A short one this month!

March was packed with Fairtrade Fortnight giveaways, tote bag decorating events and the annual Tourism and Events students’ Spring Festival. We ran a quiz with three winners, hosted an inclusion event with staff and student talks and presentations, and gave away a body’s weight in chocolate at several different events.

April is a little calmer. Most of April is taken up with Student Easter Holidays, so events are crowded at the back end of the month, such as a Climate Action film screening and play by the pond. On our social media, we’ll be raising awareness of autism all month, both looking at famous and successful figures with autism and the common traits of autism itself.

For the time being, here’s a handy-dandy events listing for April so you know what you can be doing on Campus this month!

• Every Thursday: Veg Box Pop-Up – student + staff pop-up veg collection point: Order yourself a vegbox before 11am on the Tuesday prior to each collection day to get your approx. 4kg mix of seasonal organic vegetables from a local farm, Ripple Farm Organics, delivered direct to campus. Veg boxes are £6 each, payment due by card at the time of ordering. Veg is supplied loose, so please bring your own reusable bags or boxes when you come to collect! Click the link above to find out more, or go straight to the order form to order yours! 3 – 5pm veg collection, pick-up location on the North Holmes site will be emailed to everyone who has ordered a box each week, Canterbury Campus
• Weds 5th: Carbon Literacy Taster Session – student + staff introductory workshop: Staff can book onto taster workshops and full CLT training through StaffSpace, and students can email our Carbon Literacy team to book their space. 1 – 2pm, Johnson Jg10, Canterbury Campus (book your space online or by email)
• Weds 5th: Climate Café – student + staff drop-in: Share your thoughts and concerns about climate change, or just ask questions, in a weekly, pop-up space. There are no “wrong” answers or emotions, so this will be a safe space, and all are welcome! 2 – 3pm, Daphne Oram Café, Canterbury Campus
• Weds 12th: Carbon Literacy Training Part 1 – student + staff training: This short course is delivered over two weeks with approximately one hour of self-study each week. Successful completion of the course will equip you with the knowledge you need to take action and build sustainability into your work, study and home life now and for the future, and results in CV-bolstering certification from the Carbon Literacy Project. Staff can book onto taster workshops and full CLT training through StaffSpace, and students can email our Carbon Literacy team to book their space. 1 – 4pm, Johnson Jg10, Canterbury Campus (book your space online or by email)
• Mon 17th: Anti-Racism Listen and Learn Session – staff workshop: Engage with and listen to critical conversations around addressing anti-racism and evaluate your own practices and role in challenging the systems and structures that enable racism and discrimination. 9.30 – 11.30am, (Room TBC), Canterbury Campus (book your space online via StaffSpace)
• Mon 17th: ‘2040: Join the Regeneration’ – student + staff film screening: ‘2040: Join the Regeneration’ is a story of hope, a positive vision of what ‘could be’ for humanity; it is a hybrid feature documentary that looks to the future, but is vitally important now! 1 – 3pm, Laud Lg16, Canterbury Campus

• Tues 18th: Anti-Racism Listen and Learn Session – staff workshop: Engage with and listen to critical conversations around addressing anti-racism and evaluate your own practices and role in challenging the systems and structures that enable racism and discrimination. 3 – 5pm, (Room TBC), Canterbury Campus (book your space online via StaffSpace)
• Tues 18th: “Auto…ethno…what?” Symbiotic Autoethnography as an approach to a qualitative inquiry – open lecture: Part of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Education open lecture series for 2023, ‘The Stories People Tell’. In this lecture, Dr. Liana Beattie will introduce a new approach to an autoethnographic inquiry – Symbiotic Autoethnography. 6.30 – 7.45pm, online via Collaborate (book your free space online)
• Weds 19th: Workshop Wednesdays: Literature Searching – student careers workshop: Part of the ‘Workshop Wednesdays’ series, offered by the Learning Skills Team and the Careers and Enterprise Hub in collaboration with the Students’ Union. In this session, Claire from the Learning Skills Team will look at the techniques of effective literature searching. There will be free tea, cake and coffee available! 12.30 – 1.30pm, Tea and Toasty (formerly Café 41), St George’s Centre, Canterbury
• Mon 24th: Anti-Racism Listen and Learn Session – student workshop: Engage with and listen to critical conversations around addressing anti-racism and evaluate your own practices and role in challenging the systems and structures that enable racism and discrimination. 12.30 – 2pm, Online (book your space online)
• Weds 26th: Workshop Wednesdays: From writing to referencing – student learning skills drop-in: Part of the ‘Workshop Wednesdays’ series, offered by the Learning Skills Team and the Careers and Enterprise Hub in collaboration with the Students’ Union. In this session, drop by for general help and support from Lawrence and Rami Younes from the Learning Skills Team. There will be free tea, cake and coffee available! 12.30 – 1.30pm, Tea and Toasty (formerly Café 41), St George’s Centre, Canterbury
• Weds 26th: Climate Café – student + staff drop-in: Share your thoughts and concerns about climate change, or just ask questions, in a weekly, pop-up space. There are no “wrong” answers or emotions, so this will be a safe space, and all are welcome! Times TBC, Tea & Toasty (formerly Café 41), Canterbury Campus
• Weds 26th: Carbon Literacy Training Part 2 – student + staff training: Part two of this month’s CLT training. If you didn’t get booked onto this month’s training in time, book now for next month instead! Staff can book onto taster workshops and full CLT training through StaffSpace, and students can email our Carbon Literacy team to book their space. 1 – 4pm, Johnson Jg08, Canterbury Campus (book your space online or by email)
• Weds 26th: Making pregnancies safer – open lecture: Prof. Ranjit Akolekar will be discussing the latest research in this area and whether more can be done to prevent such pregnancy complications based on latest research and evidence. 6pm start, Pilkington PK008, Medway Campus (book your free space online)
• Thurs 27th: Refillable Van – zero-waste pop-up shop: The Refillable Van is your local mobile zero-waste shop that comes direct to you on the last Thursday of every month. Simply bring your empty bottles and containers and we will refill them for you with as much or as little as you need. Refillable produce includes washing up liquid, laundry detergent, fabric softener, hand soap, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, dry foods, herbs and spices and more, plus homeware and gift ideas. 1 – 4pm, Verena Holmes Plaza, Canterbury Campus
• Thurs 27th: Place matters: will coastal schools ever experience ‘levelling up’? – student + staff lecture: Visiting Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope discusses the narrative of inequity in school funding for schools in ‘deprived’ areas, particularly looking at coastal English towns and villages. 4.30 – 6.30pm, Old Sessions House OS.0.01, Canterbury Campus

Have a great April – I’ll see you next month!

By Bethany Climpson, Sustainability Engagement Assistant