“To my knowledge, there is no other educational experience quite as unique as that offered by Shift Bristol. It is inspiring, the scope of topics offered is incredible and the field trips are fantastic. I have learnt a lot and I am inspired to learn more!”
“The SHIFT PSC gives very good value for money for the student, it's a unique learning experience that enables a depth and breadth of knowledge to be accessed in an informal non-judgemental way. You should be very proud of what started out as a back of an envelope idea and is now a blueprint of how to run a first rate sustainability course on a shoe string with over 150 students benefiting from being involved and leading a richer and more informed life. Don't underestimate the true value of the SHIFT course, it is unique and something very special.”
"This is a fantastic course with fantastic tutors."
“The PSC enabled me to view myself much more authentically and empowered me will practical skill that i have gone on to utilise so to transform my life. “
“If you're unsure about your sustainable future, start here!”
“The Practical Sustainability course is incredibly important in encouraging us to envisage a positive future, and how we can co-create it. It's a fun, safe, creative environment to learn and build confidence in facing huge issues from the personal to the global. It's been an immensely enriching experience being involved so far, and I'm looking forward to a shifted future.”
“A fantastic course. So many ways to change your life for the better.”
“I work in research for the UCL Energy and Sustainable Resources Institute where I get to take an active part in current energy/ sustainability planning and have regular contact with climate and sustainability field leaders. The confidence and knowledge from the course definitely put me where I am today and has set me on a path which has shown me not only how to be more resilient but to want that resilience, imagination and drive to be shared in others.
“Creating a positive new direction for life.”
“So much more than a great course. More of a life shift.”
“Do it! Do it!”
“It’s called the 'shift' course for a reason and more the inner shift than anything else. I now view my life in 2 parts: 'before shift' (BS) and 'after shift'!”
“The work I'm doing now has been reflected in the course, new research areas are widely based around what I learned at Shift.”
“This course is almost unique in its comprehensive coverage of the issues we face right now. It's practical, honest and serious but also great fun.”
“Truly inspirational course that has changed the way I think for good. I now have muddy hands, a happy heart and a head that will forever question the norms about me.”
“It was a transformative time for me and has led to new career opportunities, further learning and greater self-awareness.”
“Delivered expertly by passionate and knowledgeable tutors who couldn’t be more authentic”
Alumni Testimonials
“The Shift my life needed - a whole new community and perspective. I am so grateful.”
“Shift gave me the access to a community that allowed me to feel that things were possible. Now I grow vegetables!”
“The PSC is an amazing way to connect with people and find pathways to aligning your livelihood with your values, and is the reason I’m in the work I’m in now!”
“Shift will be whatever, maybe exactly, what you need at that moment in time. I had a profound experience, feeling allowed to be simply me for a whole year, loved and accepted for it.”
“Shift is a joy to teach with - the groups always leave me full of inspiration and its always so much fun!”
“Shift changed one of my daughter’s life radically in so many ways, after a chance meeting with one of my friend’s daughter. Serendipity & chance - seeds which grow. Shift is a space to grow, and learn to change.”
“The PSC is a fantastic course with fantastic tutors!”
“Shift! What an amazing opportunity to learn, grow and imagine new and alternative futures with people form all walks of life.”
“The PSC is BRILLIANT! This course will change your life.”
“The PSC totally changed my life! Most amazing teachers and community.”
“Shift opened so many opportunities and connections for me and is undeniably the why and how of where I am right now (growing beautiful veggies and community as a livelihood.”
“The PSC was an incredible jumping of point. I met inspiring people, earned so many new things, and felt very supported on the way. SHIFT IS ACE!”
“I’m a current Shifty! I’m embodying a lemon drizzle cake - absorbing, saturating - LOVING IT! Cannot recommend enough!”
“Shift has been the best teacher, community and constant in my life since I did the PDC and then the PSC - I wouldn’t be where I am today without Shift!”
Roundhouse Build 2023
A wonderful film of a Shift Bristol roundhouse build on the PSC. Video creator and student Esther Cacace-Soret (instagram @strbluk) has captured the collaborative and harmonious essence of the build. What a gift for us Esther, thank you!
The roundhouse build is part of our 'Place & Ownership' module, where we explore buildings, homes and our need for security, shelter and comfort.
Articles on the PSC
Would you like to know more about the story of Shift Bristol and the Practical Sustainability Course? Head over to the Permaculture Association website - we're in the spotlight.
'Picture the Future: The Shift' - By Anita Roy.
This is the third of a series of blogs for Rapid Transition focusing on evidence-based hope from volunteer-led groups who are taking action to restore nature and tackle the climate emergency in practical ways.
The PSC and Commoning
Low Impact Development
Past Students
Shift Bristol has trained over 400 Practical Sustainability Course students, affectionately known as the Shifties. Over the years the student network has expanded and evolved into an autonomous, self-organising, self-celebrating being. They organise their own socials, events, workshops and field trips; including everything from welding, to study groups, to hosting film showings, and forming a choir - the ‘Shifty Singers’.
It's impossible to move in the Sustainability cirlces in the Southwest and not bump into a Shifty. They can be found on smallholdings, farms, community gardens, energy co-ops, in schools, in the NHS working with green social prescribing and mental health services, in the Landworkers Alliance, in the Ecological Land Co-operative, in social centres, heading up children's gardening clubs, in political campaigning, as permaculture consultants, green building contractors, community composting groups, and much more besides!
Ursula Billington
PSC Graduate gets job as Bristol 24/7's new Climate & Sustainability Editor
Leila Meredith
A 2020-21 Practical Sustainability Course student, produced this podcast featuring interviews with previous students, as part of her Masters in Social Anthropology. It considers the role of the PSC in the wider movement towards a sustainable future and also the impact it has had on their personal lives.
A Shifty Podcast
These students attended the PSC during the Covid Pandemic, as Shift Bristol navigated teaching a hands-on curriculum through lockdowns and physical distancing restrictions. As part of this unseasonal year students were able to attend the Oxford Real Farming Conference, inclusive of their course fees.
