The Wild Issue FREE MAGAZINE Editor’s letter Contents

Wilderness is often associated with a jungle-like scene of either coniferous trees or vibrant green 04 IN BRIEF palm leaves. However to be wild can also mean to be out of control, extreme or uncultivated. In this special edition of Artefact we explore the multiple definitions of wild and the possibility of 08 THE FAMILY BUSINESS bringing wilderness back into the city and on a larger scope, the world. This issue links with a sym- Corinne MacDonald posium at The London College of Communication entitled WILD to be held on February 10, part of the Public Programme and Green Week 2016. 09 CLEANING UP THE TATE Jazmine Turner Wild is often used to describe situations as out of control, imagine unkempt vines, climbing and engulfing an abandoned country home. However, this edition of Artefact suggests that rewilding a Cover image 10 UNDERWATER FARMING city is not an abandonment, but a liberating empowering possibility for human beings. Nature is Photomontage by Barbara Lanzafame, a gift especially in the city – raw, untamed, unpredictable, exciting. A city full of really wild places Mala Mutinta. Fabiana de Giorgio would be great for our health and mental well being, a reintroduction of more species of plants and animals would allow nature to manage with more wisdom than human city management has ever 12 SAVING LONDON'S achieved. As human beings we are part of nature, our city planning must take this into consid- LATIN QUARTER eration. We cannot exclude wilderness. To take humans out of nature we'd first have to take the Fabiana de Giorgio, Cecillia Medina nature out of humans. 16 CAPITAL WILDLIFE In an effort to battle climate change at home, Joshua Potter and Jasper Wilkins provide informa- Solen Le Net tion on how Londoners can go green. Joshua gives a practical guide to going green, from recycling to e-cleaning for the complacent out there. Jasper Wilkins discusses the benefits of going vegan. 20 GUIDE TO PEACEFUL PROTEST Joshua Potter David Cross sheds light on UAL’s relationship with the Royal Bank of Scotland, self-branded as the ‘Oil and Gas Bank’, and Richard Reynolds discusses the damaging effects of Elephant and Castle re- 22 SHOOTING THE CITY generation. Vesa Puosi and Penelope Sonder talk to artists on a mission to provoke a change in our Vesa Puosi environment. Penelope discusses green graffiti and how art and design can be an influential way to educate and promote sustainable lifestyles. 26 THE REAL COST OF MEAT Thierry Nahayo We look at the entrepreneurs exploring innovative ways of changing our city or the world as a whole for the better. Barbara Lanzafame and Fabiana de Giorgio explore the realm of sustainable 28 HOW TO BECOME A VEGAN farming methods such as underwater farming by the Ocean Reef Project. Jasper Wilkings

You can also visit our website artefactmagazine.com and get in touch at [email protected]. 30 ETHICAL PORN FOR A BETTER WORLD Fernanda Liberti Duarte

32 THE GUIDE TO LIVING GREEN IN THE CITY Joshua Potter

36 A GARDEN BRIDGE TOO FAR Contributors Simon Hinde

This special edition of Artefact was written, photographed, edited and produced by students, staff 40 LONDON AS A PARK and friends of London College of Communication, University of the Arts London: Danielle Agtani, Severine Chapelle Laylah Amarchih, Arup and Heatherwick Studio, Lewis Bush, Séverine Chapelle, Theo Clarke, Da- vid Cross, Arvi Domee, Matt Ferguson, Foster+Partners, Fabiana de Giorgio, Tara Hanrahan, Simon 42 GREEN GRAFFITI Hinde, Aurore Kaddachi, Barbara Lanzafame, Jenelle Law, Solen Le Net, Corinne MacDonald, Mala Penelope Sonder Mutinta, Thierry Nahayo, Pentagram, Joshua Potter, Vesa Puosi, Richard Reynolds, Zeus Simcoe, Penelope Sonder, Sarah Temple, Sophie Thomas, Jazmin Turner, Jasper Wilkins, Jae Wilkinson, 46 THE BATTLE FOR ELEPHANT Sean Wyatt-Livesley Richard Reynolds

47 HOW I BUILT A VERTICAL FARM Barbara Lanzafame Website: artefactmagazine.com Facebook: artefactmagazine 48 CYCLING IN THE AIR Twitter: @artefactlcc Aurore Kaddachi Instagram: @artefactmag Feedback to: [email protected] 49 RENATURING THE CITY, GREEN WEEK 2016 Sarah Temple, Tara Hanrahan Publishing information Published by the London College of Communication, Design & Art Direction: 50 LAST WORD London SE1 6SB Oswin Tickler/Smallfury Georgia Brown

2 3 IN BRIEF

HOW FAR IS TOO FAR?

There are always people coming up with new and cool ways to save energy and reduce their carbon footprint.

But every now and then, someone takes these ideas one step further. With the creation of a bicycle-powered smooth- ie-maker, the inevitable question is raised: how far is too far?

Aside from the fact that there is no particular market for a bicycle-powered blender, there are simply better ways of making greener smoothies: perhaps, for example, a solar-powered generator plugged into an electric blender? Or you could even hook the bike up to the gen- erator to create electricity.

Furthermore, the space required to ac- commodate such a device would surely prove a hassle. How would you fit it into the kitchen?

It seems we’ve forgotten what it means to actually invent new things. What we need now are new ways of dealing with climate change and saving this planet. ATM We need to think outside the box — Go by bike don’t come up with a new car with bet- ATM, originally the name for a trio of street many artists in their work but ATM is clearly DO THE GREEN THING ter mileage, come up with an alternative artists almost 15 years ago, is now working solo passionate about this subject. It seems that to the car. Create something new. Some- and seeking to make change in the world. he has developed his own artist techniques, thing like the solar-powered water wheel since he speaks of art college as being nothing DO THE GREEN THING used in Baltimore to capture rubbish Based in london, he paints huge endangered but conceptual and not really practical. Having heading out to sea, or The Array, which British birds on the side of buildings. These arguments with tutors over the lack of art Do The Green Thing is a public service for the planet founded in 2007 up in landfill sites. A little creativity is all that is needed to bring will catch plastic from the ocean before areas, often where birds such as the snipe and involved is what triggered the beginning of his by Andy Hobsbawm and Naresh Ramchandani, two friends with back- a perfectly functional pair of gloves back to life. it reaches Tsushima Island. bustard once lived, are now uninviting hous- street art career. grounds in online and offline communications. Do The Green Thing ing estates, brick walls or generally grey areas engages world-class creative talent to make sustainable behaviour just Creativity vs climate change The world doesn’t need another bicy- throughout the city. ATM says he is trying not Evidently, ATM is not one to stand around and as seductive, engaging and desirable as unsustainable behaviour. In the Creativity has proved a powerful tool for seducing, provoking and per- cle-powered fill-in-the-blank. The world only to raise awareness of endangered birds wait for change, he tells me how the “brilliant eight years since we launched, our posters, films, podcasts and products suading us to drive 4x4s, buy into the latest fashion trends and drink needs real innovation, something that but also to leave something positive for the responses” he receives from his birds and have reached over 30 million people in 209 countries around the world. water that comes from the other side of the world. If creative communi- can rchallenge industries like the au- people living in these “grim” places. other artwork are what makes it worthwhile, Research conducted by Hall & Partners tells us that we’ve inspired our cations have persuaded us to consume in a way that impacts our planet tomobile industry and the oil industry, the fact that they get people talking means he subscribers to save 2.5 times more CO2 than they would have. for the worse, then it can be used to inspire us to try out things that have forcing them to change. Because add- The idea is to raise issues surrounding the is “actually creating change”. It’s these small a more positive impact on the environment. ing the word ‘eco’ to your dishwasher extinction of birds and other wildlife in the changes that ATM tells me, make all the differ- Our contributors include world-famous creatives, designers, artists and won’t save the planet, and neither will a ever growing city. Not only does atm focus on ence to our environment, but first it’s getting writers. We’ve had Sir Paul Smith, David Shrigley, Sir Quentin Blake, Create a poster for us bicycle-powered blender, no matter how painting birds, but other animals too; he drew people talking. Neville Brody, David Treacy OBE, Rankin, Vaughan Oliver and Marion Calling all green-minded designers, illustrators, photographers and art- funny it might look. a hedgehog in somerset and an owl in Slonsk, Deuchars. We’ve also had posters designs by a host of partners at global ists around the world. Do you have a poster in you that will make people poland after visiting the annual convention for I asked ATM, clearly a bird fanatic, what he design agency Pentagram (where Do The Green Thing is based), includ- pause, smile, think and then act? We are always on the lookout for people Words and image: Joshua Potter environmentalist activists. thought of the robin being named our nation- ing inspiration from Harry Pearce, Angus Hyland, Eddie Opara and Paula with a profound, provocative and visually stimulating way of inspiring al bird. Which he was disappointed by, ex- Scher. Each poster inspires people to do one of the actions chosen by Do the world to live more sustainably. If that’s you, email us at hello@do- When asked about his involvement as an claiming “Oh God, was it? I was hoping that it The Green Thing’s nine environmental advisors — things like going easy thegreenthing.com. environmentalist, it seems that ATM is just as wouldn’t be such a cliché” noting that a ‘scot- on the meat, cycling to work and sharing a shower. much an artist as a campaigner, and his main tish Crossbill, found nowhere other than the Words: Andy Hobsbawm and Naresh Ramchandani goal is to make change through his art. Cur- UK would have been much more appropriate. We also power a sustainable initiative called Glove Love, a matchmaking Images: (This page) Quentin Blake, Siobhan Keam, rently he is working with Dan Raven Ellison service for the world’s lost and lonely gloves that stops them from ending (Inside front cover) Marion Deuchars, (inside back cover) David Shrigley alongside his ‘London as a national park’ Look out for ATM's work in 2016, where he’ll project which was launched last year. He is be working on various projects centered campaigning to re-brand London and to cele- around our growing natural environment and brate its green areas, while connecting young perhaps some more giant birds will pop up Londoners with nature. around England.

The strong feeling that change needs to Words: Georgie Lillington happen environmentally is not reflected by Images: @atmstreetart

4 5 IN BRIEF

NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON THE OCEAN

The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is a slowly moving spiral of currents created by a high pressure system of air currents. The elements collect some of the 8 million metric tonnes of plastic that enters the sea each year, creating an area known as The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. One of the closest pieces of land near this patch is Big Island, Hawaii and Kamilo Point is the closest beach. Kamilo beach (or ‘Trash beach’, as it is called by locals) is near the southernmost point of the USA.

The islands of Hawaii are extraordinary, diverse and incredibly beautiful. But their magnificent beaches are becoming tainted by A selection of 18 toothbrushes collected at Kamilo beach in half an hour. the results of this global plastic waste tragedy IS THE PARIS DEAL ENOUGH TO SAVE THE PLANET? every day, on every tide.

Last December world leaders gathered said: “as far as I am aware, the measures The plastic to sand ratio at Kamilo beach is in Paris to negotiate a deal to keep global proposed would not keep warming below 1.5- shocking, and in my half hour walk along the warming below 1.5°C and 2°C. The agreement 2.0°C. I believe the estimated rise is 2.7°C.” coastline I picked up 18 toothbrushes alone. was an important international diplomatic Everything I picked up had a story: here a jour- achievement, gathering more than 190 The warning was made after an assessment ney from Japan after the Tsunami; there a long politicians and heads of state to sign up for published during the summit, indicated that haul drift after being blown from a US landfill. action against climate change. the INDCs emissions reductions proposed by Snatches of words on bottles bleached by the nations were not enough, as it would reduce sun and bottle tops, known locally as 'shark International press provided positive global temperature rise by 2.7°C, well over the plastic', that sea birds and fish had gnawed Letterpress poster (printed with waste ink, Kamilo sand, dyed sand, micro-plastic) by Sophie Thomas and coverage of the work from the President of 2°C limit. For climate change scientists and away to give a ragged edge. Some of the plastic Marta Dos Santos at the Typography Workshop. the Conference of Parties (COP) and France’s NGOs, the reality of the problem hasn’t been had been in the sea, under the hot UV sun, Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, who said properly addressed. for so long that it turned to powder when I “We need to look for concrete measures now. touched it. Other pieces had been conquered I think that will arrive. The shift [to tackling Dr. Neil Leary, the Director of Dickinson by nature, becoming a home for new life, coral climate change] has been made now, and there College's Center for Sustainability Education and animals. Everywhere you looked plastic will be no turning back.” sees the deal as inadequate to the climate was present, deep in the fabric of the beach crisis. “The Paris deal is an important step in and seemingly almost impossible to extract. Nations producing more than 55 per cent of what will be a multi-decadal effort to battle global carbon emissions must formally sign up climate change. But it will not prevent climate 90% of the world’s rubbish that floats in to the deal before the Paris agreement can be change. That horse has already left the barn.” oceans, is plastic and currently only 5% of the made official. There will be a United Nations world’s plastic is recycled. We cannot just cut Bleached bottle on the volcanic sands of Kamilo Point. meeting in April in New York to complete what This means that radical action is needed to out plastic from our lives – it is the ‘workhorse has been promised at the COP21 in Paris. What avoid the irreversible damages global warming material of the modern economy’ but we clear- happened previously in the 2009 Copenhagen will bring to the planet. “The world's climate is ly need to find ways to deal with it. Cleaning summit was seen as a failure, where poor and already changing and will continue to change up the ocean is one option, but the estimated rich nations refused to have emissions targets due to the greenhouse gases that our use of 5.25 trillion micro plastic pieces sitting on the imposed on them. Economic growth and fossil energy and other activities have put and sea bed are too small and no one country is development were the main arguments not to are putting into the atmosphere.” directly responsible. The solution to this truly sign up to reduced carbon emissions. global challenge must be therefore to tackle the Leary is concerned about the weakness of the problem at its source. These objects should be This time in Paris a system was created to deal. “This reality is recognised in the Paris captured for their value before they reach the avoid this issue. The Intended Nationally deal. The parties know the deal is not enough.” oceans. Adopting a circular economy approach, Determined Contributions (INDCs) was the Nations have agreed to regularly review their which puts emphasis on: designing systems basis of the global climate deal agreed in Paris goals and commit to a more ambitious long- that prevent waste and encouraging recovery in December, to keep the world’s temperature term decline in carbon emissions. of valuable materials; designing products that below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Nations optimise materials for their effectiveness in will have to submit their plans to limit their Will the INDCs work? Leary says: “that use stage; and simplifying the use of plastics, post-2020 carbon emissions. They will depends on whether good faith efforts are especially in packaging so that recycling can be be legally bound to submit an emissions made by the nations that are the largest streamlined and efficient, would be the most reduction target and updates on that goal, sources of greenhouse gases, which requires effective solution. though these will not be legally binding. political support at home. It also depends heavily on actions by private sector actors and Words: Sophie Thomas Director of Circular Scientists and academics are concerned over public sector actors at local and state levels.” Economy in the Action Research Centre at the the inadequacies of the INDCs, Dr. Roger G. RSA. Statistics are from Lucy C. Woodall, Mar- Barry, Professor at the University of Colorado Words and image: Sara Gharsalli cus Eriksen Ocean Conservancy and McKinsey. Box Studies (yellow and pink): dyed sand and Kamilo beach flotsam.

