The Worshipful Company of Gardeners Schools Outreach was approached to contribute to a Haberdashers celebration of Earth Day. 270 students from Haberdashers Academies Trust South took part in a morning of inspirational speakers, lively workshops and calls to action, held at Goldsmiths University London.
Following an initial address by Dominique Palmer, Climate Justice Activist the students went into different workshops. Dr Tom Young, Nuffield Scholar with the Worshipful Company of Gardeners (WCG), and Green Blue Infrastructure Associate and Ecohydologist at The Environment Partnership, undertook a workshop around his specialism of green roofs.
Pollinating London Together (PLT) was pleased to be involved with WCG and this initiative. Konstantinos Tsiolis, a pollinator ecologist working for PLT, ran a workshop and presented an introductory lecture on pollination and the diversity of pollinators such as bees, wasps, beetles, butterflies, moths, and other invertebrates. He explained the scientific processes behind pollination, and how pollinators have declined due to a lack of suitable habitats, nesting, and food resources.
Several workshop sessions were offered giving students an insight into a range of environmental concerns. A representative from each workshop was tasked with feeding back an action which their school might take.
Dr Tom Young delivered the final session, on sustainable building design. He was able to use a range of images and talk about how the different approaches might make a difference to water use, climate change and biodiversity. The initiatives he showed illustrated large and much smaller changes that could make a difference even a green roof for a rabbit hutch.
Blog by Dr. Heather Barrett-Mold, Vice Chair, Pollinating London Together