate preparation. The reason we are able to offer a course in this manner is that the instructor arrives a week in advance, making our overhead higher for these workshops than would normally be the case with an experienced cobber hosting it. This allows us to teach in new areas where no one has been able to take the Basics of Cob course. Despite possibly having to pay for the workshop, hosting still has many advantages:
If you wish to host a workshop on different financial terms such as leaving control in your hands and just hiring us to provide an instructor, we would certainly be willing to discuss it further.
These are things it will be your responsibility to provide as the host of the workshop (workshop durations are also listed)
Basic requirements:
Cob workshop requirements (7 days or longer):
Plasters workshop requirements (TBA):
Rocket stove workshop requirements (2 days):
Earthen oven workshop requirements (2 days):
Four students are the bare minimum to make a workshop viable, and a larger minimum group size may be necessarry for some workshops depending on location and other factors. Maximum for one instructor working alone is 14, for two instructors, 20 or more may be feasible.
Payment is due for all participants in cash (local currency), before the course begins.
Meals need to be provided for everyone taking the workshop because participants will not have the time and energy to do any cooking. It is preferable if provisions are made for vegetarians, since many people interested in natural building (including the instructors) are vegetarian or vegan. This may necessitate hiring someone to cook for the workshop. It may be possible to prepare foods in advance to heat and serve during the workshop, or possibly just have simple foods that don't require cooking available for people to prepare their own (sandwich ingredients, cereals, fruits, raw vegetables, etc.). We highly recommended that you not attempt to both fix meals and attend the workshop, this probably causes more stress for the workshop hosts than anything else. Workshop participants can be expected to participate in the meal setup and cleanup but not cooking.
One important major consideration is that cob is alot of work, expect people to eat two to three times as much food as people might typically eat when leading a sedentary lifestyle, so the food supplies and budget should be figured accordingly.
In addition to our fees for the course, food and accomodations (a place to pitch a tent is adequate) must be provided for the instructor(s) during their time on the site.
To ensure that preparations are adequate for the course, when working on a new site with hosts who have never taken a cob course before, instructors will arrive approximately one week before the course to allow time to get acquainted with local materials, weather conditions and soil composition, as well as ensure that the site is ready to begin the course. For workshop hosts who have previously taken a cob workshop, the instructor(s) may opt to arrive later, counting on the experience of the hosts to deal with any problems.
Short courses may be offered as a quick introduction to the topic, these are generally not adequate to allow a person to do serious work with the technique, but serve rather to give a person a little better understanding to decide if they wish to learn more.
Children are welcome at cob courses, and sites are generally quite safe, however, children below about 12 years of age are often not interested enough to take part in the full course.
Typically during each course at least one evening will include a slide show and talk about natural building in general and a variety of related topics, assuming facilities are available for the show. Other evenings, discussions, campfires, music, etc. may be possible options. Separate talks and cob demonstrations can be set up for members of the community who are unable to attend the workshop, please visit this page for more information.
Course prices are set in local currency, the final price for the course will be based on both our costs and the expenses of workshop hosts.
If you are still interested in hosting a workshop, please contact: Shannon Dealy, dealy@deatech.com
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Last Modified: April 12, 2007
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