Handy Village Institute was founded in 2014 after a brief 2013 visit by Deborah and Christopher to the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Machynlleth, Wales. We returned there for a longer stay during November and December 2014, during which we took courses in hydropower, wind power, and environmental economics and policy. We each also worked as volunteers on several different tasks that enabled us to peer inside and learn more about running a school like CAT. We returned committed to interpret their work in our time and place. We are also inspired by the many courses we have taken in blacksmithing and weaving at the John C. Campbell Folk School, in Brasstown, NC, and embrace the folk school model of learning.