No Mow May

Last year the University took part in No Mow May on central campus for the first time. This means central lawns that would normally be cut were left to grow throughout May.

The main objective was bring landscape management for biodiversity to the centre of campus to raise the level of consciousness about biodiversity issues. Often biodiversity projects are pushed to the outskirts of central campus where the majority of the University community never see them. By bringing No Mow May onto central campus we would be put biodiversity action right in front of people.

Our secondary objectives were to seek a boost in vegetation and invertebrate diversity on central campus in line with the national No Mow May findings; and we wanted to test the assumption that we would face a lot of resistance to a project like this where we would be changing how central campus looked and the expectation for it to look neat and tidy.

No Mow May is Plantlife’s annual campaign calling on gardeners and landowners to leave the mowers in the shed and allow flowers to grow. May is a crucial month for flowering plants allowing them to get established and provide nectar for pollinators and other invertebrates. Just 8 dandelion flowers are enough to produce the nectar sugar needed by a bumblebee each day.

We already leave large areas of our grasslands throughout Spring and Summer as hay and wildflower meadows. We have publicly available plans on our grassland management and future plans for boosting the diversity of these existing meadows. No Mow May goes beyond this in asking people to leave traditionally mown lawns throughout May to boost the available food for pollinators and other invertebrates in this specific time. These lawns are amenity lawns that are usually mown fortnightly throughout this period.

Engaging Students

With the project being so visible we sought to engage students to use their skill sets and apply them to this on campus project.

Conservation students were asked to used their surveying skills to collect data on species richness over the course of the project, and the Conservation Society took this on as an extra-curricula activity.

The signs that communicated the project were created by a Graphic Design student from KSAP as part of their Learning Enhancement Week. A group of graphic design students were briefed on the biodiversity crisis facing invertebrates, what No May was and what the University would be doing. They then produced a series of designs with the winning design being placed around central campus. The signs included a QR code allowing people to find out more and provide direct feedback to the project.

Feedback

We received feedback through three predominant channels: direct emails, submissions through the feedback form and verbally at events, meetings and informal exchanges.

In a six-week period starting from the beginning of May we received and had 98 exchanges about the project. Of the 98, 95 responses were wholly positive, 2 mixed and 2 negative.

The positive responses echoed one another with the same themes coming up:

  • Proud to see their university taking part in No Mow May
  • Found the effect beautiful and calming during exam term
  • Pleased to see more insects and appreciation of nature on central campus
  • Requests to extend the timescale or space

Of the 2 mixed responses, there was some confusion why some areas of campus were still being mown; and that whilst supportive they thought central campus looked scruffy. The 2 negative responses were additionally that it looked scruffy and that it should be elsewhere on campus; and that it was only being done for cost saving measures.

Overall the visual impact was well received by the vast majority. There was a sense that the campus felt fuller and more alive. Respondents were noting down different species that they had seen and a common theme was that they were pleased and proud to see their University taking part.

 “Excellent to be part of a University that is looking out for nature. Requires joined up thinking between the sustainability team and estates team. Well done University of Kent.”

Reputationally, the impact of doing something so visual that our staff, students and visitors can see and directly engage with is significant. The cost of this project was extremely low so the impact of the numbers of people that engaged with the project as well as those that just would have walked past and see it is huge and not easily replicated by other engagement activities. People have a desire to see the University being proactive and visible in this space

A lesson learned was that our signage and pre-information could have been better as to inform people which lawns are part of No Mow May. A common question and concern was that people saw mowing happening in other areas (namely courtyards and banks) during May. If we are to do this again we need to look at how we communicate which lawns are included.

We also had people ask why we cut it in June. Why were the lawns not left to grow throughout summer as much evidence shows is better for wildlife?

It was always the intention to cut the No Mow May lawns back in June as the project title suggests. That doesn’t mean the rest of our grasslands were cut at the same time. Only those three lawns in the trial – Registry lawn, front library lawn and side library lawn.

Whilst many of us would like to see the lawns left longer there was some concern about how central campus would look after another month or 2, and how much work it would take to restore the lawns over the winter. Amenity/short cut lawns do serve a purpose on campus for people to sit and gather, as well as for events and recreation. We will never get it perfectly right for everyone in this regard but hopefully our work beyond central campus can demonstrate our commitment to biodiversity beyond May.

Biodiversity

As part of the trial the Conservation Society carried out a basic vegetation survey at the beginning and end of the month where they measured sward height and species diversity.

Overall, there was an increase in diversity across the lawns surveyed with the exception of Eliot Lawn which was the control lawn and still mown throughout May. This meets our expectation but there were also some interesting surprises that we were not expecting.

