Sustainability Week 2023

Sustainability Week is Morley’s initiative to raise awareness around the issues of sustainability, environmentalism and climate emergency. Our annual Sustainability Week celebrations took place this week – here’s a rundown of the events:

Game Competition:

The Morley College London Game Competition ‘Half Earth Socialism’ started on Monday with prizes for the first person to win, best game review (ESOL learners), and the best magazine personal article written in response to the game.

Evelina Yakovleva won the game – she is on the Access to Creative Industries course. Her response to winning the game was:

“Let’s just say it took me most of the time, from the time you announced it and many attempts. For me, it was figuring out how to keep the people and the government happy, at the same time. Also figuring out what to change each time, because the parameters of each production such as fuel, electricity etc, would change the temperature and life rate after each election. Perseverance I suppose would be the best suited answer, to be honest wasn’t even sure that the game had an ending!”

Winners for the other two categories are still yet to be announced, well done to all who took part!

Morley Dye Garden:

On Tuesday, Susannah Hall from Permablitz London and Zoë Burt, Head of Textiles held an evening event in the Morley Dye Garden. Visitors learned about sustainable design, natural dye plants, soil health, water planning, ecology and biodiversity.

Lunchtime Book Swap:

All week, students and staff have been encouraged to swap books at the lunchtime book swap – a great way to share a love of reading and to discover exciting new books.

Vegan/Veggie Tea Party:

Speaking of lunchtime, a vegan/veggie tea party was held at the Waterloo Centre on Wednesday! It was great to see students from Essential Skills enjoying the healthy food options.

The Nettle Dress Film Screening:

On Thursday, students, staff, and visitors were seated at the Emma Cons Hall (Waterloo) to watch a special screening of The Nettle Dress, take part in a a Q&A with the Textile artist himself, Allan Brown, as well as handling the dress. A must watch if you haven’t had the chance to see it yet – the film follows Allan Brown who spends seven years making a dress by hand just from the fibre of locally foraged stinging nettles.

Change One Thing:

Throughout the week, we held a ‘Change One Thing’ campaign, essentially to get people thinking about one small permanent thing they will change this year to make a positive impact:

5K Run or Walk:

Throughout the week, students and staff at our North Kensington Centre for Skills were encouraged to participate in either a 5k run or 5k walk once a day – Craig (Centre Principal) ran 5K over five days!