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Inspiring places: The Centre for Alternative Technology- inspire, inform, enable

CAT

The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) based in Mid Wales overlooks Snowdonia National Park and offers visitors the chance to explore 7 acres of interactive displays and organic gardens and enjoy the enchanting natural surroundings.

CAT’s eco house demonstrates simple ideas and ways to make a household more sustainable through effective waste management, buying local organic food and installing insulation, the garden offers composting and harvesting facilities and natural habitats for birds and animals.

The water balanced cliff railway transports passengers up the 35 degree gradient cliff through a water balanced mechanism; two carriages are linked together with a steel cable and when people need to go up or down, water flows into a tank in the top carriage until it is heavy enough to pull the lower carriage up, this is a great way to experience first-hand, innovative sustainable technologies.

One of the most recent additions to the Centre for Alternative Technology is the construction of the WISE building which houses the new Wales Institute for Sustainable Education and is home to CAT’s post-graduate courses on renewable energy, building design and environmental sustainability. The building itself is constructed from rammed earth- mechanical compaction forces clay molecules to physically bond with the aggregate, giving the wall its strength. The building includes teaching rooms, a lecture theatre and bedrooms for residential course participants.

The site also features adventure playgrounds and an environmentally designed gift and bookshop and provides a thought provoking and inspiring environment for young people to understand the importance of sustainability.

Further information can be found here: https://visit.cat.org.uk/

To visit the Centre for Alternative Technology:

The Centre for Alternative Technology caters for family trips and educational visits

Adults-£8.50
Children-£4

Free entry for children under 3, CAT members and residents of SY20/SY19

Online booking and group bookings are eligible for discounts

Green Growth Generation themes: Preserving our planet, Energy and Climate, People and Places, More with less