Our amenity grassland is much more diverse than it looks, over the course of 4 weeks 41 different species were surveyed without any additional seeding or work, just the absence of mowing. The central campus can be very valuable as a food source if allowed to grow longer. Certain species were flowering within the first two weeks before the sward height started to get really long. Supporting these early flowering species by not mowing in these areas so frequently could support invertebrates beyond Now Mow May.

Further data analysis could be done to look at coverage of certain species. Complimentary surveys of invertebrates should be done during future No Mow May projects.

No Mow May 2024

It is our intention to carry out No Mow May again this year incorporating the feedback we received last year. We hope that this can become an annual project that engages people with our wilder campus brought to the central campus.

 

The University of Kent has been awarded a gold award at the Wilder Kent Awards 2023

The Wilder Kent Awards is a scheme set up by Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) to recognise and reward the work schools, Universities, businesses, and community groups are doing in helping to create a Wilder Kent. By taking positive actions to restore nature, collectively, we are helping to create a more climate-resilient county and provide a home for wildlife.

Emily Mason, Sustainability Coordinator, receiving the Gold Award on behalf of the University. Alongside former student Bella Sabin-Dawson who now works for KWT; and Lewis Smith, President of the Conservation Society who received a commendation.

This award reflects the cumulative work of the Landscape and Grounds Team, Commercial Services & Estates Department, Sustainability Team, Conservation Society, Kent Community Oasis Garden and BioBlitz Committee to deliver work across our campuses to deliver sustainability improvements, support and enhance our natural spaces for wildlife and to engage our staff, students and the local community in our actions to address the climate and nature crises.

Kent Wildlife Trust commented that, “The University of Kent have developed a robust landscape and biodiversity strategy which ensures the entire campus supports a range of wildlife as well as hosting a biodiversity forum which allows students and staff to directly engage in decision making and project creation. With 300 acres of woodland, grassland, and seven ponds across their sites, there is plenty of space for wildlife to thrive at the University of Kent.” 

The award is split into three categories: Protecting Wildlife; Sustainability and Carbon Reduction; and Engage with Nature. Here are some of the activities and projects we have been working on to support wildlife and reduce our impact in 2023.

There have been some large and small scale landscape projects over the last year including the planting of 300 fruiting trees to create an orchard on our Southern Slopes. This project is creating a habitat and landscape feature that we do not already have on our campus, and because orchards are a mosaic of trees, grasses, and wildflowers, they support a wide range of wildlife. As fruit trees age quickly, they create the perfect habitats for invertebrates and birds, such as the lesser spotted woodpecker and the rare noble chafer beetle.

Andrew Bailey from the Landscape and Grounds team, supporting student Jessica Collins in planting trees at the orchard.

We also introduced No Mow May to our central campus for the first time, with students from the Conservation Society surveying for species changes across the month. The project received 98% positive feedback from students, staff and community members walking by. Signage for the project was designed by students from our School of Architecture and Planning as part of their graphic design module.

These projects are underpinned by the ongoing management of our landscape by the Landscape and Grounds Team, including the rotational coppicing of our woodlands and extensive grassland management for meadow retention. The Landscape and Grounds Team have been instrumental in supporting the changes across campus and adapting their management techniques to support nature. This and more is outlined in our Landscape and Biodiversity Strategy which targets us to make year on year improvements.

The University’s Sustainability Strategy for Climate Action and the SDGs underpins much of this work setting out our key strategic objectives to reach Net Zero by 2040; regenerate the ecology of our campuses; and to ensure our students have access to learning, teaching and research that enhances their understanding of sustainability.

Our carbon management work saw emissions reduce by 14% from our baseline keeping us on track to achieve our net zero target and we are currently finalising a strategic partnership with Siemens to develop this further and to develop the culture of a whole-university approach to net zero.

A key part of our activities is engaging people with nature and making them feel connected to their local environment. Within the University we host a Biodiversity Forum which is made up of students and staff with an interest in biodiversity, as well as key operational and academic staff that can support action and research opportunities. The forum is an important way of making the work we do on campus more collaborative and informed by a broader audience.

The student led Conservation Society are also instrumental in engaging their fellow students in conservation action across campus and the local area, supporting local conservation organisations, the Kent Community Oasis Garden and the campus with their volunteering and expertise.

Beyond our own campus we engage with the community through our annual BioBlitz. Organised predominantly by students from the School of Anthropology and Conservation, the bioblitz hosts an engaging 24 hours of surveys, activities, and is a celebration of nature. The blitz is open to everyone and designed to be family friendly, with students engaging the local community if their passion for wildlife.

