A group of Hadlow College students got a glimpse of how biodiversity is being brought back into cities with a trip to Scotscape in London recently.
Scotscape specialise in living walls and urban horticulture and use sustainable planting in strategic locations to form biodiversity corridors through UK cities.
They have created living walls in many locations across the world, including at our very own Hadlow campus.
The trip was a joint visit between Horticulture and Animal Conservation & Biodiversity degree students and aimed to demonstrate the multiple benefits living walls can bring in an urban setting.
These include attracting insects, bats and birds, reducing air and noise pollution, keeping buildings cool in the summer and insulated in the winter and bringing nature into an urban environment which has been shown to improve a sense of wellbeing.
Following on from the visit to Scotscape, Dr Pam Worrall, Lecturer in Animal Management, explained: “The Animal Conservation students will be designing their own interpretation of living walls to suit the internal space of the Learning and Technology Centre in Hadlow College to benefit all the students who use this valued learning environment.”
Level 3 Horticulture course manager Dr Ros Fisher, added: "This visit allowed our students the chance to see how urban planting can benefit the environment. They came away buzzing with ideas on how to integrate vertical growing within the college campus and with an awareness of urban horticulture as a potential career path."
Horticulture and Animal Conservation are just two subject areas we cover here at Hadlow College, Kent’s only rural and land-based college.
We also offer courses covering Animal Management, Zoo Husbandry and Management, Applied Animal Behavioural Science and Welfare, Agriculture, Agricultural Engineering, Aquaculture & Fisheries Management, Land and Wildlife Management, Equine, and Floristry, to suit the needs of many different students.
To find out more visit the subject list page of our website.
To learn more about the work Scotscape do visit the Scotscape website.