Our fourth Quick Fire Talks event on Biodiversity was held at Vauxhall City Farm on Wednesday, 4 June. Six speakers from across Lambeth presented their concepts, findings, and lessons learned.
Our fourth Quick Fire Talks event on Biodiversity was held at Vauxhall City Farm on Wednesday, 4 June. The Vauxhall City Farm team introduced the event, giving an overview of the organisation's history and aims. Five speakers from various initiatives and organisations presented on environmental education, community gardens on estates, urban greening, biodiversity policy, and anaerobic digesters.
Charlotte MacDonald, Head of Programmes at Vauxhall City Farm, introduced the event and discussed the different biodiversity projects and initiatives they deliver on the farm. Recently, they have developed their gardens for more multicultural food growing and habitat creation to boost the site's biodiversity and enrich their programme delivery and education activities.
Miranda Brown, Deputy Senior Playworker at Triangle Adventure Playground, spoke about her journey to joining the children's play charity and the work they provide to inspire a connection to nature in young people in Lambeth. She also spoke about their aims for improving biodiversity on the site, including bug hotels and ponds, as well as improving the buffer zones of their property.
Tori Sherwin, Director at Incredible Edible Lambeth (IEL), spoke about IEL's project funded by Lambeth's Changing Lives Fund. Working across six estates, the project introduced food-growing spaces and enhanced biodiversity. Tori shared the project's learnings, challenges, and successes, emphasising the need for more long-term planning and developing capacity among residents.
Nicola Hogan, Sustainability Manager for Operations at King’s College London (KCL), spoke about KCL's energy consumption and how the university has adopted a 'Switch Off' campaign to change behaviours and reduce energy usage. She also talked about their urban bee hotels, tree planting programmes, and their new module that helps students solve WICKED problems.
Dr Iain Boulton, Biodiversity & Environmental Compliance Manager at Lambeth Council, spoke about the council's biodiversity efforts and its responsibilities as a local authority under the Environment Action. Iain spoke of how the borough now has five nature reserves and aims to focus on connecting and expanding existing green spaces to boost biodiversity further.
Anthea Masey, Chair of Loughborough Junction Action Group, spoke about the Loughborough Junction Farm and how it is using alternative farming techniques to improve biodiversity while not compromising on yield. The farm is also working to secure an anaerobic digester to power its community kitchen, provide on-site compost, and become a new green skill hub.