MSc Conservation Biology graduate Kieran Richardson leading an invertebrate survey during the BioBlitz.

We are also members of the Canterbury District Biodiversity Network, representing Kent on the coordination committee and supporting the network to bring interested parties together and raise awareness of the incredible wildlife and work being done in our district. As part of this network we are the proud home of a Bison Mural to raise awareness of the local wilding project happening on our doorstep in Canterbury.

For those that are working to support wildlife across our campuses this award is a wonderful recognition of all our efforts. It is particularly special to receive this acknowledgement from Kent Wildlife Trust who are doing incredible work across the county and local to us in Blean. This award spurs us on to continue with our biodiversity work and continue to build partnerships with those working to create a wilder Kent.

You can listen to more about our work and the award in episode 6 of KWT’s Talk on the Wild Side Podcast.

 

National Gardening Week: Cultivating a green space at home or in your office

Whether you are working from home, studying remotely or back on campus, there is a simple way of improving your space and creating a routine that is good for you and good for your plants, without the requirement of a garden.

The benefits of having plants indoors are numerous. They do not just look good, there are proven benefits for your health by having house plants around your working environment.

Plants can reduce stress and anxiety and data from scientists, including NASA, has confirmed that many houseplants can purify the air around us. Just the sight of greenery or the sense that you are surrounded by natural things can foster calmness, improved memory and a reduction in stress.

However, some people find the thought of caring for houseplants a bit stressful in itself, and some have seen many former houseplants make their way to the compost heap after struggling to survive in their homes or offices.

Below are some of the easiest plants to keep alive no matter what your office/desk space is like. Hopefully, these will convert even the most hesitant of would-be plant keepers!

Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum)

Can survive very well in low light and will tell you when it needs water by drooping its leaves – perfect for people who tend to over water their plants. Peace lilies just need some food during the summer and deadheading of flowers that have faded – chop those brown flowers off!

Peace lilies are great at removing ammonia, benzene and formaldehyde from the air but careful if you have pets about. Lilies are incredibly poisonous!

Snake Plant (Sanseveieria)

Will survive happily in barely any light but will also flourish in bright indirect sunlight. They thrive on neglect so if that is your style of plant parenting, then this is the plant for you! Snake plants tend to grow slowly so are not going to suddenly take up a lot of space and will actively remove benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, and xylene from the air.

Devil’s Ivy (Pothos)

Pothos plants are dramatic, fast growing and virtually indestructible! They are great for people that want an instant lift to their space and can be brought back from the dead by creating cuttings from the plant and starting again. Pothos’ like some humidity, so get a cheap mister or spray bottle and she will appreciate a light mist a couple of times a week.

There are some wonderful youtube channels and other resources that will help you find the right plant for your space and give you advice on how to help the plant flourish. Some of my favourites include:

  • Crazy Plant Guy
  • Planterina
  • And Christopher Griffin (aka Plant Kween) who if you search for, is in lots of other videos and also has a great Skillshare class that includes cultivating a routine

Cultivating a routine

Once you have a plant, or many plants, in your space it is important to create a stress free plant care routine that works for you and your plant. Your plant will need watering as well as occasional feeding, checking for pests and problems, misting where needed and pruning and repotting when the time is right.

By creating a routine to care for your plants, not only are you giving them the care they need, but I find, the time I spend weekly carrying out their basic maintenance is a great time for my own mindfulness and relaxation. At last count I have 37 houseplants and so it takes me about 45mins a week to get round them all, checking their soil, watering them and making sure they are happy. That is 45 minutes where I am completely focused on a simple task that brings me joy for the whole week being surrounded by healthy plants. 45 minutes where I am completely in the moment and not worrying about anything else.

Your routine could be as simple as Monday morning, when you make that first cup of tea, spending 5 minutes whilst you wait for your tea to cool, checking how your snake plant is getting on and giving it a drink.

Best place to find house plants

If you have a friend or colleagues that loves houseplants, chances are they are cultivating new plants from cuttings/propagation. You may be able to get some starter plants for free or a small charge. There are lots of great websites for plants but these can be quite pricey so I would recommend some smaller independent shops. Two that I like in East Kent are Marmarmargate and the Plantlet Shop. If you have any other recommendations, please do let me know, especially if you know of any places in the Medway area.

I would suggest avoiding some of the larger garden centres/DIY stores for houseplants as often they are root bound and where they have been allowed to sit water are often suffering the beginnings of root rot which is setting you up for failure if you are not confident in dealing with this.

I hope that this National Gardening Week gives you the inspiration and motivation to start creating your own cultivated green corner, even if it is on your desk.

