This blog is primarily about a research project I am doing on affordable eco-homes. The aim is to understand how we can create more opportunities for people on low incomes to self-build their own eco-homes in rural areas.

The project has three objectives: (1) to identify successful small-scale community-led, self-built eco-developments targeted at low-income potential residents; (2) to understand how such developments have overcome problems of planning, local resistance, organising collectively, finance, and using non-conventional materials; and (3) to identify common successful strategies in creating affordable eco-homes which could be adopted in Britain. I am going to achieve this by visiting successful projects in Britain, Spain, USA, Argentina, and Thailand.

I have been awarded a travelling fellowship by the Winston Churchill Trust (www.wcmt.org.uk) to do this work.