6 7 Words: Corinne MacDonald Words: Jazmin Turner

The family business Cleaning up the Tate

A vegan reflects on the Environmental activists are urging ethical conflicts raised by London galleries to stop taking her grandfather’s farm money from BP

There’s a very specific smell I associ- reared only for Christmas for local or- ucts, commodities, pure and simple. My countries, until milk production was no Tate Britain and its younger sister Tate how much oil was pouring per day. At up their argument in an open letter to resembling oil poured over him in the ate with Christmas: not roast chestnuts ders. He occasionally kept pigs — 38 at granddad, I’m thankful to say, has never longer a viable business for him. It was Modern are staples within the London one point claiming the equivalent of 1,000 Tate: “Every day Tate scrubs clean BP’s centre of the entrance hall. Alongside the and sherry or smoky log fires and boozy most — but pigs require specialist build- engaged in such practices. an incredibly upsetting day when his arts and culture scene. Many of us have barrels, when the real number was much public image with the detergent of cool performance, a letter was also sent ask- Christmas pudding. It’s the warm, viscer- ings and are difficult to rear free range, cows were sold to another dairy farm and wandered its galleries and exhibition- closer to 62,000 barrels. This lead to BP progressive culture. But there is nothing ing the Tate to: “demonstrate its commit- al scent of a poultry plucking shed, full of something granddad feels strongly about. Eggs were grandma’s domain and only the Arla sign that had stood so proudly at sand given ourselves a pat on the back pleading guilty to 14 criminal accounts of innovative or cutting edge about a com- ment to a sustainable future by ending sweaty people and dead poultry. enough hens were kept to provide eggs the farm entrance was taken down. Both for being cultural that day. Millions walk false and misleading information. pany that knowingly feeds our addiction its sponsorship relationship with BP”. Two in three animals in the world are fac- for the family, so that they could spend being proud Yorkshire men it’s rare to though its doors every year (a huge 5.3 to fossil fuels despite a climate crisis”. The poultry was blanched in boiling wa- tory farmed. The demand for meat out- time pecking around the farm. Any sur- see either my granddad or uncle get up- million in the Tate Modern alone) and the BP recently came under fire when they I asked a few students how they felt after ter to ease the removal of feathers cre- numbers the amount smaller farms can plus were sold by the road using an set, but when they do it’s almost always Tates pull in huge name exhibitions such topped a chart for Europe’s worst climate They then go on to state: “By placing the finding out about the sponsorship. The ating an almost rancid, chicken-y, dead supply. Meat production is big business; ‘honesty box’ system. There’s not a lot farming related. as Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin. policy wrecker. The chart ranked global words BP and Art together, the destruc- majority of people thought it was bet- smell. As a child this is where you’d find factory farms have altered the farming of money in honesty boxes but at least companies by their records of lobbying tive and obsolete nature of the fossil fuel ter off that Tate had sponsorship, that it me in the days leading up to Christmas, process that it no longer resembles the a few people won't have to purchase bat- ** However, have you ever thought about and opposition against carbon-cutting industry is masked, and crimes against doesn’t matter who from, as long as they alongside my parents bang in the middle type of farm where I spent my youth. tery-farmed eggs. where these institutions get their mon- initiatives. Research director of Influence the future are given a slick and stainless can stay open. One student elaborated, of the production line. Granddad views animals for what they ey to open and run these exhibitions? A he believed it would be a problem only if are, living, sentient beings. When a year- campaigning group called Liberate Tate BP started to influence the content of the ** old ewe became pregnant it was quite the has, and they don’t like the answer. BP, galleries. Another student’s response was scandal and he affectionately nicknamed the fossil fuel giant, has been sponsoring that it doesn't matter if BP is the spon- Granddad’s snapping their necks in the her Sarah Lou after Coronation Street’s Tate since 1990. While no official amounts sor, as long as they're contributing some- barn outside and grandma’s at the far An animal born famed teen mother. He recalls being very have ever been disclosed, it’s known that BP has been thing cultural. This reflects that Liberate end of the room, sitting at a trestle ta- sad at the thought of his faithful blue cow the initial payments began at £150,000 Tate's stance: BP's public image is being ble awaiting the plucked birds in order Pat being sent for slaughter and has had a year. More recently in December 2011, softened as the public believe BP are con- to deftly remove their insides and place on a factory farm soft spots for many of his animals over BP announced a £10 million sponsorship consistently tributing to society in an positive way. an array of offal atop the bird’s back. the years. between Tate, the British Museum, Royal Maybe not the conventional Christmas Opera House and National Portrait Gal- ** scene we see adorning cards but this was has a terrible life But when it comes to sending animals to lery. The exact breakdown of amounts opposed to all as integral a part of my family’s Christ- slaughter, every farmer, factory or other- between institutions has once again, However students haven't always been mas tradition as present opening and the wise, must be able to take the emotion been kept in secret. so neutral when it comes to BP. Warwick Queen’s speech. ahead of it, and a out of it. It’s a job, I understand that, the main forms of University students are in the middle albeit one with some pretty gory conse- ** of a campaign to remove a BP archive My granddad is a fourth generation farm- quences. I disagree with it on a funda- building that was used to research re- er who's worked a medium sized farm on short one mental level, but I can reconcile that up A lot has changed since 1990, most impor- climate change newable energy. However the project was the North Yorkshire Moors for basical- until the point he hands them over to be tantly our knowledge has grown on what dropped when BP decided to restart re- ly his whole life. I spent every weekend killed, my granddad cares deeply for his exactly oil mining and the use of fuel has search into gas and oil. The results of the until my mid teens mucking around in animals, and works tirelessly so they live had and still has upon our fast changing research weren't made public, however fields, helping feed the animals, trying Small farms use grains to supplement a Dairy herds in England have been in a comfortable life. climate. This raised some ethical conun- they are noted as ‘valuable’. Students no to steal sheepdog puppies and building diet of grass allowing the animals time to steady decline since the early 90s. With drums regarding the sponsorship, and Map, who created the chart, Thomas sheen. Every time we step inside the mu- longer want the company name attached dens out of straw. So far, idyllic. grow to the requisite size, factory farms competition moving from a national to an There’s no neat conclusion to draw subsequent advertising of BP through O’Neill explains: “BP has been consist- seum Tate makes us complicit with these to the university. ‘Fossil Free Warwick’ use corn, wheat and soy to build up the international level, farmers are now ex- here, no simple solutions. There simply the Tate galleries. We only need to cast ently opposed to all the main forms of acts, acts that will one day seem as archa- member Leah Lapautre says: “BP’s pres- But age 10, I made the decision to give up animals as quickly as possible, increas- pected to keep up with the intensive dair- isn’t enough spare land on the planet to our minds back to 2010 and the disaster climate change regulation. There is very ic as the slave trade, as anachronistic as ence on Warwick’s campus is an insid- meat and become a vegetarian. 14 years ing the turnover of animals is vital in in- ies of Europe and North America. With raise animals the way my family does that was the Deepwater Horizon spill, or little positivity coming out of them and public executions.” ious example of the close connection later, despite being offered a slice of the creasing the bottom line. cows reared on pasture producing up to and meet the current market demands. more simply known as ‘The BP Oil Spill’. they are a board member of several ob- between the fossil fuel industry and our Christmas goose every single year, I’m 50 per cent less milk than those housed While I’d love the world to follow me 4.9 million barrels of oil, or an estimated structionist trade associations, some of Liberate Tate were willing to go that ex- public institutions. To have the presence still going strong and have been slowly An animal born on a factory farm has a indoors, it’s a near impossible task. into veganism, and I implore you to do 170 million gallons, poured into the Gulf which give a very dubious account of cli- tra mile for their cause, while inside Tate of BP’s corporate archive on our campus turning vegan for the past two years. terrible life ahead of it, and a short one. so, I don’t for a second expect everyone of Mexico after an explosion on an oil rig. mate science.” Britain. Occupying the 1840 gallery, art- is outrageous, given the desperate need Animals cost money until they die, so the Supermarkets have been slashing milk will. I’d like to propose an alternative; Natural gas managed to blast through a ists inked the amount of carbon dioxide we have to break the power of this indus- In general conversation I’m not likely to period between birth and death is made prices to the point that a lot of farmers buy local, buy free range, slap a steak recently installed concrete core. Reports In 2014 BP was part of a ‘concerted in- in the atmosphere. Their message was try and take action on climate change; it mention it, nor try and convert people as short as possible. As a result, super- cannot make a profit and as a result focus on the griddle knowing the animal didn’t have shown that a very similar incident, dustry push’ to curb the EU’s support of simple and strong: ‘Climate change is legitimizes their behavior and sends the to my lifestyle. This has a lot to do with market chicken now contains more than their endeavours on different parts of the live a short miserable life in a two metre due to the same weak core, happened renewable energies instead of fossil fu- permanent; so are tattoos.’. message that our community is ok with my relationship to farming. Whilst I con- twice the amount of fat and around a industry, meat or arable. squared pen. two years before on another BP oil rig in els as well as lobbying against nationally what BP is doing”. demn every aspect of the intensive agri- third less protein than it did 40 years ago. the Caspian Sea. binding renewable and efficiency targets The Gift, filmed by Vice, involved in- culture industry, as does my granddad, The factory dairy business is a nasty one, I know factory meat is cheaper and that a for 2020. Despite heavy opposition from stalling an unused wind turbine within Swaying public opinion enough to see I’ve never been able to denounce small Some battery egg factories practise ‘in- male calves are often shot at birth or sold lot of people don’t have as much money The lasting effects of the incident are un- clean energy firms, the European com- the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall. Weigh- some action taken may sound daunting local farms. stantaneous euthanasia’, the immediate immediately to meat farms. The cows are as they’d like to buy better sourced meat, known and may not be foreseeable for mission outlawed the bid. ing one and a half tonne, measuring 16.5 however, Greenpeace achieved just this killing of male chicks who won’t yield pushed to their physical limits due to the but instead of eating cheap factory chick- years to come. However, what is known is metres, the performance involved 100 when they released a video that went vi- This is my family’s livelihood after all, eggs and are, from a business point of intensive systems that milk them more en every night of the week, why not eat the impact the oil spill has had upon the Liberate Tate formed in 2010 as an art members of the art collective. Liberate ral. In protest against Shell’s plans to drill and I’d be pushed to find a harder work- view, utterly pointless. Sounds awful frequently than a smaller dairy farm free range chicken just two nights of the environment at the current time. Over collective, basing their performances to- Tate used the wind turbine as a symbol for oil in the Arctic, the video contained ing person than my granddad. 365 days a enough until you find out they put the could. Like battery hens, maximising out- week? After all meat is a luxury, it was 8,000 birds, sea turtles and marine mam- wards protesting against BP's sponsor- of renewable energy. As the turbine was a Lego visualisation of the Arctic slowly year for 70 years really puts my 30 hours live male chicks into machines which put and minimising costs are the name of one of the most rationed food stuffs in mals were found dead in the months af- ship. Their aim is simple, to make enough officially submitted to be considered for being drowned by oil. The video received a week into perspective. Even now, aged grind them into a pulp. Efficient I’m sure the game almost always at the detriment the war. ter the spill. Sea coral just miles from the noise that the Tate will drop its trouble- the Tate’s permanent exhibition, it gained so much public attention that Lego made 83 with kidney problems that require di- but utterly barbaric. of the animal’s quality of life. oil rig had been found dead, and many some sponsor. over 1,000 signatures in a petition to get the decision to not renew a contract with alysis three times a week, he still keeps a I don’t believe that any animal should be surviving sea mammals were thought to the turbine reinstated. Shell branded Lego toys being sold at small ‘retirement farm’, so engrained is Often a chick's beak will be removed to My granddad kept a small dairy herd for killed so that I can eat it, but if you do, have ingested the oil, causing ulcers and One of the reasons Liberate Tate is service stations. The deal was said to be the job in his very being. stop them from eating each other, canni- many years, the milk went to a dairy 30 then at least show the animal some re- internal bleeding. against BP’s sponsor is because they be- To mark the one year anniversary of the worth multi-million pounds, and dates balism has never struck me as the act of miles away in East Yorkshire, and my un- spect in the amount you pay for it. That lieve the connection between Tate and BP start of the oil spill, Liberate Tate staged back to the 1960s. This shows how pub- At its biggest the farm had 240 cattle and a happy being. These animals are never cle Dave was a member of Arla, a dairy chicken was once a living being and that To make matters worse for themselves, is a ploy to change the public opinion of a demonstration in the Tate Modern. It lic opinion and interest in a matter can 1,300 sheep over 600 acres. Poultry was viewed as such. They are seen as prod- cooperative of 12,700 farmers over seven life is worth more than £2 per kilo. BP continuously lied to the media about the fossil fuel brand. Liberate Tate sum involved a naked activist having a liquid change situations even on huge scale.