Kent People: Landscape and Sustainability teams

By Alice Allwright

Ahead of National Gardening Week 2021 (26 April-2 May 2021) we talk to Chris Wright, the University’s Landscape and Grounds Supervisor, and Emily Mason, Sustainability Coordinator.

 

Tell us about your roles and a typical day?  

Chris: I coordinate maintenance of the University’s natural spaces – everything from grass-cutting, bed and shrub maintenance, to woodland and pond management and looking after memorial trees and benches. I also oversee management of our sports facilities, working with staff and students on projects that use our green spaces.

A typical day starts with briefing my ten-person team on what needs doing across our 300-acre Canterbury campus. My responsibilities include overseeing planning for future works and developing our new Landscape and Biodiversity Strategy. We work alongside the sustainability team to ensure our management plans align with biodiversity enhancement and support natural space for wildlife as well as people.

Emily: I support sustainability projects across our campuses and provide expertise on specific sustainability topics like biodiversity management and behaviour change solutions. One of my projects is the Kent Community Oasis Garden, which I oversee in partnership with East Kent Mind.

Because my role is so varied, I don’t have a typical day, but I often work with our Sustainability Champions, who embed sustainability into their work. Both Chris and I recognise how lucky Kent is to have beautiful campuses for staff and students to enjoy.

Who else is involved in looking after our green campus?

There are many volunteers and sub-contractors who help look after our campus.

Subcontractors support our woodland management by carrying out coppicing rotations on our behalf. Students and staff help with litter picking, biodiversity monitoring, supporting our Hedgehog Friendly Campus project and using the green spaces for educational purposes. Student societies provide feedback and ideas of how we can improve the site alongside the Staff Sustainability Champions network.

We also work with Grounds teams from other universities sharing best practice on sustainable management techniques.

What can you tell us about the Kent Community Oasis Garden (KentCOG)?

KentCOG is a partnership community garden run by East Kent Mind and the University. It recognises the important role outdoor spaces play in supporting good mental health. KentCOG provides a space for students, staff and the community to learn about growing sustainable food in a calming outdoors environment. It runs practical and digital workshops on ecotherapy, dealing with low mood and anxiety.

The partnership ensures continuity throughout the year with community members keeping the garden going when students aren’t on site.

How has the pandemic affected your work?

All Landscape and Grounds staff were stood down during the first lockdown to reduce numbers on campus. This coincided with the start of the growing season, so when we returned we prioritised restoration of central areas.

During lockdown 2, we were partially furloughed again, meaning our usual winter management didn’t happen, but we’ve planned our Winter 2021 programme to catch up by the end of year. Our contractors were able to continue coppicing, so our woodland and tree management plans are still on track.

It’s been hard, but the team have coped very well. We hope people have come to value outdoor spaces even more during the pandemic and will enjoy the campuses’ beautiful landscape when they return.

KentCOG has been closed for most of the pandemic. However, volunteers are now working to restore the site, so we can reopen for events this summer and, hopefully, permanently in September. We have run digital sessions in lieu of practical gardening and will be shortly launching a series of wellbeing workshops for students during the exam term.

As more of us start returning to campus, what can we expect to see?

We’re keen to emphasise the use of outdoor spaces as safe places for staff and students.

We’re collaborating with Kent Sport in restoring the nature trail at Canterbury, which they’ve publicised alongside their marked-out running routes. We’ve also recently installed a new walking trail from the Canterbury campus to the KentCOG following the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and are developing walking tours led by staff from Landscape and Grounds and the Sustainability Team.

Areas on campus have been marked to be developed as wildflower meadows over the next year. We’ve also commissioned the building of new hibernaculas, providing shelter for important pollinators and other insects. We’ve planted bulbs across 1,000 sq m so people can enjoy seeing new plants popping up over the seasons. Alliums are due next!

We are also hoping to work with the University of Greenwich to enhance green spaces at Medway and create a walking route linking both ends of the campus

How can staff help look after our campus green spaces and the KentCOG?

Staff are invited to complete our consultation on the Landscape and Biodiversity of our campuses – we’re keen to have lots of ideas for our new Landscape and Biodiversity strategy.

Volunteers are welcome at our open sessions at KentCOG. We’ll let you know as soon as we re-open – in the meantime, you can join our mailing list by emailing kentcog@kent.ac.uk.

You can also find out more about what we do and get in touch via our social media accounts:

Sustainability Instagram/Twitter

Landscape and Grounds Instagram/Twitter

This is a repurposed version of a blog post and may differ from the original. View the original blog post.

