Westminster’s Sustainability Team hosts winter gardening workshop for students and colleagues

On 8 October, the University of Westminster's Sustainability Team hosted a winter gardening workshop on Marylebone Campus' growing space. The aim of this workshop was to plant winter vegetables for the upcoming season, while unwinding outdoors in the gardening area.

The Sustainability Team usually hosts gardening sessions regularly throughout the summer. As temperatures begin to drop, they held a winter session earlier this month to plant seasonal vegetables out of mindfulness for wildlife that need food, water and shelter to survive within the University's gardens.

The workshop involved students and colleagues coming from all sorts of gardening expertise, from beginners to gardening and wildlife experts. They planted broccoli, kale, cabbage, turnips and many more vegetables.

University members can use the growing space at any time, and the Team encourages anyone to water or tend to the plants if they have a free moment. Members also have access to growing spaces on the Harrow and Cavendish campuses.

The gardening sessions aim to foster a love for nature and the outdoors throughout the Westminster community. The team also have a Microsoft Teams chat that students and colleagues use to share when they are watering the plants and to share photos and videos. This way, the Westminster community are able to connect with one another and appreciate biodiversity within an urban environment. The Sustainability Team are open to welcoming new members to this chat.

Dularee Goonetilleke, Sustainability Coordinator at the University of Westminster, said: "Westminster's growing spaces offer small pockets of biodiversity in our urban campuses and are a lovely space for students and colleagues to relax and spend time in nature. We are always looking for more students and colleagues to use the space and water our plants. If you are interested, please get in touch with the Sustainability Team."

The growing space directly contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15: Life on Land. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.

If you are interested in getting involved in gardening at the University of Westminster, email the Sustainability Team for more information.

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