Channelsea Community Islands - £9875
From "Stratford and West Ham Community Assemblies"
Go to the project
Together with the wider community, via a workshop process, Surge Cooperative will research, develop and build three floating habitats for the Channelsea river.
Our discussion & design day on the 29th of January was a fantastic success.
We were delighted to be joined by such an enthusiastic group of local residents, alongside those that had come from further afield, and our specialist speakers: Kate Spencer and Simon Read.
Together we learnt about the river, and the work we can do to restore a more resilient and ecologically harmonious environment for the benefit of all species. We learnt that if we create the conditions for environment to flourish, the flora and fauna will come, and spent the afternoon designing our island interventions to make this positive change possible.
Having now gathered these ideas, Surge Cooperative members have refined the many designs into three final islands. Now in the process of organising our Island Building day on the 12th of March, Surge are sourcing materials and securing another fantastic venue in which we can safely to work together.
We looking forward to reconnecting with those that have joined us on this journey so far, and sharing the outcomes from our collective action in the near future.
Project Overview
Channelsea Community Islands address two of the local priorities - Environment and Health and wellbeing.
We know our rivers are polluted and need cleaning, so a floating habitat acts like a ‘liver for the river’, cleaning the water whilst also engaging people in thinking about the waste materials that enter the water system and developing ways to combat this. Getting us thinking about natural recycling processes, where nothing is wasted, but reused within a cyclical system.
This project provides active re-greening of the waterspace, whilst educating and empowering ourselves and others by connecting to and safe-guarding our natural heritage, the Channlesea river, weaving these priorities together and informing us of the potential for us to play an active role in improving our environment.
As part of the wider Ecology Park we are creating, this project will contribute to a safe and active outdoor space for Newham residents, improving health and well-being. In the future, the ecology park will also be a space where food growing will take place through a community orchard.