Sustainable Development Goals – Canterbury Campus Trail (coming soon)

The Sustainable Development Goals (also known as the Global Goals or SDGs) are 17 goals that outline a vision for a sustainable world by 2030. The 17 goals and underlying targets were created and signed by 193 countries at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in 2015.

The goals seek to finish the job that was started by the Millennium Goals which ran from 2000 to 2015 and brought 850,000,000 people out of extreme poverty and yet saw carbon emissions increase by 9,850,000 kilotons.

The University of Kent has signed the SDG Education Accord that commits us to embedding all 17 goals into our operations, teaching and research. As part this we would like all staff and students to become familiar with the goals by getting out and about across campus and discovering all 17.

Launching in autumn 2020 a new trail around campus showcases each of the 17 goals whilst leading you across central campus and to the Kent Community Oasis Garden.

The trail starts with SDG 1: No Poverty, which aims to eradicate extreme poverty and reduce overall poverty by 50% by 2030. You will find this post on central campus near the Library.

The trail ends with SDG 17: Partnerships, which you will find at the Kent Community Oasis Garden, our flagship community partnership project at the Canterbury campus where food growing is used as a way of meeting new people, reducing stress, learning new skills and getting some fresh air.

Please check back once the trail has been installed for more information and a map of all the posts.

What has changed in 35 years?

The original nature trail on the Canterbury campus was devised in 1985 and written by John Kesby and Ian Swingland. Here are the opening paragraphs from the original guide:

“The nature trail around the University’s 300 acre campus, with its magnificent hillside setting overlooking the Cathedral City of Canterbury and the valley of the Great Stour, has been devised for the benefit of its staff and students, members of the local community and of the thousands of people who visit us during the year, be they conference delegates or holiday makers.

The trail combines the opportunity for attractive walks around the grassy slopes, ponds and woodland of the campus with a challenge to discover how much you can see or hear of the abundant wildlife around us. This brochure will guide you to places where you can find nightingales, willow warblers, great spotted woodpeckers and even the occasional kingfisher, to observe damselflies or Essex skippers; to watch out for lizards, newts, three-spinned sticklebacks or voles; to identify parrot wax caps, prickly lettuce, bristly ox tongue or red goosefoot. We hope it will be enjoyed by those who have difficulty putting a name to even the most common flora and fauna. At the same time, we hope it will be of interest to knowledgeable naturalists and of value to parties from the schools of other groups of wildlife enthusiasts.”

Whilst the description of the campus overlooking the Cathedral may still ring true the list of species that could be seen on campus in 1985 would be much shorter today.

In order to map out what we have lost it is useful to fully understand what we had. Thankfully we have a few copies left of the 1985 guide with its detailed species lists. The Sustainability Team will be digitising all of this information so that it will be available to everyone so that as a community we can start to identify what we still have on campus, what is hard to find and what is gone.

Some trends of population decline go far beyond what we control on campus, however, there may be some species that are found locally that we may be able to encourage back through how we manage our campus and connect to habitats beyond our borders.

We would like students, staff and community members to help us with this undertaking by, in the first instance, recording what they spot. Big or small, common or rare we want to know what you have seen and where you have seen it. At the moment we are just asking people email their information into us at sustainability@kent.ac.uk and we will collate it all as a first step to building a clear picture of what we have on campus.

We are also working on rejuvenating the information about the nature trails and rerouting the original trail around some of the new buildings on campus that now block the original route.

If you are interested in this project and want to volunteer your time on this, please do get in touch.

Maximising our green space at Medway

The Medway campus has a patch of green space that is underused and not particularly relaxing to spend time in (it is next to a busy road). However, the Medway sustainability group
made up predominantly of champions from Student Services know it has great potential to be developed into a space that could provide an alternative to an otherwise urban environment.

We aim to maximise the limited green space at the Medway campus by creating a quiet space for reflection that can be utilised by students, staff and the wellbeing team. As a group we have come up with a series of ideas and designs that utilise the campus’ small patch of woodland as a focal point for a wellbeing and art trail, incorporating music and natural sounds to break up the noise from the road. This will provide a unique space for alternative outdoor therapy for students accessing the University’s mental health services, and a space for all campus users to get away from it all.


We are now at the stage where we want to turn our ideas into a reality and are looking for students and staff to join our group to help us create a space that we can all benefit from.
We are looking for people who will bring new ideas into the group, are resourceful and are happy to volunteer their time on the site. At the moment we are on a break due to the Covid 19 pandemic, however if you would like to join the Medway Sustainability Group please email sustainability@kent.ac.uk and we will add you to our mailing list.