The Nag

Any comments/ constructive criticisms welcome : )!

Dear Sir/Madam,

We are a group of students belonging to the Environmental Society of Goldsmiths University of London. We are currently in the process of setting up a Community Garden Project, with the kind assistance of Otesha UK.

The aim of our project is to empower the local community to tackle climate change at a grassroots level in ways that directly benefit people’s lives. Our garden will act as a platform for the engagement of the community in both a practical and educational sense. People will have the opportunity to experience first hand and partake in sustainable low impact living, centred on growing and sharing organic food using permaculture. Cookery events using the produce will be an occasion for the community to explore and enjoy inventive ways of using seasonal foods. This project will also be a base for people to share information and knowledge about the opportunities to reduce our carbon footprints and wider impact on the environment outside of the community garden, through changing our shopping, cooking and eating habits.

The user research we conducted within the local area highlighted the enthusiasm that many people have for growing their own food, while raising the issues of a lack of knowledge and resources. Though many people have a genuine desire to have a vegetable plot, they also often expressed a need for more information on how to go about it, both in terms of acquiring land use and the specifics of agriculture in a temperate climate. The isolation of individuals was also a factor which inhibited people from growing their own produce, where people felt they may not have the time or energy to manage an allotment all on their own.

Our project aims to focus on addressing these issues. To give people the opportunity and incentive to make the changes they want to make in their life styles through community support. To give people the space and tools to materialise their own ideas of a better world, from the ground on up.

This garden project is about rejuvenating and supporting the existing community. Empowering people to combat climate change through active participation in low impact living, while learning creative alternative responses to the threat of the environmental crisis that are directly relevant to the enrichment of their lives.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Faithfully,

The Environmental Society, Goldsmiths College.