On a Wednesday evening during Global Goals Week, the Kindred team and 30 STOs gathered in the beautiful surroundings of Sudley Walled Garden, for a chat about sustainability.
We were led in conversation by Innversion’s Joanne Anderson, Abbie Williams from Farm Urban, Ali Horton from the Gateway Collective and B4Biodiversity’s Andrea Ku. We kicked things off by looking at why planet problems are people problems and then looked at some of the practical ways that STOs can take on climate challenges.
As with all Kindred events, the conversation was led by STOs, bringing their own insights, expertise and questions to the discussion. We covered everything from composting to STOs supporting greenspace projects and ended with a fantastic conversation about ecologically sound retrofitting.
As the sun went down, we enjoyed fresh soup, made using ingredients grown in the Walled Garden. We could have continued chatting long into the night.
Lucy Dossor, who runs Growing Sudley in the Walled Garden, says: “It was a real pleasure to host this event and gather with other Kindred STOs in the early autumn sunshine. Care for the environment, as well as people, underpins everything we do at Growing Sudley CIC. Combating the climate crisis together is a no-brainer on every level – not only caring for nature, which we are a part of, but providing opportunities for social change and empowerment that lie in the hands of the people. For me, this is what STOs are all about and it was a treat to feel the power and potential at this gathering”.
This event was the first in what will be an ongoing series of conversions about the environment between STOs and will spin off into themed events as this strand of our work develops. To stay up-to-date about our events programme, sign up for our newsletter via the link in the website footer.