8 9 Words: Barbara Lanzafame and Fabiana de Giorgio

Images: Nemo's Garden UNDERWATER FARMING In a bid to end world hunger, scientists are cultivating fruit and vegetables at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea

Under the crystalline waters somewhere off the coast of is also self-sufficient, it uses renewable energy and Celsius. The mild temperature allows the biospheres to an Italian village, a group of scuba divers swim towards once the crop has been planted by using fresh water grow plants with the same characteristics and proper- floating bubbles where they grow basil, beans, straw- obtained by desalination of seawater, it continues to ties as the ones above ground. The Centro di Sperimen- berries and lettuce. This dreamlike image isn’t taken sustain itself without any external support, except the tazione e Assistenza Agricola of Albenga, an agriculture from a science-fiction novel, it’s part of the Nemo’s Gar- light and the heat transmitted by the seawater. test centre said that some of the products grow even den project: an alternative farming method that could quicker inside the biospheres than on land. change agriculture forever. At the moment, the underwater farm that consists of seven biospheres of varied size is located in Noli’s Bay The biospheres are completely sustainable, they avoid The project, reminiscent of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thou- and covers a surface of 15 square metres. The farm the waste of natural resources and the use of pesticide. sand Leagues Under the Sea, is particularly relevant is composed of a big biosphere called the underwa- The difference in temperature between the inside of the as in 2050 the World’s population is expected to reach ter lab that has a volume of 2,000 litres, four smaller biospheres and the seawater surrounding the bubbles more than 9 billion. According to the Food and Agricul- biospheres the size of 800 litres and two cylindrical make the water inside evaporate, creating an high-hu- ture Organisation (FAO), our present farmland is the biospheres of 200 litres. The biospheres float at differ- midity environment. The humidity keeps the plants hy- size of South America and to feed the coming 3 billion ent depths in the sea, from five to 10 metres below the drated by drips of water condensing on the inner walls people we'll need an extra landmass the size of Brazil. surface, and they are made of a transparent polymeric of the biospheres. The sea also acts as protection from film that allows the sunlight to reach the plants. insects so the use of pesticide isn’t necessary. This surreal, underwater project could present a very real solution to the food crisis as destructive, con- The biospheres are filled with air and thanks to the sta- Four cameras filming Nemo’s Garden 24/7, give an ventional farming techniques cannot be applied when ble temperature of the water they stay at 26-27 degrees overview of the entire underwater habitat. In this way farming beneath the sea. The Nemo’s Garden project it’s possible to follow constantly what happens in the consists of a number of underwater greenhouses called underwater farm. biospheres, which are anchored to the seabed, where a wide range of products are grown. A surface support station on dry land, named the Con- trol Tower, allows the scientists to monitor the status of The invention was first developed three years ago by “Biospheres crops without having to dive down every day to tend to an Italian family from the seaside village of Noli in the them. It also allows them to communicate live with the northwest of ‘The Boot’. The inspiration came from a agrinauts (via ultrasonic underwater communication father and son duo, brought together by their passion are completely systems and through an intercom in the biosphere lab) for the aquatic world and the gardening one. Sergio and whoever is diving in the underwater farm. There Gamberini, administrator of the Ocean Reef Group, are also remote systems in the tower where they can a scuba diving company, his son Luca and few other sustainable, they monitor both the crops status and the physical and en- divers were the founding members. vironmental parameters recorded in the biosphere lab.

After talking to Luca Gamberini, it seems that this pro- avoid the waste of This form of farming is completely new and still going ject is aiming for food production on a large scale: “Our through experimentation. Ocean Reef want to explore dream is to build bigger biospheres in lagoons, lakes if the installation of the biospheres could be used for and potentially in the ocean in order to compensate the natural resources” other purposes while cultivating plants: for example, lack of cropland. The first goal is to place biospheres conservation. Examples would be fishing farming, grow- from May to October by the cost of Noli and at the ing types of seaweed or coral to repopulate dying or same time to expand our experimentation to Australia, diminishing species. Maldives, the Baltic Sea and to the US.” The biospheres could also be tested as fish shelters and Despite still growing and learning, the Nemo’s Garden a way for monitoring wildlife. Animals such as seahors- project has already gained a lot of recognition. In the es, a rare find in the Mediterranean, have started to Expo 2015 (Milan World’s Fair) the idea was chosen to inhabit the site of the biospheres. represent the Italian region of Liguria. The invention has also received international media attention, includ- The biggest challenge for Ocean Reef is to get funds to ing articles in the Washington Post and the Guardian. conduct further experiments on a larger scale. However, thanks to the recognition the Ocean Reef team have re- While underwater farming sounds like an innovative ceived so far on Nemo’s Garden, they have been able to idea, it’s also a very complicated one to achieve. So how improve the engineering aspect of the biospheres and does this invention work? The underwater pods called grow 25 new products. To gain financial support and biospheres, similar to hot-air balloons, are pegged to further recognition, the group also presented a funding the seabed with eight screws and supported by a struc- project on Kickstarter. ture where the gardening equipment is built. The bot- tom side of the biosphere is open in order to allow one Even though other underwater farms of biospheres are or two sub farmers at a time to directly access them. not available on a large scale yet, it’s possible to imagine what could happen in the future of our own home. The Nemo’s Garden Project is a step away from destructive ‘Mini Nemo’s Garden’ is a small version of the project, farming techniques. First off it's an eco-friendly form of built inside an aquarium. Mini Nemo’s Garden is a farming, the farming processes used in the biosphere scaled down, 100 per cent functional version of the bio- don’t create pollution, nor does it affect the surround- sphere installations and will be available to gardening ing seawater. The underwater farm has very little, if any enthusiasts to buy to experiment with alternate forms interaction with the marine environment and existing of gardening in the home. This is an original way not ecosystems. The only exception to this is the positive only to grow products at home but also to contribute to shelter effect from the biospheres. Nemo’s Garden the green economy.

10 11 Words: Fabiana de Giorgio

Images: Theodore

Andres has closed many doors in his life but this time that the changes that are happening will create more the slam will sound much harsher. Soon he, along with opportunities and employment for our community. I many other Latin American owners of restaurants and think that the regeneration process is very positive. shops inside the Elephant & Castle shopping centre will Everything in the world changes and we need to adapt have to shut their doors for ever. Southwark council to these changes and make the best out of them.” has invested £3 billion into the area as a part of a regen- eration plan; the first building to be demolished will be Ingrid Guyon, a photographer who worked for many the shopping centre. years with the Latin American community is not as op- timistic: “Many retailers do not realise the gravity of the The mall has been bought for £80 million to be reno- situation. They do not realise that without the clusters vated into flats and shops, by 2018. London College of of Latin American shops, Elephant & Castle will stop Communication will also be playing a part in the pro- being the meeting point of Latin Americans in London ject, as it plans to relocate to where the shopping centre and the community will explode and lose its strength.” is. The council has promised to introduce a green and environmentally friendly area, with tree-lined streets, She is aware of the potential negative impact of the and reduce the traffic. 5,000 new and replacement changes: “I think that Elephant & Castle will become homes will be built and up to 450,000 square feet of boring and like any other neighbourhood with big retail space will be provided. brands, a shopping centre like Westfield, full of hipsters and middle class families who would have not dare to The reshaping of the neighbourhood is already very come to Elephant & Castle before, full of empty lux- noticeable. As the building have begun, more and more ury flats owned by Middle Eastern multi-billionaires. blocks of of luxury flats appear on the cityscape of what Property rent will become non-affordable and shop unit used to be described as an “ugly” and “dangerous” reserved for “economically viable” businesses as the area. George Lee a 34-year-old banker from London has property developers say. I don’t think that small fami- just bought one of the million-pound flats, will they be ly-run business and units have been offered affordable happy to share the area with someone like Eber, who alternative yet in the area.” moved to Elephant and Castle from Colombia in hope for a better life? Elephant & Castle is home to the biggest Latin Ameri- can community in London. This area became the main For the couple this is only one of their many invest- meeting point for Latin Americans from the early 1990s. ments. For Eber, who has recently arrived in the area, During those years, the area, though very central, was SAVING LONDON’S this will be the only investment in his life. But for him neglected due to an ongoing economic crisis. The Latin living here will soon be too expensive. Like Eber many Americans moved there because of the cheap rents other Latin American residents in the neighbourhood and the affordable possibilities to set up businesses. don’t know much about the future of the area but they Throughout time, the community has grown bigger believe the change will be for the better. and stronger. In fact, according to the charity Latin LATIN QUARTER Elephant, the Latin American community in Southwark Henry Duque a Colombian owner of the clothing shop now consists of 8.9 per cent of the population in the Elephant & Castle is the home of a thriving Latin American community. ‘Topless’ is one of them: “The community is grow- borough. The neighbourhood that now hosts more then But regeneration has placed its future in jeopardy ing and the opportunities are growing as well. I think 80 Latin American shops and restaurants has become

12 13 much more than a business area, as Guyon says: “El- Andres Mendez came to the UK from Colombia 14 years ephant & Castle has become the point of reference for ago. The main reason was that he wanted to go further Latin American community, a place where you come to with his studies of media and journalism. In his coun- socialise, meet your friends, find a job, ask about NHS, try he was a famous TV presenter and when he came to GP or a room to rent, read Latin American newspapers, Elephant & Castle most people already knew him. He smell and enjoy traditional food and flavours, dance or received such a great welcome from the Latin American watch football. “ community and decided to stay longer. Since then he has been working in many different fields but he has Claudia Bernal, owner of Nicole’s alternations inside always kept a really strong bond with the community. the Elephant & Castle shopping centre was one of the people who came to the area in the early 1990s. Today He used to run a media company called Extramedia after years and years of hard work, her future is uncer- covering a wide range of topics regarding Latin Amer- tain: “No one told us anything about what will happen ican countries. “It’s very important for these people to us, we don’t know when we will have to leave and if to have a platform that allows them to keep updated they are going to relocate us somewhere else. We are with what is happening in their homeland. In particu- waiting for the council to give us some updates and to lar for those Latin Americans who came here to work. tell us what will happen to us. I am really hoping that These people dedicate all their time to their jobs. Most the council will help us. To start a new business from of them work from 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning until zero would have an enormous cost and I don’t have the 10’clock at night. Obviously, with these rhythms of work necessary economical resources.” finding the time to keep in contact with their countries it’s very difficult.” Southwark council was the first one in the county to officially recognize the influence of its Latin American Andres’ intention is not only to inform his community community. Therefore, it must have taken into consid- but also to create a bridge between English and Latin eration the needs of the community. Nevertheless, it American cultures. “We want to show to English people seems that some local businesses were not very aware what Latin American culture really is. It’s very differ- of the implications the council’s regeneration plan ent from what you hear in the media especially about would have on them. Colombia and its bad reputation for drugs. We want to show a different side of Latin America, the one that not One of the plans that many local retailers and restau- many people know about. For this reason we launched rant owners have heard of is the one proposed by Latin a magazine called Latino Times, which is published in Elephant, a charity that promotes the integration of English and Spanish.” ethnic minorities in regeneration processes in London. Their proposal is to provide a range of facilities spe- For some like Johanna, owner of the shop CJ Multi- cifically to cater for the needs of the Latin American center in Elephant & Castle, the road to integration is community, to preserve the long-standing culture in still long: “I don’t think there is much integration at the the area. One of the ideas is to regularly organise a food moment, I don’t really see many English people com- and craft market with Latin traditional products. ing in this shop. I just hope that with the new reforms things will get better in that sense.” Ingrid Guyon who was also one of the contributors of the charity said: “I think that Latin Elephant initiative is However, in comparison to the past things seem to vital for integrating the LA community in the process of be getting better. A senior lecturer at London College regeneration of the area as it allows dialogue, awareness of Communication, Patricia Diaz, who is Colombian about the situation, support for retailers and feasibil- herself said: “Integration is better now. I think that first ity studies. Urban regeneration is really complex and generation of immigrants were a bit more timid and shy uses technical language, specific laws and professional in the way they were interacting with English society. networks that are not accessible to everyone. I think Second and third generations of immigrants who were that Latin Elephant team can help bridging this gap and born here are able to speak both Spanish and English influencing the decision makers.” therefore for them integration is definitely easier.”

Is the Latin Elephant proposal a solution. Ingrid Guyon London has provided a great opportunities for many said: “I think the only people who can answer this are Latin Americans to create a “Little South American” the urban planners and decision holders. We can say hub, making them feel more at home, despite being very everything we want; the reality is that we do not have far from their origins. In return, this community has the power or the money to take the decisions. Some had a lot to offer themselves, which has a real value, part of the community will be pushed away for sure but especially for those unaccustomed to the English life- some will manage to stay and secure new premises.” style. Ingrid Guyon agrees: ”Being with Latin Americans makes me forget that I am in Europe and they make Johanna Alvarez, owner of the shop CJ Multicenter in me happy. I admire their positive attitude towards life, Elephant & Castle is trying to keep her business and their contagious joy, their generosity, friendliness and adapt it to the new clientele: “This area will get very ex- warmth. I feel at home with them. I come from a sunny, pensive and the taxes and the rents will get much high- warm and colourful place in South of France and arriv- er. This will definitely affect the small businesses much ing in London was quite depressing! I love the way they more than the bigger ones. However, with my shop in gather around food, music and dance and how they particular I will try to renovate it and to make it more open their door to anyone.” appealing for the new people coming into the area.” The idea behind Lend Lease (the construction compa- Andres Mendez, a well-known personality in the Latin ny that is collaborating with the Southwark council) American community, now manager of the restaurant is acutely expressed on their website: “Our ambition ‘La Bodeguita’ in Elephant & Castle, clearly explains is to create a place full of life in Central London’s new that many others will find it difficult to adapt to the green heart. A vibrant, established neighborhood, where new conditions: “It’s going to be hard especially for everybody loves to belong.” those who don’t really speak English like people who work in the kitchen. Also, for people who are older or To belong to a place means to accept and to respect its for those who are sending money to their families back history. Beautiful homes and beautiful shops on their home. Many business owners will have to start again own are not enough to determine the quality of life of a from zero after working hard for so many years. A place. Especially if the new constructions will wipe off young person could do it but an older one wouldn’t be the history of the neighborhood making it look like just willing to.” any other placein London.

