I found learning to build a bug hotel fascinating and an activity which crosses multiple boundaries
and hierarchies while helping us 1) realise how we take the resilience of nature for granted 2)
unleash our enterprise in assembling and sourcing materials freely (and legally) 5) understand how
to compensate for the reduction of
habitat and encourage wildlife to
share our learning spaces (or us
theirs…) 6) develop new skills as
rookie designers, while submerged
in old pallets, damp wood bark, twigs,
leaves and pine cones. The bug
hotel inspired me so much I had to
build one at home and here is the
work in progress…
Not only has the bug hotel become
an absorbing project in its own right
at LCF it has become an emblem for
an entirely separate educational
project this year: one creating digital
resources to support course teams in
embedding diversity, sustainability
and employability initiatives into the
curriculum from the start of the
validation process onwards. The
hotel symbolises the creation of
propitious circumstances in which
our initiatives can flourish – almost
like a 3D version of Edward de
Bono’s lateral thinking or Brian Eno’s
Oblique Strategies.
My final example was a finalist in the
research and development category
of the Green Gown Awards 2013,
recognizing exceptional sustainability initiatives across universities and colleges in the UK, and a
film illustrating it in action can be seen here: http://sustainabilityexchange.ac.uk/13-research-anddevelopment/1738-2014-02-12-14-56-11
It is hardly news to mention how ‘unsustainable’ the fashion industry can be in every aspect, from
production and working practices to consumption and use, however students are increasingly
turning their focus to finding alternatives to improve on current practice in all of these areas. The
dye garden, on an inner London site, is one of these, involving the planting, growing, harvesting
and use of plants such as woad, madder and a range of others for colouring and decorating fabrics.
However, a speaker in the video notes that working in the dye garden has not just been about
sustainability practices, but about tapping into the cultural and historical origins of these practices.
THE CENTRE FOR RECORDING ACHIEVEMENT 104 -108 WALLGATE, WIGAN, WN3 4AB |
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