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Category: Education for Sustainable Futures

Helping the community during the corona outbreak | Food Banks

Many people are reliant on the donations from the community for their food. In the past year alone, Canterbury Food Bank distributed 31,257 meals, fed 2160 adults and 1260 children. It gave parents 468 holiday packages and (as it is a charity) worked unpaid for 16,557 hours. It will only get more challenging for local charities such as this one, as we face the corona virus outbreak now it is getting closer to a peak. Many shops are having to close and employers are being forced to reduce the hours of their staff, meaning more people are on the bread line. Shops are also selling out of stock due to the hysteria and people stockpiling, making it harder for charities to physically buy goods. Furthermore, children are not in school due to the virus and many will missing out on their only meal of the day.

Sustainably clean | little tips for you and your wallet

Cleaning a student house can be exhausting, the countless takeaway boxes, the mouldy sink and the unthinkably gross toilet. But with the corona virus outbreak, now is the perfect time more than ever for a spring clean.

But as many of us are re-evaluating our current cleaning techniques and methods, and are perhaps even cleaning more than before, it raises a question: are these methods sustainable for our planet and our wallet?

International food and culture fayre | Our table

Last Friday saw the return of the annual Christ Church International food and Culture fayre. The food fayre was a lot of fun and a great way to experience other cultures. This year the SGO had three members present with two separate tables, one specifically for vegan bites and the other to showcase sustainable sourced food…

Know your bins!

Canterbury has amazing recycling facilities in that they are able to recycle a variety of waste products for free for their residents. If you are able to recycle why not make the most of it in your student house, not only is it an active way to help protect the environment but it also means you’ll have far less rubbish sitting in your kitchen!

Sustainability Debates: Go Wild?

This November the University’s sustainability team hosted a debate about ‘Wilding’ Kent; the event was aimed at academics and students and provided an opportunity for discussion of ‘wilding’ and species reintroduction aimed at driving positive changes in the Kentish landscape; to restore complex habitats and improve biodiversity. The event was co-organised with Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) and Wildwood Trust who plan to ‘wild’ the Blean through a trial release of large herbivores, including European bison within a 3000-acre area.

Introducing Chris

Hi, my names Chris. I have recently joined the Student Green Office as a project officer. My primary focus whilst working in this role will be based around the mantra of #LearningfortheFuture: one of the three core principles of the US in the World campaign. To introduce myself properly to you all I’ve written a short blog about myself, so here goes.

Soya is a great alternative to meat – but is it sustainable?

On the 10th of July Project 93 (part of the CCCU Sustainability initiative ‘Us in the World’) hosted an open discussion with Professor Carlos Klink, Professor of Ecology at University of Brasilia, Brazil, titled “Conciliating production with conservation strategies in Tropical savannas. The Case of Brazil”.  Prof Klink, was Brazil´s National Secretary for Climate Change (2012-2015) and Deputy-Minister of the Environment (January-May 2016) during the previous government and is an expert in the Brazilian savannas, the Cerrado, one of the most biodiverse natural environments in the world. 

While soy derived products may be alternatives to meat consumption, there are questions about environmental sustainability of soybeans. Cerrado savannas have become Brazil’s largest source of soybeans and pastureland, and a significant producer of rice, corn, cotton, sugarcane and ethanol… It is also home for a rich socio-diversity represented by several indigenous peoples and local communities that depend on the traditional use of natural resources to maintain their livelihoods… Profound changes in their composition and productivity may adversely affect their capacity to support humans, their activities and the ecosystem services they provide. 

Professor Klink argued that although agriculture and agri-food systems are at the core of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a new political relationship between agricultural development and environmental conservation must be developed… He focused on the on-going transformation of the most challenging savannas of the world, the Cerrados of Brazil, where a new political relationship between agriculture and ecosystem conservation is being built.

The discussion session was recorded and a Podcast will be available through Project 93 in the near future.

by Dr Adriana Consorte-McCrea