14 15 Words: Solen Le Net

Images: Jae Wilkinson

Wildlife is going increasingly urban worldwide; Lon- feasted on the neighbourhood’s binned leftovers. don’s remarkable natural and cultural heritage has London’s biggest resident population, however, remains earned its reputation as a pioneering green capital. Na- that of the rat. Luckily the rodents have made a home ture reserves and parks scattered across the city have of our drainage systems and not our houses, but stud- given a home to a thriving wildlife, offering enough ies suggest they are always within a six-foot distance green space to lure species of all kinds into one of the from us. It should be acknowledged that the city rat is busiest cities in the world. in fact far cleaner than the country rat which is known CAPITAL to transmit an assortment of gruesome diseases. It’s Some animals come to seek refuge in Richmond, Lon- the plumbing network that acts as a gateway for the don’s largest Royal Park, that comprises grasslands and rats beneath our city to our homes, providing them variegated patches of forest. Over the past 700 years its with access to our kitchens. This proved problematic in landscapes have been sculpted by the erosion that offer France during the 20th century, when many noticed the an environment predominantly suited to the needs of pests could climb towering walls and fit through tiny thriving game and deer. Nevertheless, the wildlife in holes to infiltrate their homes. The problem became so WILDLIFE London isn’t limited to large parks but is embedded severe that the government sent teams of rat-catchers Londoners share the city with a remarkable deeper within the concrete jungle, where green para- down into the sewers; they eventually resurfaced with range of animals and birds keets perch on the cities trees and pigeons have evolved thousands of rats at a time. In London, the rodents nest to become our quasi-companions. in all corners of the city and continuously contend with new architecture. Rats have a raging libido, and remain Many of us have had the experience of wandering pregnant for a mere 21-day period, they are able to pro- down the street at dusk to notice a pair of piercing eyes duce a total offspring of 20,000 within their lifespan. gleaming from a neighbour’s bushes, just when you thought no one was watching. Foxes began making Another worrying fact that caught my attention whilst their home in London in 1930s. They were primarily reading Donovan’s book, are the “fat monsters” that found lurking in grasslands and forests that surround have evolved in the inner city sewers. These 50 tonne the city but as London’s suburbs stretched out into the globule masses have formed as a result of all the fat countryside during the years between the two world being discarded down the drains in London and have wars, engulfing villages and farms with its expansion, provided a stable platform for the rats to run along the they began to venture deeper into the city. They quickly water with the greatest of ease! adapted to the streets and their urban population has grown to an astonishing 33,000. The cunning, adaptable, When asked which was the most fascinating species fast breeders aren’t fussy about what they eat; their he’d encountered in London, Tristan Donovan admits it adaptability combined with a genius for staying away is his admiration for a species often referred to as rats from humans has made them a perfect urban adapt- with wings; the pigeon, that wins the vote. “I know it’s er. They have established a prolific range of habitats probably not the most interesting species in the eyes enabling them to reside in all corners of the city, from of many; you tend to see them all the time. But they neighbourhood gardens to towering skyscrapers. are actually fascinating creatures, they’re like Franken- stein’s monsters.” Yet foxes aren’t shy of catching the attention of pas- sers-by; one opportunist was spotted boarding an Donovan argues that pigeons are no longer the natu- escalator on a Saturday night in Walthamstow central, ral birds that once used to dart across the country’s most probably on its way home to a reasonable curfew. skylines; the city pigeon has evolved to live in proximity Tristan Donovan, author of Feral Cities: Adventures to humans. “Species like the pigeons are perfect urban with the animals in the urban jungle believes that adapters and they do best in the city than they do out although humans have more recently adopted a benign in the countryside”, adds Donovan. When approached, attitude towards foxes, an element of tension still lin- they will escape but they generally lack fear of humans, gers between us; “People often presume ‘why is the fox they have developed a natural approach towards hu- here? It must have got lost and come from the country- mans that allows us to live within very close proximity side’ when actually it’s born here, it grew up here, and to each other. “If you go to the train station, you’ll find it’s only ever really known the city.” them there just milling around the station quite happily undisturbed by the thousands of commuters rushing Even though the mammals rarely interact with hu- around them, they’re fascinating in that way” points out mans, cases such as the fox stealing a baby from its Donovan. They have really adapted well to living within cot in South London and leaving it short of one finger the architecture of London. “They’re amazing in terms are quick to trigger concern over our shared proximi- of their adaption and that’s what fascinating; we partly ty with the animals. These elements have manifested created the city pigeon.” into an overall hostile relationship towards the vulpine species. “I think there is a slow dawning over having all The oriental parakeets that adorn London’s grey skies these foxes in London; you have to slowly start think- with bursts of brilliant green come to the surprise of ing about things that maybe people in more rural areas most locals who are used to the sight of pigeons. Many would have had to think about 10 or twenty years ago” theories arose to explain how the Asian parrot came to adds Donovan. make its home in suburbia. One suggests they escaped from the film set of African Queen in Shepperton Studi- In 2011 a fox nicknamed Romeo was discovered living in os in 1951. Others prefer to believe it was Jimi Hendrix the top floor of the Shard while it was under construc- who freed his pet parakeet from his girlfriend’s London tion. It was suggested the fox would have had to climb flat in 1968, an action emblematic of “peace”. These ori- a staggering 71 floors through the building’s main stair- ental birds wheel from park to garden, scavenging for well and an old-fashioned ladder before reaching the seeds. Many have been spotted preening their oriental top floor, where is was found enjoying scraps of food plumage on the moss-bearded skyline of South London, left behind by builders, and a view worth millions. in particular Peckham, Lewisham and Blackheath.

In all their shrewdness, red foxes opt for the crisp Esher rugby club is home to London’s biggest parakeet hours of dawn to prey, avoiding the distraction of roost. Here, over 3,000 of the birds huddle in the trees humans. Thereafter they retreat to their lodging, having surrounding the pitch overnight. At dawn the scene

16 17 explodes as the birds lift and head south, either alone low-tailed scorpions have been found in London alone, or in groups. The local desire for their presence has the vast majority are found on the Isle of Sheppey, in encouraged them to collect seeds from birdfeeders in all Kent, mounting up to a total population of 13,000. They corners of the city. Although some concerns have arisen originate from North-West Africa and Southern Europe regarding the potential threat that parakeets pose to and could potentially have made their way to England native British wildlife, studies show their populations through ships. are increasing by 30 per cent per year, says an Oxford university research project. “We’ll end up treating Also native to the tropics, yet more threatening, the them like pigeons, they’ll become part of our everyday small edible turtle is recognisable due to the distinct landscape that we’ll start to think of them as normal” lozenge-patterned shell. Primarily regarded as a friendly comments Donovan. creature, it soon came to the attention of ecologists that terrapins posed potential threat to London’s Deep in the London underground, stagnant pools of wildlife due to the diseases they were spreading. The lukewarm water form idyllic conditions for mosqui- turtle originally lived in North American swamps and toes to hatch their eggs. Many who travel by tube are was brought over to Europe after the demand for pet oblivious to the fact that the mosquito species, Culex terrapin spiralled due to a craze over the 80s-90s show pipiens molestus, with its filament-thin legs, preys on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. As pets, terrapins were commuters. The Tube network is in fact where it was small enough to live within the confined space of a first discovered and where it is still mostly found. domestic fish bowl, however, once they grew too big, they were released into the wild and thrived in ponds Mosquitoes living above the surface, live within a sea- throughout the capital. It soon became apparent that sonal context. They feed on bird’s blood to enable their the terrapin was a threat to humans and domestic eggs to grow and in a subterranean environment they pets. They were deemed dangerous by ecologists who turn to human and rats for blood. The constant warmth ordered their removal from London parks in 2014, due in the subway enables this species to breed all year- to their voracious eating habits, and the fact they were round. “Few remember how adaptable some of these carriers of salmonella. species actually are”, shares Donovan. They’ve evolved to become dependent on the unique subterranean living It is interesting to consider which wildlife will adapt to conditions, and remain the only species to have done so urban cities going forward as a result of climate change worldwide. The mosquito became notorious during the and the introduction of more green park zones. Badgers 1939-45 war when they preyed on Londoners seeking and wild boar (which are nearly as common in Berlin as refuge from the Blitz in Tube stations. They are still foxes are in London) will be among the new arrivals ac- known to bother workers who carry out daily mainte- cording to Donovan; “Wild boar have just been reintro- nance in the tunnels, while commuters remain obliv- duced into the British countryside; it won’t be surpris- ious to their presence: “People usually think that the ing to see them moving into the city as they have done city is a human territory and so therefore any animal in Germany”. The insect population will also probably that intrudes on them is somehow violating that space” change as the climate gets hotter, we’ll probably start shares Donovan. seeing more insects associated with Spain or the south of France, they’ll start moving into cities generally in Known for their potentially deadly sting, some scor- the south of England.” pions have also been found lurking in the London underground. Hanging off the bag of a commuter in Perhaps the most remarkable species to have been the underground during rush hour, a species identi- sighted in the UK so far is the most dangerous shark fied as Centruroides was thought to have travelled in the world, The Great White. Ecologists are surprised into the country through luggage from the Caribbean. there are not more around as the conditions in this The arachnid hitchhikers travel through luggage from country are ideal. It may just be a matter of time before tropical destinations abroad. There is a colony known they find their way down the river Thames in central to habitat the northern Coast of Kent. London, as did a confused northern bottlenose whale in 2006. It is likely that the future will see more wildlife The Yellow-tailed scorpion was also found in a London live within human dominated ecosystems, “Slowly but home, when a BBC 6 music presenter found one in the surely we’ll probably get more used to sharing the ur- room of his 16-year-old daughter. Over a thousand yel- ban environment with animals” hopes Donovan.

18 19 Words: Joshua Potter Images: Arvi Domee, Jenelle Law, Sean Wyatt-Livesley GUIDE TO PEACEFUL PROTEST Some practical advice on exercising the right to demonstrate without getting caught up in a riot

It’s been the key factor in many historical changes and has shaped society incredibly. But how do you go about protesting without succumbing to the violent ‘riots’ that the press often splash across the front page? How do you practise peaceful protest?

In Paris, during the COP21, an organisation called Alter- natiba held a Global Village of Alternatives, which took place on December 5 and 6, as a way of highlighting other paths to climate change that societies around the world could adopt.

As part of this two day event, and because it’s been a part of climate talk and overall French history, a work- shop was held by ANV COP21 to guide those who were interested through the art of non-violent protest.

Violence has always played a precarious role in protest and everyone involved is often quick to point the blame at the other, but here are ten of the best ways to ensure 1: Do not hit 2: No purposeful vandalism 6: Raise hands in the air 7: Passive resistance 8: Present a human blockade that your protest remains one of upmost professionali- ty and respect. Possibly the most obvious, don’t physically assault Smashing the windows of the local shop will simply Hands raised in the air cannot punch, accidentally or When arrested or physically redirected by a repre- When herded by representatives of the law towards any person. It’s important to view your opposition antagonise the opponent and increase the likelihood purposefully, any surrounding person. Raised hands sentative of the law, two approaches are most com- or away from a specific area, the human blockade The first five deal with the protestor’s actions when un- not as enemies, but opponents and be respectful to of violence by a fellow protestor or an opponent. can’t easily be seen as a precursor to violence. mon; the first is to walk tall and proud, a symbol of can be an effective means of non-violent defiance. affected by representatives of the law, and the second all parties involved. defiance. The second, and more common approach is To create one, simply lock arms with two fellow five deal with the protestor’s actions when confronted Note: damaged material (walls/glass/metal) is less passive resistance by deadweight, forcing the person protestors on your right and left. by such a person. safe than undamaged material and more likely to attempting to move you to physically drag you from injure, which can raise tensions and lead to violence. your location. Note: this action tends to be reserved for experienced protestors as non-violence is harder to maintain Note: this is not the same as active resistance, which once underway. can be a criminal offence and is likely to instigate violence.

Violence can thrive during peaceful protests with no real indicator as to who was the original offender. If an instance of violence is about to occur, allow the organisers of the protest to intervene before it’s too late and distance yourself from the act and the actor. If an instance of violence has occurred, distance yourself from the violator and verbally rebuke him or her. Also raise your hands to show a lack of involvement with that particular individual.

Tear gas is not an uncommon deterrent for law enforce- ment and one must be prepared, if possible, for such an occurrence. Preparing protective eye gear and clothing in advance is advised. If you don’t own such items, improvised devices such as tissues soaked in water can protect yourself and prevent serious pain. Rubber bul- lets and stun grenades may also be used and organisers of the protest must address such issues accordingly.

