Welcome to the Channelsea: caring for our blue green future

A trio of inter-linked projects that will support our community’s care of and engagement in the green blue spaces around the Channelsea river, and at the Long Wall Path Ecology Garden. A workshop series at the garden will build our volunteer network, establishing a regular group for the community orchard we are planting, and also (in collaboration with soil and composting cooperative 'Compost-mentis') using creative activities to learn about alternative methods of waste management, and the role we play in the diverse ecosystems around us (local priorities 1&4). We will also design and build a welcome archway for the garden, including an engagement workshop for the design process. The archway will mark the garden as a space for collective action, helping to reduce the litter and anti-social behaviour on site (local priority 2) by establishing a sense of value for what the garden offers in return for its creation.

We will also purchase a new green solar charged propulsion system for our safety boat, greening-up our access to the waterspace, to help us reduce our impact on the immediate environment (local priority 1). This will engage more people in the work we’re doing on the waterways, creating partnerships that benefit local communities by showing stakeholders and community groups around the river and giving us access to maintain the Channelsea Floating Islands and undertake biodiversity surveys (local priorities 1 & 4).

WORKSHOP SERIES IS NOW LIVE! All free and open to all. Sign up via Eventbrite below or email info@compost-mentis.com for other ways to join.

Saturday 18th February

Community Compost Toilet Co-design Session - come and help design a new community compost toilet along the Greenway!

Saturday 4th March

Clay time! - come and play with London clay for a day, making tiles, bricks and artefacts for Surge’s new community compost toilet!

Saturday 15th April

Creative Ecologies along the Channelsea River - visit the often forgotten Channelsea River in Newham, and connect with the amazing critters that live there.

You can also listen to recordings of the talks from the workshops and other activities on the river:

LISTEN HERE

The Welcome Archway has now been installed!