3: Do not run 4: Brandish a placard 5: Raise a white cloth 9: Sit 10: Film Finally, be prepared, train, and be ready and able to take legal action if needed; these steps help ensure the safety The rising of tension is perhaps the single greatest A common sight in the majority of protests, a placard Perhaps associated more with surrender, the white When confronted with aggression by a representa- Footage of your actions can tell far more about what of all participants and the longevity of the protest. instigator of violence and running creates a space is an effective way to voice your opinion without cloth is a symbol of peace and does not suggest to tive of the law by an item such as a baton, sitting is went on and serves as an effective way of not only with less control and has the tendency to raise shouting and raising the tension of the situation. anyone any motives of violent tendencies when con- an effective form of remaining defiant while freeing gaining media traction but also showing your inno- tensions. Remain calm and composed during the fronted or arrested by a representative of the law. yourself of blame from any wrong-doing. cence if such a situation demands it. entirety of the protest. Note: placards must not contain inappropriate refer- ences or slurs which could instigate violence. Note: Though sitting is non-violent on your part, it Note: The more members of a protest who film, the might not remove the possibility of violence done to more the actions of everyone involved are captured you, as you will have placed yourself in a submissive and the harder it is for any one person or party to situation. commit acts deemed inappropriate, such as unfair To find out more ways of participating in non-violent arrests or violence on behalf of the protestor. protest, visit ANV COP21. http://anv-cop21.org/criteres- sur-la-non-violence/

20 21 Words: Vesa Puosi Images: Lewis Bush SHOOTING THE CITY Lewis Bush’s photography scrutinises the redevelopment of London

“I went to places like Nine Elms and Canary Wharf that I knew ahead of time were going to be fairly awful”

After successfully opening his latest exhibition, Metro- The decision to use plotting paper was partly pragmat- pole in the Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture ic because it was affordable…but it was also because I cities were exploding in size at the time, and about “But in terms of the buildings, the main theme is that and Design in Whitechapel, Lewis Bush, a lecturer in thought, wow, it’s really nice to use something that is the idea that the city was going to be the place to be. I they’re luxury or corporate developments” he says, “I MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at normally used for producing the plans of the buildings always find those kind of movies really interesting, and wasn’t really interested in photographing what I sup- London College of Communication (LCC) reflects on that I hate.” looking at London now I thought, oh it’s funny because pose could be called as normal buildings where normal the ever-changing face of London. if someone made a film now in this kind of genre they people might live or work in, which is kind of easy Other works of photography have inspired Bush when would be probably saying the opposite… that cities are anyway, you know,” he smiles, “they’re not skyscrapers, Bush’s exhibition is a series of large black and white shooting Metropole: “I was inspired by quite a lot of screwed up and actually we need to change them, we so they’re much less interesting to photograph, so the prints of unfinished skyscrapers looking distant and other pieces of art and culture. I mean, I was inspired need to get out of them. So yes, there are a lot of differ- process was kind of self-selecting.” blurry, but yet strangely close to anyone living in Lon- by the Provoke school of photography, which is a ent influences.” don. “Whenever I make work I’m interested in doing a Japanese school of photography from the 1970s. [They] Bush believes being born in London has helped him to few different things” he says. “One is to use materials produced imagery that broke lots of rules of photogra- The buildings that Bush has photographed have come see the changes that have been taking place in the city [and] to use places that are appropriate to what the phy and was very much about, as the name suggests, to him in various ways. “I went all over” he says, over the past couple of decades: “I grew up in Peck- work is about. The first time we exhibited the work, provoking people and being controversial. They pro- “mostly to places that I knew ahead of time were going ham which used to be… it used to be almost impossible it was just one image on a billboard or on a sign on a duced these grainy, quite shocking photographs that to be fairly awful.” His dislike of Canary Wharf and to get people [to] go out for a night out in Peckham piece of land that is going to be redeveloped in Cam- were unlike what people had been producing before.” the ongoing luxury development projects in the area - some of my friends would never go out there. It berwell.” He takes a sip of his coffee and continues: of Nine Elms made them natural subjects for his work. was such a crap, horrible area as far as everyone was “That’s an example of the idea of finding places that are In Metropole, he also sees a connection to his family: “With some of them I did things like went up to the concerned. My dad said it used to be impossible even to linked to the theme of the work. With the CASS show “I was inspired by the film connection with my dad - Tower block here at the LCC and just went into every get like a taxi to take you down there from the Central it’s really appropriate, because the CASS is going to be there’s a whole genre of film making in the 1920s and room on each side and looked across the skyline for London, they would just say no. And now it’s kind of sold off by the university and probably redeveloped 1930s known as the City Symphony, which was basi- where there were lots of cranes, or where there were hip and cool,” he says and looks thoughtful, “so I think into more luxury flats. The other one,” he adds, “is to cally a documentary genre where filmmakers would what looked like medium construction sites, and then particularly when you have known a place for a long do things cheaply, because I don’t really like the idea of make these films about great cities. They are all about… I tried to figure out where they were on a map so I can time…when you then see it starting to change… it’s quite art or photography being an exclusive, expensive thing. the idea that urban living is amazing because all these visit them and see what’s happening there.” surreal because those memories of Peckham 20 years

22 23 ago are in some ways just as vivid to me as Peckham “There was a game a couple of years ago that the num- now, so it’s almost a culture shock to see somewhere bers stations formed quite a central part of the plot. Call you know really well transforming.” of Duty: Black Ops Two I think, and there was a terrible film a couple years ago called The Numbers Station, Bush has previously mentioned this unique relationship which is just like abysmally bad. I think I watched it with London in his book about Metropole, where he just because it was part of the research!” Bush laughs. “I writes that he feels like a stranger in his own city. This think it’s quite in the culture of conspiracy things [and] is increasingly concerning both the city of London and it’s surprising whenever I do a talk and say does anyone the people living within it. “The thing is, a lot of this know about what number station is, you usually get one project is about architecture, [but] the subtext is that person in the room that knows.” as the architecture changes so do the people,” he says and leans to the backrest of the squeaky wooden chair. Bush shakes his head and continues: “The weirdest “The people who inhabit the buildings change as the thing of doing the project was meeting the people who buildings change… I feel a lot of the things that I liked are really obsessed with these things. They are like über about London both architecturally and spatially, but paranoid and it’s really funny. I thought that I was in also in terms of the people and culture [are] changing, a spy movie when going to meet some of these people. and they’re being either demolished, or in the case of Sometimes it got me thinking what the hell have I got- the people, often driven out or pushed away from the ten myself into?” centre of the city.” When asked about his next project Bush says: “I’m Bush’s next project is soon to be finished. Numbers actually going off to Brussels next week to shoot kind in the Dark focuses on locating the transmitting sites of a mini project, so yeah, I’m keeping pretty busy. I’m of the numbers stations that are used for example to [also] working on something else about London, but it’s transmit coded messages for agents by intelligence probably not going to be really a public project. It’s more agencies. Questions about the progress of the project like something [I am] just doing for my own enjoyment,” make him laugh. He puts down the coffee and says: he says and adds: “That said, that’s what Metropole “That has been very interesting… Have you heard the began as.” recordings?” Bush takes a phone from his pocket and scrolls through YouTube to find a file coldly playing “I’m also thinking of expanding - well I have already militant music and repetitive coded words from East started to expand, this same topic of intelligence to look Germany. “I like playing them to people because it is at other areas. When you see images on Google Maps like a fascinating weird world that I just got sucked they’re often produced by satellites that are also used into. It hasn’t happened to me before in quite that way by intelligence agencies, which I find really interesting…. that you get completely hooked on a story or subject. So now I’m looking much more into [not only] optical They’re open secrets - there are lots of people that are intelligence satellites but also signals intelligence satel- interested in them and there are lots of recordings lites - the satellites that’s are basically hoovering up all floating around but very few people had really seriously your communications. So that project is growing up into tried to locate any of the broadcast sites.” something bigger” he smiles, “but for now, early days.”

24 25 Environment Health

Meat vs Longer Life Vegetarians are about 12% less likely to die from certain Carbon Footprint diseases than meat eaters, researchers find. “The food you eat can be 2 3 Agriculture is one of the biggest 1 5 30 40 either the safest and most contributers to global warming and causes 15% of all Vegetarians powerful form of medicine or emissions, half of which are the slowest form of poison.” from livestock. As hard as it may be to believe, it has been Ann Wigmore proven in studies that our consumption of meat sometimes creates more Meat eaters The number one killer in the emissions than driving cars. world isn’t terrorism, knife crime, or car accidents. It’s heart disease — a ruthless killer that is directly related to Cardiovascular what’s on our plates. Aside Carbon Dioxide Methane Nitrous Oxide If 1 person were to exchange a car for a Hybrid car, they Disease from the threat to our bodies, The meat, dairy and egg industries produce ! would reduce carbon dioxide emissons by 1 ton per year. 65% of Worldwide nitrous oxide emissions. Cardiovascular (heart and meat consumption also poses But, if they were to exchange eating meat for a vegan diet, Fossil fuels circulatory) disease causes production/use they would reduce CO2 emissions by 1.5 tons per year. more than a quarter (27 per There are an estimated 7 problems for our home world cent) of all deaths in the UK, million people living with Landfills + or around 155,000 deaths cardiovascular disease and our way of life. waste: each year - an average of in the UK – 3.5 million men and 3.5 million Don’t believe that? Livestock 425 people each day or one women. An ageing and farming: every 3 minutes. growing population and improved survival rates Have a look Biomass Cows and sheep 1 in every from cardiovascular burning: are responsible for 4 death. events could see 37% of the total numbers rise still further. Rice methane (23x more agriculture: warming than CO2) Just to put that into perspective, nitrous oxide is 300 times generated by more powerful at trapping heat in the earth’s atmosphere CO2 Biofuels: human activity. than carbon dioxide.

Dietary Related Vegan Problems Meat eater Heart disease Vegetarians have been found to Heart disease is one of the big risks meat eater have a 32% lower risk of ischemic Consumption Waste Threat run if they are not careful. But apart from heart heart disease. diseases there are other worrying risks which meat eaters are more prone to than vegans. Consumption Wasted Resources Wasted Water Biodiversity Threat Looking after and keeping animals for food of British Meat Eaters uses up 30% of the earth’s land mass. If In Britain, meat eaters consume their own weight in you’re wondering how big that is, thats about animal flesh. Over the period of a lifetime it amounts to: the size of asia.

Cattle 5 Cancer Location: Amazon rainforest, South Studies have shown vegans Pigs 5 1 kg of pork requires Thats enough for America to have a 20% lower risk of 6000 litres of water 188 showers cancer than meat eaters Sheep 5

Chicken 50 Diabetes Vegetarians have a 62% ducks 5 lower risk of developing 50% type two diabetes than meat eaters. turkeys 5 00.59

Animal agricultures uses up 50% of the World’s water supply. Rabbits 5 Obesity 7 football fields’ worth of Look at the difference in water usage between a cow, a Vegetarians have lower rates of land is bulldozed every chicken and grain. Somewhere like California you could save obesity. The National Institutes of Fishes 100lb minute to create more room more water by not eating a pound of beef than not 7x for farmed animals. showering for 6 months. Health concluded that on average, people who avoid meat, dairy, and eggs have body mass indexes almost 20% lower than meat eaters. Thats about 30 lb less weight than Animals Slaughtered World Wide World Hunger non-vegetarians of similar height in A reduction of our intake of meat could see millions of Livestock certain age brackets. people being fed using the land, water and energy that Canada 2,950 Russia 6,740 would normally be used up in raising animals. Rainforest Belarus 1,400 Ukraine 2,496 or 16 pounds of grain can feed 10 human 16 pounds of grain can feed a cow... Amazon forests America 30,264 Japan 1,130 beings, meeting their daily calorie need. China 48,5000 S. Korea 990 Mexico 6,025 Egypt 1,490 Cholesterol Vegetarian meals are typically low in saturated fat and usually contain India 40,500 or little or no cholesterol. Since cholesterol is found only in animal products such as meat, dairy, and eggs, vegans consume a cholesterol-free diet. Brazil 40,600

Uruguay 2,250 Australia 8,650 Argentina Meat-eater 210 12,300 60% of the world’s grain is Meanwhile 925 million people do not have With heart disease being one of the New Zealand 4,250 fed to animals... enough to eat. Vegetarian 161 big things that claim people’s lives, a good vegetarian diet is key to In the Amazon, 70% of once forested Amazon is now pastured for livestock. Vegan 133 keeping your heart healthy. Such dramatic deforestation is a threat to the rich biodiversity of the World’s plant and animal species. Over 56 billion farmed animals are killed every year by humans. These 925000000 shocking figures do not even include fish and other sea creatures whose deaths are so great they are only measured in tonnes.

Need any more reasons? Go vegetarian and save the planet. Thierry Nahayo

26 27 Words: Jasper Wilkins

Images: Matt Ferguson

At the age of 16 I subconsciously made the decision to SOPHIA, FINE ART DRAWING AT CAMBERWELL FRANCESCA, ILLUSTRATION AT CAMBERWELL stop eating animals and it was one of the best choices in my life. As a child I loved animals and often visited It originally started when I became lactose intolerant I turned vegan in my foundation year when I met my farms without making the connection that these sen- and allergic to cheese, I then moved to Brighton by boyfriend at the time who was also vegan. When I was tient, beautiful animals were being killed for my con- myself and picked up the moral issues surrounding first introduced to the topic I thought it was extremely venience and taste. A few years later I decided to stop veganism and learnt about the harsh realities surround- weird, I didn’t understand it and jumped to conclusions HOW TO eating any animal products, which has had a positive ing animal welfare. Watching numerous documentaries such as, “aren't you protein deficient?”, “don't you just effect on my physical and mental wellbeing. Although and seeing the vile practice behind a slaughterhouse eat leaves?” and “you must be tired the whole time”. I some believe opting to eat a vegan diet is expensive, completely switched me to veganism. With each day remember watching Gary Yourofsky’s The Most Impor- it isn’t; I can spend as little as £15 a week on getting I become a more and more passionate vegan. We can tant Speech You Will Ever Hear and 101 - Reasons to fresh food from the market. There are more dairy/meat change so much in the environment just by a simple Go Vegan on YouTube, my mind was opened and I was free options at restaurants and it’s easier than ever to change of diet and lifestyle, it makes so much sense! left questioning my beliefs and views on what I ate. I refrain from eating animals. went from a big meat eater to a vegetarian in the space BECOME What advice would you give to a student want- of two hours. Two years later I am now a full vegan Below are a few of the main reasons why people decide ing to go vegan? Advice I would give to a student and excited to continue my journey. Since going vegan to stop eating animal products. wanting to try veganism would be to be open minded, I have become really passionate about cooking: it has try new things! Research played a big part as well. Find been an exciting adventure for me trying out new foods Environment out what is and isn’t vegan, including fortified foods, and new ways of cooking. Livestock production has a massive impact on the colourings and added vitamins, but take it slow, it's environment from the destruction of the Amazon your journey. Join as many social vegan platforms as Veganism has made me become a more mindful and A VEGAN rainforest to the sea; humans are depleting the world of you can, scan ingredients of foods so you know what compassionate person. I understand that eating an in- life for greed and profit. One of the most effective ways to grab at the shops, it becomes exciting when you find telligent animal is wrong. If you wouldn't eat your dog Students explain why they gave up meat and an individual can lower their carbon footprint is not to foods that are accidentally vegan! Be strong, people than why eat a pig? Animal agriculture is responsible give advice to anyone considering following suit consume animal products. To learn more about how will stand in your way and knock you down but it's so for 18 per cent of all greenhouse gases, which is more animal agriculture affects the environment, I’d recom- rewarding and there are so many people and societies than the combined exhaust from all transportation, mend watching the documentary, Cowspiracy. that will support you. which is 13 per cent of all greenhouse gases. Meat is directly related to causing cancer, high cholesterol and Health When I first became vegan I lost a lot of weight, allow- other health risks. So why do I need to end another life, Today, obesity is one of the main causes of death, and ing me to tone up and feel comfortable in myself. I felt put my life at risk and at the same time contribute to animal products create heart disease, cancer, strokes, healthier and had way more energy than before mean- climate change, just for my taste buds? The answer to osteoporosis, diabetes and high cholesterol. Nega- ing my commitments to sports such as football really NATALIJA, ILLUSTRATION AT CAMBERWELL move to a plant-based lifestyle was simple. I have never tive lifestyle choices kill millions of people each year. flourished. Once you grow knowledgeable to vegan been happier and healthier. Humans are the only animals in the world that drinks foods it’s easy to put the weight back on and let your Why did you decide to turn vegan? To get rid of another animal’s milk, which is not only disgusting but fitness slip but it really comes down to your mentality. my fast food addiction, and also I was shocked by the What advice would you give for a student want- also bad for our health. There are many vegan athletes There are many misconceptions surrounding veganism harm we inflict on other beings and the environment. ing to try out veganism? Do your research. At first it who prove that we don’t need animal products such as and I want to try and break these stereotypical barriers seems impossible, but with the right research you can Serena Williams, Tim Shieff and Patrik Baboumian. and no longer be seen as a minority in society. It will What advice would you give for a student want- honestly find vegan food anywhere, you just need to take time, but to see a change in our environment and ing to try out veganism? You can still eat healthy know where to look. There are so many awesome vegan To find out more about how going vegan can aid in knowing together we are saving lives of animals and not and eat super tasty and filling meals. You do not need food cafes and restaurants in London. Also there’s such bettering your health, watch the documentary Forks exploiting them would just be golden! to spend a lot of money buying expensive, overpriced a massive, friendly vegan community in London, get in Over Knives. vegan produce/additives; all the best food is cheap and contact with people through Facebook. Also do research sinfreesophia.wordpress.com easily affordable for students. If you have been eat- into local markets in your area, like East Street market Animals ing unhealthy for years, do not expect to feel amazing in Elephant and Castle. You can buy fruit and vegeta- Dogs are considered to be important in western society right after a few days, for some people it takes more bles for next to nothing, for example, six mangos or two yet they are less intelligent than pigs. Speciesism is a than a few months as your body needs to get used to melons for a pound. It’s great! Living as a vegan is so social justice issue, which is imbedded into our society. the change so for some time you could feel depleted of much cheaper, you just need to put in the extra effort If someone was to start eating a pigeon in central Lon- energy. Reducing salt intake will greatly increase the but it’s so worth it! don, people would go crazy and call the police, yet we taste of natural foods. If you can afford it, take a blood pay others to murder animals and it is considered to be test before you go vegan, so that you can compare your okay because it’s hidden from our eyes. blood results later. I have never been a fit person, but since becoming vegan I have become leaner and grown The documentary Earthlings is a good source of infor- some muscle as well as developed some endurance. mation on how veganism can better our relationship with the animal world. youtube.com/skymintart

Humans Over 30 per cent of the world’s fresh water is used for animal production, yet almost one billion people do not have access to water. 40 per cent of the grain through- out the world is fed to animals, which we later eat; this could be used to feed people. Humans are also animals. Our brains have developed to learn, think ahead to the future yet we are destroying the world as a species.

I’d recommend watching Unity to find out more about the human attitude impacts the world.

28 29 Words and Images: Fernanda Liberti

Fuck for Forest is a non-profit environmental organ- access to not only the organisation but also to the lives isation founded in Norway in 2004. Their aim is to and routines of people involved in it. promote both sexual liberation and the preservation of nature by hosting a porn website where the money goes I arrived on a Tuesday and a live show was being organ- to saving the world’s rainforests. ised for the night. Subscribers from the website have access to the live erotic show on Skype. Leading up to By buying endangered land in places such Peru, Mexico, the show, the flat became full of people from all over the Brazil, Costa Rica and Slovakia, they preserve it by ei- world. Some were residents or visitors who either came ther creating eco villages or working with the natives of along to learn more about the project or to participate the area. Their ideology is that we were born naked and in the show. The theme for the show was the Ukrainian through a sexual act, so why should we be ashamed of revolution, where in this version the soldiers stopped being sexual beings? One of the main reasons people go fighting after the arrival of the Pussy Goddess. It was online is for porn, so why not use it to help support a a mixture of politics, sex, colours, dildos, laughter and good cause? love, everything that Fuck for Forest is about.

The concept is interesting not only for its unorthodox The flat works as a communal setting where some peo- method of raising charitable money, but also from the ple live permanently, paying discounted rent for helping porn perspective of the idea. Most porn videos are to manage the website and creating content. A few known for creating unrealistic expectations of sexuality travellers who are willing to make videos or contribute and the human body. However Fuck for Forest’s web- to the organisation in some way, stay there for free. The site promotes a natural expression of the human desire project is quite simple in its nature, whoever wants to through a more homemade-style of video, which makes participate can do in two ways: by either paying a sub- it different from most porn websites. scription for access to the website or by sending their own videos and content for the website catalogue. I heard about Fuck for Forest when I was 16 and at the time the idea sounded very bizarre but it aroused my My time with Fuck for Forest was one of the most curiosity. Four years later I saw myself on their door- interesting weeks of my life, I experienced a live porn step to take pictures for my foundation project at the show, communal dinners, naked yoga, a free entry to London College of Communication (LCC). As I left the Berlin’s biggest sex club and a first hand experience cold streets of Friedrichshain and entered the warm inside one of the world’s most exotic organisations. The Fuck for Forest flat, I felt as if I had been transported most interesting part was not the organisation or the to a 1970s acid trip. Posters, plants and bras hung from sex, but the lives and personalities of all those people dried tree trucks, pornographic images, nudist manifes- involved. To experience a lifestyle completely different tos and coloured lighting stood out in the apartment, from my own influenced not only my work but also the but not as much as the people in it. My contact in the way in which I see the world and sexuality. Fuck for organisation was a childhood friend who had been liv- Forest taught me not to feel ashamed and to embrace ing with them for a few months, this gave me unlimited our bodies and desires.

“It was a mixture of politics, sex, colours, dildos, laughter and love”

ETHICAL PORN FOR A BETTER WORLD Saving the forests, one fuck at a time

30 31 Words: Joshua Potter

Images: Laylah Amarchih THE GUIDE TO LIVING GREEN IN THE CITY Some simple and practical steps that every urban dweller can take to cut their carbon footprint and do their bit to help to protect the environment.

This year with the mainstream attention given to COP21 to travel public, either bus or train works, though trains The Better in Paris and the warning of the global rise in temperature tend to be seen as the better option. The next step up from the previous suggestions for go- by two degrees Celsius, the call to change is even more ing green includes actions such as e-cleaning: in other prominent. This call to change far too often falls on emp- If your journey is slightly farther than the reaches of words, wiping your online files and your computer of ty ears because there’s no practical application or desire public transport in your area, look for organisations such anything unnecessary. to change. as Microstop. Similar to Blablacar, Microstop connects multiple people going to specific areas so they can car- It may seem silly but your computer requires power This rings especially true when speaking to students, pool and reduce their emissions. A spokesperson from to run, and that power needs to be created, usually by like those in big cities, who are constantly told to live Microstop told Artefact that “a third of car traffic is for means less than ideal for the environment. The more greener and be more environmentally friendly but never short-distances, and the best areas to share short-dis- unnecessary stuff on your computer, the more power told how. So here, to force the complacent out of their tance ridesharing is in urban areas”. Better yet, get a bi- required to run it. The more unnecessary stuff on the comfortable I-don’t-know-how excuses, is your defini- cycle and cycle everywhere; the benefits of cycling are cloud, the more power required to store it. It works the tive guide to living green in the big city, so helpfully laid immense. same way. out by degree of difficulty. If you have the skills and are prepared to go one step The good further into the world of DIY, consider using scrap and Firstly, it’s important to address the commonly raised reclaimed wood and old tires to make things like shelves topic of recycling. Recycling isn’t the be-all and end-all in and seats. Consider building your own water heater; the topic of green living but it’s a brilliant place to start. websites abound in instructional videos about making items such as this. What many don’t realise is that recycling is less about throwing plastic in one bin and paper in another. It’s Forget plastic bags all together and bring Tupperware about only using materials that can be recycled or re- containers to your local shop. using materials that you would have otherwise thrown away. It’s relatively easy in a big city to find a recycling When shopping, don’t just shop locally, but shop bin and, if there isn’t one in the immediate vicinity, keep ethically. It isn’t as difficult as it sounds and all it hold of whatever it is you were going to throw away and takes is figuring out where to look. Websites such as wait until you find one. goodonyou.org help that search to be even easier.

Bring your own bags to the shops and shop locally. In continuing the trend, eat ethically. Local and fairly Bringing your own bags to the shops is another way of traded; anything ethically made is best. recycling and making sure less stuff gets thrown into the landfill. Those supermarket bags that you now have to Don’t throw things away – recycle everything you can. pay for don’t get recycled unless you actively choose to Most disposed items can be ingeniously used for some- use them repeatedly. thing else and the majority of food thrown away can be eaten. For example banana peels; banana peels are actu- Shopping locally is more than just about helping local ally very healthy and eaten in many parts of the world. businesses; those small shops and markets don’t have the connections to the big oil companies that the bigger Don’t buy packaged goods and don’t use paper; plastic is companies have. They also don’t fly their food around in inherently bad and less paper means more trees. planes or drive it across the world in trucks, and their overall carbon footprint is significantly smaller than the Finally, opt for Co-op banking or any other ethical bank. Oh, and about transport, don’t use buses or trains or big supermarkets. The smaller banks not only help smaller businesses cars, just cycle, or get a taxi-bicycle. but also disconnect your money from the reaches of oil Oh, and get a sturdy water bottle that you can use many companies and big businesses. Smaller, ethical banking Most phone companies are far less than ethical and times and wash yourself (by hand; don’t use a dish- means your money isn’t going somewhere that sup- many parts of your phone hold a dark and environ- washer). The store-bought bottles have flimsy plastic ports the use of massive machinery that expels copious mentally shady history. That’s not to say we should just that breaks down much easier after repeated use and amounts of carbon dioxide. throw our phones away, as that wouldn’t be practical for constantly buying them encourages constantly produc- the vast majority of city-livers. ing them, which just produces more plastic. Google how The most important thing here is to ensure that your plastic is made if you want to know why it’s so bad. money doesn’t go near big oil and coal companies that A more practical solution would be to switch to Fair- When going somewhere, opt for the public transport op- make up the majority of global carbon emissions. Keep- phone. Fairphone is a phone created through Kickstart- tion, not a taxi unless it’s a taxi-bicycle. When choosing ing things local means keeping things green. er as a response to the unethical creation of the smart-

32 33 phone. It isn’t perfect, but it’s much better than the many of the people Artefact talked to, cannot sustain alternative. Go to their website to find out more. an environmentally friendly policy. Furthermore, if we continue this path of growth, we will definitely tip over The Radical the two degrees Celsius scale and climate change will The radical is called such for a reason. Usually the most become irreversible, leading to potentially irreparable effective but also the most difficult to implement, radical damage. measures are the ones that tend to require a significant level of change. To practise a concept such as de-growth requires an active and relatively dramatic change of lifestyle, and it Radical environmental practices are probably best isn’t exactly easy to do. But as many at the Global Village summed up in the words of Barnabé Chaillot, who spoke are saying, it isn’t much of a sacrifice when what we’re to Artefact during the Global Village Summit at COP21. getting back is our world. Chaillot was standing at his stall next to a home-made heater, making his own metal contraptions for all sorts The issue of individuality of things. The prevailing excuse for not going green and changing one’s living habits tends to be somewhere along the lines “The best thing that you can do really is to turn the heat of: “it won’t make a difference”. off and cover up. Say goodbye to electric light too. No more lamps, you wash your laundry with cold water. You It’s true, any one person on an isolated scale changing wash yourself once a week, preferably with no soap and their life to live greener has no effect on the global scale. a bit of water ash.” It’s also true that any one person on an isolated scale not changing their life to live green has no effect on the Chaillot runs a blog called energie-autrement, where he global scale. maps out ways in which people can live in a healthier and greener fashion. His blog features numerous DIY But that’s not what’s happening. Complacency simply videos from advice on making a rocket stove, or your means that those who are complacent are fuelling the very own wind turbine to how to listen to a radio using problem. The more who are complacent, the more the a candle. climate suffers; the more who are actively changing, the more the climate benefits.

But there are still issues, and ultimately one person changing, even on a mass scale, isn’t going to be enough. With that in mind, possibly the greatest change that any person can make, especially a student, is to mobilise and raise your voice.

“Turn the heat A 2013 study claimed that 90 companies make up two thirds of the world’s carbon emissions. This means that if every human reduces their carbon footprint but the off and cover up. big companies still don’t, the issue of global warming will remain huge.

Say goodbye to That’s why people such as Nicolas Haeringer from 350. org, an organisation fighting to save the climate, and Clara Paillard from the Public and Commercial Servic- electric light. Wash es Union in Britain, say the single most important thing that can be done is to unionise and join forces.

your laundry with “Mobilisation is very important and will be the only way we can change government’s attitudes and put the pres- sure on the oil industry and ultimately find real solution cold water. Wash to climate change.”

Etudiantsetdeveloppement.org is another organisation yourself once a that works with students around the world to come together and realise projects and goals that simply would not be achievable by one or a few individuals acting week preferably with alone. “We help students start initiatives and projects evolved around international solidarity. Climate change is one of the main issues that students discuss and or- no soap and a bit of ganise using our network to get new ideas, questions, and schemes,” says Jocelyn Moncomble from Etudiants water ash” et Developpement. Finally, in partnership with mobilising, is to be educat- ed and engaged. There are many facts and figures sur- rounding the climate change debate and it’s easy to get disorientated with what’s actually going on and to be misinformed when it comes to the key issues. Chaillot lives out in the countryside and some of his tu- torials, like how to dry apples yourself, might not be the 2050.scot are a Scottish organisation dedicating to em- most helpful for someone living in a big city like London. powering young people to dive into the climate change However there are ways to implement many of his tech- debates and take control of their own future, a future niques to ensure a healthier, eco-friendlier lifestyle. that will be changing and to which students will have no choice but to adapt. They said: “one of the reasons At the Global Village at COP21, where numerous organ- why we need to educate young people on the effects of isations have gathered at stalls to show how they are climate change is because their world is going to dra- living differently, the key point constantly being raised is matically change, no matter what, and we all need to be that we need to learn how to live with less stuff, this is prepared for this. called de-growth. “We feel that young people, once educated, empowered, The current growth that humanity is experiencing in and equipped, can bring a sense of urgency, a new per- terms of technology and infrastructure, according to spective, and new solutions to drive change.”

34 35 Words: Simon Hinde

Images: Arup and Heaterwick Studio

A GARDEN BRIDGE TOO FAR? A ‘tiara on the head’ of London or a vanity project that nobody needs?

From the terrace of Somerset House in about 1750 Lumley set about finding a suitable location for what Emmott - formerly head of special projects at Heather- around 50 active members, and around 13,000 people Canaletto painted two views of the Thames, one looking was then intended as a tribute to Princess Diana. The wick Studios. have signed their petition. East towards the City, one west towards Westminster. bridge, she decided, had to be central. Built upriver, it You can see St Paul’s in one direction and Westminster would be a curio: in the centre of town it would be a Critics of the Garden Bridge complain that the process Lee lists a series of objections to the bridge. First, that Abbey in the other but in the two paintings there is grand gesture, “a tiara on the head of our fabulous city”. has been all too cosy, a kind of stitch-up among a group it will wreck views across the river, particularly of St only one bridge: Westminster, then newly built. of influential friends but when I meet Emmott at the Paul’s. It will bring crowds flocking to a part of the In the end, a fountain in Kensington Gardens was cho- Trust’s Somerset House offices she is at pains to insist river that is already busy. TCOS fear that the extra Now in the same stretch there are no fewer than seven: sen as the Diana memorial but a decade or so later, Bo- that all the proper procedures had been followed. “This visitors drawn by the bridge will make the area unbear- Westminster, Hungerford, Waterloo, the Millennium ris Johnson became Mayor of London and shortly after went to a standard tender and Heatherwick won and able. They also point out that the bridge will take away footbridge, Blackfriars, Southwark and London. Soon his election, Lumley was in touch. According to a letter there has been an audit that shows that the process existing open space and involve cutting down several there will probably be another: the Garden Bridge, released following a Freedom of Information request was conducted correctly”. mature trees. planned for a site between Waterloo and Blackfriars by the Architect’s Journal, she offered him ‘a thousand and the subject of some controversy. congratulations’ (‘our cheers and shouts reached the Lumley’s pitch was for a bridge that would ‘set hearts Then there are questions about the cost and the use of rafters, soared above the Shard’) before proposing that racing and calm troubled minds. It will enchant every- public money. TfL had originally promised £30 million Just above the Somerset House terrace on which Cana- she and Heatherwick should meet him to discuss the one who uses it.’ Emmott’s is far more practical. After towards the bridge but in November this was cut to £10 letto painted are the offices of the Garden Bridge Trust, Garden Bridge. a brief nod to a ‘magical garden in the centre of Lon- million, with the other £20 million being converted to a whose job it is to bring bridge number eight into being. don’, it’s all facts and figures designed to demonstrate loan (a ‘sham loan’, according to TCOS). Tfl is also act- Lumley is an old family friend of the Johnsons. Boris’s the need for a pedestrian link in the centre of London, ing as the final guarantor of the annual running costs Unusually for a major public works project — which mother, the artist Charlotte Wahl Johnson, painted her reducing congestion around Waterloo station and revi- of the bridge. If the Garden Bridge Trust can’t come up normally emerge through proposals, feasibility studies, portrait in the early 1970s. In a BBC interview, asked talizing the north bank of the Thames. It’s a pragmatic with £3.5 million a year, the money will come from the committees, reports, more committees, more reports — how she has managed to take the bridge proposal so vision that leaves some unconvinced. public purse. Is this a good use of taxpayers’ money in the Garden Bridge has a rather glamorous back story, at far, Lumley replied: “I’ve known Boris since he was a time of austerity, asks TCOS. the centre of which is a celebrity with a mission. four, so he’s largely quite amenable.” Opposition is led by Thames Central Open Spaces (TCOS), whose representative Wai-King Lee meets As well, there are a host of quite technical questions It was Joanna Lumley, actress, national treasure and After this letter, the process moved rapidly. Transport me on the south bank of the Thames, near a slightly about the process, underpinned by a feeling that this friend of the Gurkhas, who, round about the turn of the for London (TfL) decided there was scope for a “new scrubby patch of grass that is earmarked for the base whole project has been railroaded through without any Millennium conceived that what London needed was footbridge in central London connecting the South of the Garden Bridge. TCOS was founded by a group real regard for the wishes of local residents or the inter- a garden bridge at its heart. She discussed it with Sir Bank with the Temple area”. Three firms of architects of local residents angered at what they feel has been a ests of the wider public. Terence Conran who introduced her to Thomas Heath- were invited to submit proposals and Heatherwick’s lack of consultation. “It was undemocratic. They didn’t erwick, the designer now known for the new London design was chosen. Lumley was named in Heather- consult the residents. They barely consulted London The Trust acknowledges that some views will be affect- Routemaster bus and the 2012 Olympic cauldron, who wick’s bid as an ‘associate’. She is now a trustee of the with a consultation process that was on the TfL website ed but Bee Emmott says the planting of trees on the Conran believes is ‘the new Leonardo da Vinci’. Garden Bridge Trust, whose executive director is Bee only, a few adverts in newspapers”. TCOS claim to have bridge has been planned to protect views of St Paul’s.

36 37 “Additionally — and this is subjective — we feel this has the right to close the bridge on twelve days a year will create new views of London and will allow you to to hire it out for private events. Attended by whom? At see views that at the moment can’t be seen at all.” the moment, the trust cannot say and Emmott smiles at the suggestion that it will be parties of MPs and puce- She acknowledges that the Bridge will draw people to faced bankers, knocking back champagne and braying the area but insists that they have plans in place to at the proles on the river bank. The Trust is canny manage the flow of visitors. enough to avoid that sort of PR disaster.

Emmott defends the use of public funds as essential to However, the Garden Bridge feels like part of a stealthy encourage private donors. “Without the public money, I process of privatisation of swathes of London, under don’t think we would have got as far as we have. We’ve the guise of development and regeneration. Parts of the been set up to build, maintain and operate the bridge capital that you would assume were public turn out to so the intention is never to draw down on that [£3.5 be owned by property companies which allow us access million a year] guarantee.” on their terms.

The Granary Square development at King’s Cross, one of the largest open urban spaces in Europe, is private- ly owned, as is the huge new development at Nine Elms. The South Bank of the Thames is pockmarked with unexpected patches of private ownership, where you might be curtly told to get off your bike by a tabard-wearing representative of a property company. “The Garden Bridge You’d never know it but the wide riverside path outside City Hall, that thousands of people stroll along every day, is actually private land, subject to a large number is so ill-conceived of restrictions.

Private ownership of the bridge is an unusual arrange- and poorly ment, admits Bee Emmott but, she implies, this is a technical issue that people shouldn’t really worry about: “There is a blurring between what’s private and what’s thought out” public but it’s how it’s operated that’s important.”

After our meeting the Trust mails me with some further thoughts: “We're not just another developer buying up land in the middle of London from local authority and using it for commercial gain. The Garden Bridge is the In the history of large building projects in major cities opposite of land privatisation, we’re creating this brand there have always been objectors: the artists who new space specifically for public use 365 days a year. decried the Eiffel Tower as ‘a truly tragic street lamp’ We're also a charity with deep links in the community.” and a ‘hole-riddled suppository’; the contemporaries of Wren who found St Paul’s impossibly vulgar; the ar- To most of us, most of the time, it probably doesn’t chitecture critic who found Tower Bridge ‘childish and make much difference whether a bridge, square or ugly’. Maybe time and changing taste will put TCOS on street is public or private. We go about our business, the wrong side of history. not knowing if we’re on private land or public.

However, Lee bristles when I suggest that she might There are times when it does matter, though, as when be just another narrow-minded nimby. “That is a lazy a photographer was ordered out of Granary Square accusation. People wouldn’t complain unless there was because he didn’t have a permit; or when Occupy pro- a bloody good reason to complain. I wouldn’t object to testors were forbidden from entering privately-owned a garden on a bridge in a place where it was needed but Paternoster Square in the City of London. It is at least this is so ill-conceived and poorly thought out. But it anomalous that you could lead a protest march over has to be here, according to Heatherwick, to exploit the Waterloo or Westminster bridges but not over the best views of London and the fact that he says that out Garden Bridge. loud just shows how deluded he is. He clearly thinks that his bridge is going to be the centrepiece of London The regulations on what we may not do on the Bridge, — well, we can’t believe the arrogance.” in Granary Square, Nine Elms and other ‘private- ly-owned, publicly-accessible spaces’ are, in the end, Bridges and gardens are different categories of thing. restrictions on our liberty, laid down and enforced not A bridge is functional: its job is to get people from one by accountable public officials but by private organisa- place to another as efficiently as possible. You don’t, tions that none of us voted for. on the whole, visit a bridge. A garden, on the other hand, is an attraction: people come to visit it and then These spaces, and the rules that govern them seem linger. We’re used to gardens and parks being private designed for a passive, compliant populace that works, or semi-public spaces, gated, governed by regulations shops, commutes and amuses itself only in ways that (‘Stay off the grass’, ‘No barbecues’). But bridges, like meet with official approval. It’s a vision of a dull, en- roads, we expect to be public thoroughfares. forced civic calm that is a million miles away from the anarchic energy that should animate a city like London. The Garden Bridge, however, will be different. Un- like other Thames bridges, it is to be private land and However you dress it up, the Garden Bridge is a private visitors will be supervised by staff who have the power structure in a public place, built with private money to take names and addresses, confiscate and destroy (and a generous public subsidy) at the behest of an prohibited items, which include kites and musical actress who managed to persuade her friend the Mayor instruments. All exercise will be banned, apart from jog- to situate it in the most prominent location in London. ging. Visitors will be prohibited from releasing balloons, It will run by a private body which sets its own rules scattering ashes or taking part in gatherings of any and has a kind of private police force to enforce them kind. People on the bridge will be scrutinised by CCTV and its upkeep will be funded by private parties, closed cameras and tracked by their mobile phone signals (for to the majority of us. If we don’t like it, all we can do is crowd control purposes only, says the Trust). The Trust stay away. Welcome to Private London.

38 39 Words and image: Séverine Chapelle

LONDON 1400Sites of importance for nature conservation NATIONAL NATURE AS A PARK RESERVES

London is well known for its cultural heritage, but the capi- tal has extraordinary urban natural heritage too. What if we turned London into the world’s first National Park City? That’s precisely what a revolutionary movement of Londoners is working to achieve. Back by both school children, charities, 3000 businesses and the leading mayoral candidates, 2016 could be parks the year in which the decision is made to make this radical idea a reality. million people Find out more and help to make London a National Park City at www.nationalparkcity.london.

Respond to the idea of London becoming a #NationalParkCity by tweeting photos, videos and comment to #LondonNPC. 300 farms

local nature reserves

green 850 Km of streams, rivers and canals 47%

30,000 million gardens allotments 3.8 50+ canoe clubs

million trees

sites of specifc scientifc interest

13,000species of wildlife

40 41 Nychos: “Dissected Orca”, Rabbiteyemovement

Graffiti and street art are two related art movements of travel the world to paint together and learn from each this generation. We associate them with rebellion, ille- other. In this respect, it is the most versatile and global gal activities, underground lifestyles and more recently art form that art history has ever seen. as an accepted art form whose products are sold at auction houses and commercialised by PR agencies. Being an integral part of every culture in every era, art has the power to inspire and to educate individuals and Graffiti has its origins in the Bronx of the late 1960s, plays an important role in communicating what matters acting as a form of political and social rebellion that to us now and in the future. GREEN turned into popular art thanks to Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and others. But what does this new art movement have to do with the environment? Street Art was also misunderstood as simple vandal- ism for quite some time — until the first galleries and One of the biggest problems we have when it comes to museums acknowledged it, realising that this art move- protecting our environment is a lack of empathy. In a ment will play a role in making art history. It is a voice fast paced world we have to fight to keep up and rush of our generation, like every other art movement was a as if on a hamster wheel to function in a fast develop- GRAFFITI voice and mirror of its time. It reflects on society and ing, business-driven world. It is a new way of survival How can art promote a more sustainable lifestyle? our perception of the environment, political affairs and that expects us to obey and function more than to ethical standards. reflect and think.

Graffiti and street art are the most globally operating Well, if we forget to look around us, we will fail to keep Words: Penelope Sonder forms of art we have seen so far: influenced by every up with the bigger picture and end up being just anoth- Images: Various culture they visit, graffiti writers and street artists er struggling hamster.

42 43 Swimming with dolphins by Tre’ Packard/ Pangea Seed 2016

“Art and design is the most inspirational and influential way to educate and promote sustainable lifestyles”

North Shore: Sharks by Tre’ Packard/ Pangea Seed 2016

Art can indeed help to bring about change here. Every alogue, change perception, and inspire positive change artist who expresses his thoughts and reflections will around pressing ocean environmental issues". Australia, Nychos from Austria, Onur & Wes21 from The aim should be to get people to empathise, so that have an impact on his audience: it can be a tool to Switzerland, Phlegm from the UK, Tristan Eaton from they want to know more about how to live a more sus- expand your view on the world. Jacques Cousteau, the One of the main challenges for every organisation that the USA and 300 other ARTivists from across the globe. tainable life, educate themselves and spread the word. oceanographer and filmmaker, once said that people wants to appeal to a broad target group is that everyone They have all committed themselves to transcending protect what they love and the more we learn and care relates in different ways: “In my opinion, art and design cultural and linguistic boundaries to inspire positive If we need a friendly reminder of how to do that, this about our environment, the more we will be willing to are some of the most inspirational and influential ways global change through their work. is one of the best ways I can think of. Sometimes, a actively help. to educate and promote more sustainable lifestyles picture — or a mural — can say a thousand words. across the board”, Tre’ says. He implemented his idea Nychos, an Austrian muralist with roots in graffiti, A very interesting example of how art can influence through a project called Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans is one of those artists who collaborates with Pangea- Help PangeaSeed to make a change and change our perception of our planet is a concept festival. Every year, PangeaSeeds’ ARTivists are invited Seed in order to raise awareness. In 2013 he painted If you want to get involved, there are several ways to that brings together oceanic environmental issues and to a different place in the world to experience the local a life-sized, dissected orca whose intestines were full do so. You can always donate a pound or two through urban art. environment and species that PangeaSeed and the local of plastic, trash, and a rubber duck. Though his work PangeaSeeds’ website — https://www.pangeaseed.foun- communities are trying to preserve. As an opening always has a humorous undertone, Nychos points out dation. Your money will be in good hands there and PangeaSeed, a non-profit organisation based in Hawaii, event, these excursions let the participants see first important matters we should not ignore - in this case, every little helps. If you’re feeling generous, you can came into being after Founder and Executive Director hand what is at stake and let that be a source of inspi- the consequences of our carelessness towards the even adopt a mural! A great concept PangeaSeed came Tre’ Packard spent some time on the coasts of Asia. ration for Sea Walls. health of our oceans and a graphic example of where up with lets you donate money for a specific mural Before the press picked up the shark fin scandal, which our litter can end up. (available in three different sizes). still kills as many 100 million sharks every year so that For their most recent project, PangeaSeed created a their fins can be made into soup, he realised that if we series of SeaWalls: Murals for Oceans addressing the “I love to observe peoples’ first reactions to my works”, Your donation will be used to make a direct impact continue to destroy marine life and pollute the oceans pressing issue of climate change and its impact on he says, “On the one hand, there are those that look by making some place in the world more beautiful at the speed we are currently operating, we will soon no the life support system of our planet, the ocean. The away with disgust and on the other hand there are and inspiring a whole community to understand the longer be able to reverse the damage. five large-scale murals were created in the Wynwood those that laugh at the, in this case, rubber duck. Then importance of loving our planet which will make people District of Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach in De- they look closer, and start thinking. I’ve had some pret- feel responsible for its preservation. If you’re more of a So he decided to establish an organisation that makes cember 2015, timed perfectly to coincide with the COP21 ty good conversations whilst finishing the orca, so the doer, PangeaSeed offers some pretty spectacular trips people aware of the importance of environmental Paris Climate Conference. mission has been accomplished, I believe!” you can book to educate yourself as well as others in preservation — on a global scale. This activity, coupled that matter. with his passion for urban contemporary art made it an The list of PangeaSeed’s ARTivists reads itself like a That is definitely a win and a perfect example of what exceptionally innovative project. PangeaSeed’s aim is to who’s who of some of today’s top creative minds: Alexis art can do to bring people together and make them re- If you can’t give money but are interested in becoming “harness the power of art and its tremendous influence Diaz from Puerto Rico, Cryptik from the USA, Faith47 think about what we are doing to our planet with the an ARTivist with PangeaSeed, don’t hesitate to drop on popular culture to generate awareness, stimulate di- from South Africa, Jaz from Argentina, Meggs from lifestyles we are living. them a line.

44 45 Words: Richard Reynolds Words and image: Barbara Lanzafame

Image: Richard Reynolds (remixed)

The Battle for How I built a vertical the Elephant farm — and why

A local resident and communications A novel approach to dealing with professional on the fight for a more the food crisis sympathetic redevelopment

Visitors, commentators and some made from German porcelain. These Right now you are one of six billion Test Two residents have for decades perceived were a collaboration between Southwark people: in 30 years from now, there will For the larger vertical garden we chose the Elephant and Castle’s shabby and Council and London College of Commu- be nine billion of us. During my Masters to plant chlorophytum comosum, fern dilapidated pedestrian realm as the nication in the 1990s. research course in Applied Imagination cyrtomium, fittonia red, croton, spathip- neighbourhood’s big blight. The area in the Creative Industries I came across hyllum and ivy. is dominated by its urban motorway Just before the battle was finally lost, puzzling facts such as this that have snaking around a concrete jungle of the subways were featured in a film never left me. We linked four FLORAVIP systems dangerous, foreboding council estates promoting the most recent single from to create 60 pockets. The work was and pedestrians have been forced to local band, The Maccabees. The closing One third of all food in the world is the same as the previous herb garden; cross the high-speed gyratory in lu- seconds of The Maccabbees’ film shows wasted: this amounts to around 1.3 remove the plants from the pots, wrap ridly painted, labyrinthine, crime-rid- the start of TfL’s attack on them and billion tonnes of food, enough to feed them in a sheet of textile and insert each den underpasses. On such clichés big includes a memorial dedication to David all the world’s hungry four times over. plant in a pocket with dripper. The fall of decisions are made. Politicians, planners Bratby’s lost artwork. Their number one Growing this food, which is never eaten, the water was directed towards a small and their supporters seized on generic album also uses a 1960s photograph of emits 10 per cent of rich countries’ wall made of stones and pebbles instead perceptions of predominantly post-war the roundabout’s listed Faraday Memori- gas emissions. Our present agriculture of a drip tray this time. I enjoyed work- inner-city landscapes as evidence of the al on its cover. footprint is the size of South America ing the land, so to speak, and feeling the need for reconstruction of Elephant and and to feed the extra three billion people fragility and responsibility of creating a Castle’s physical and social landscape. ** in 30 years we would need an additional living system. landmass the size of Brazil. I live in Perronet House, a council tower Two years of campaigning led to lit- The results from the second garden block just over the road from the Lon- tle success in influencing the design, ** were great. There’s room for improve- don College of Communication. Chang- although we did manage to save three ment though, a water recovery system ing perceptions of this block has been mature trees on London Road by en- This year the G20 agriculture ministers to reduce costs is ideal and it would be one of my long-term local projects. It couraging TfL to widen the road away stated that our current methods for great to see how these gardens thrive required developing an online presence, from them. Now the campaign is in growing food will not work for the fu- in other environments such as indoor new branded identity, public events, ing Lend Lease, the developers of the is actually primarily about the piazza- a new phase. The new junction tells ture generations. We need to develop a spaces to test their versatility. merchandise and press coverage. Heygate Estate, into valuing its exten- fication of transport infrastructure and its own story; no one can escape the way to meet the food security and nutri- sive public green infrastructure, which standardization of the Elephant and greater dominance of traffic. Without tional needs for the future world popu- However the tests proved that even I’m best known for guerrilla gardening was destined for clearance to make way Castle as an ordinary part of central the subways the pedestrian experience lation: “If we are to produce 60 per cent when using easy structures, it’s possi- –transforming pockets of shabby public for the foundations of a higher-density London. It’s not about safe, efficient, is intense and stressful; a choice of stop- more food by 2050 to feed the expected Changing the way we grow food ble to explore new areas of production, ground without permission. My neigh- private estate. The developer gradually pleasant journeys. The project is start frustration at slow crossings or 9 billion people, it can’t be business as expanding the potential for development bourhood has been rich with opportuni- realised that retaining some of the 1970s attempting to change perceptions of Ele- dangerous short cuts. usual. We simply don’t have the energy of new green and cultivation habits in a ties to garden because of the value that tree planting made sense. The Heygate phant and Castle to attract developers. or water to sustain such an increase. We is important, otherwise by the conscious way. urban planners in the three post war Estate is now being redeveloped and My revised campaign purpose is to por- need to transform the way we invest in decades placed on greenery as a comple- rebranded as Elephant Park. Sadly the The redevelopment of the roundabout tray Elephant and Castle’s junction as in agriculture and food system”. ** mentary element to their enthusiasm for reality will not be nearly as park-like as only superficially sought to improve greater need of major investment than time I reach 60, I will not only wider roads and taller buildings. How- what was destroyed but at least saving conditions for cyclists: The scheme before. I call the roundabout ‘The Bend’ So I thought: “Why can’t I help trans- Conclusion ever those in charge of this green public some of the mature 1970s green infra- being built means greater congestion a place people are ‘going round’, but not form the farming industry?” Building these vertical gardens was space today — Southwark Council and structure and marketing it as a park on average for every user and increased as well as when the place was a rounda- be without a pension but also exciting as I knew how relevant these Transport for London (TfL) — do not is likely to positively contribute to the air pollution where most pedestrians bout with subways. Innovative farmers committed to chang- structures and experimenting with value it. They see the Elephant’s green Elephant and Castle’s reputation. are waiting for buses. These are consid- ing the agricultural industry are trying alternative methods of farming is for our infrastructure as a financial burden, of ered acceptable costs by TfL and their No doubt TfL and their partners will to find hydroponic, aquaponic, and aero- without food future. However there’s a lack of aware- such insignificance they are clearing it ** partners in return for creating a piazza portray the project as a success once ponic soil-free methods of growing food ness and involvement in this practice. away and selling it for construction. where people could linger. work is completed in May, but privately indoors and in new spaces. More recently I’ve been involved in the a few people working for TfL have said santolina, helichrysum, marjoram, sage, aluminium sheet in a brown colour People read articles online regarding our ** debate over the transformation of the ** it’s an almighty cock-up and requires The main reason for investigating dis- silver thyme and rosemary. I used a similar to the felt pockets supports the impending food and agricultural crisis, Elephant and Castle roundabout, the significant tweaks. Pedestrian crossing used or indoor spaces for farming is to FLORAVIP system by Tutor Internation- FLORAVIP system. I removed the plants but there’s little discussing how every- TfL have removed expansive lawns, best-known feature of the area. The ‘Save Our Subways’ campaign times have been cut to reduce the traffic help the land, currently used for farm- al to create my vertical farm. FLORAVIP and placed each one in the felt pockets. one can help stop it from occurring. It hedgerows and five mature trees at the fought the proposal to close the under- congestion and unfashionable, new pe- ing, repair itself from years of overuse as comes from the idea of using felts for The irrigation system consists of a drip- instils a feeling of helplessness. Elephant and Castle to make way for a While ten years of guerrilla gardening passes beneath the roundabout, using destrian guardrails have had to be added well as introduce new habits of growing synthetic mulch — traditionally a layer per which I inserted into each pocket. wider, longer ring-road and significantly at the roundabout have helped cheer up rational arguments alongside emotive to some pavements to try and make safe food. Changing the way we grow food is of material applied to the surface of an It’s supplied with a drip tray to catch the To tackle this issue I decided to create cut back their proposed mitigating green the dilapidated landscape, the need for elements that highlighted the subways’ what was intended to be an clutter-free important, otherwise by the time I reach area of soil. Its purpose is to conserve irrigation water. It was the building of a a fanzine with individuals and groups infrastructure that was used in their much bigger improvement was clear and cultural value. There was a campaign elegant vista of new stone paving. TfL 60 I will not only be without a pension moisture. beautiful, edible and fragrant collage. using different media named Nature public marketing as recently as Decem- universally accepted. But the vision for website, reporting through social media, are soon to commission perception en- but also without food. Owns the Present. Its contributors are ber 2014. At a micro scale guerrilla gar- improvement was one I and hundreds online films and guided tours to bring hancing pop-up content for their piazza ** The drip tray to catch the irrigation creatives interested in sharing their dening solves some of this abuse, with of others vehemently opposed. The £25 to life the rich set of murals painted by and are expected to put into place their After researching existing design struc- water had to be emptied manually. That sustainable oriented activity. The fanzine small public spaces such as the beds million project is designed and funded David Bratby in the 1990s. I hung one branding of the junction with the name tures of vertical and urban farming I The synthetic mulch in a FLORAVIP sys- was the main restraint in allowing the is a work in progress but aims to inspire outside Perronet House, the playground by a Strategic Stakeholder Group of subway with fragrant herbs as part of Elephant Square replacing its road-cen- decided to create and test my own verti- tem is used to create pockets that can use of the structure in an indoor space, readers to change the environment and within the Hayles Estate or tree pits up Southwark Council, TfL and adjacent the 2014 London Festival of Architecture tric Elephant & Castle Roundabout. cal farm. Summer is the perfect time for hold plants of different types. This type so I would recommend its use outdoors not just fear the future of unsustainable London Road. Guerrilla gardens are not landowners with an inventive and well and commissioned a choral requiem such experiments. I contacted horticul- of system reduces the need of horizontal or on terraces. farming methods but help change them. just greenery where it would not exist resourced marketing campaign. Up which was performed in the subways TfL have won the battle for building a tural Italian company, Sgaravatti Land, spaces. It’s designed to be used internal- otherwise, but an implicit communica- against this were users of the space, res- a few weeks before the first one was new junction but time will tell whether to build a vertical structure and test its ly to cover walls, metal mesh and panels Inspired by the success of the aromatic Today working in the food or nature tion that someone cares for the place. idents associations and other groups. bricked up and pumped full of concrete. they've won the peace, for if popular use for indoor aromatic herbs farming. dividing different areas, for example herbs garden, the company and I decid- industry can be perceived as naive or Supporters of the campaign frequently perceptions remain as bad or worse than outside terrace areas of restaurants. ed to attempt to build a second bigger even a retro profession. But if people’s Guerrilla gardening played a part within What is branded as one of Transport for commented on the appeal of the brightly they were about the old roundabout, Test One The preparation of the structure was vertical garden, this time with a selec- interest becomes out-dated then our a multi-pronged local campaign press- London’s Road Improvement Schemes coloured patterned tiles in the subways, then their objective will have failed. The aromatic herbs selected were intuitive and easy to do. An anodised tion of plants. food will not continue to grow.

46 47 Words: Aurore Kaddachi WHAT'S ON Words: Sarah Temple & Tara Hanrahan Image: Foster+Partners Images: Supertrees, Darren Chin; Bittern, ATM streetart;

National Park City, Luke Massey

Cycling in the air ReNaturing the City Green Week 2016

Suspended cycle paths high above This special edition of Artefact links the city floor could be London's with a symposium at London College answer to risky cycling of Communication entitled ‘WILD’ on Wednesday, February 10.

The population of London grows by work express more joy and less frustra- Last year we met the inspirational product. Determined to get his kids 80,000 every year. 10 billion people are tion than people who drive or use public guerrilla geographer Daniel Raven-El- out into the outdoors, David appointed estimated to live in the city by 2030, transport. The developers of SkyCycle lison, who has an exciting vision for himself Marketing Director for Nature. meaning more people will be commut- know all this and this is why they be- London. Only 18 months ago he initiated With the help of branding and outdoor ing in London and a lot of them will be lieve it’s important that the project gets the Greater London National Park City experts, he developed and launched a looking to move around in the cheapest approved: “It will promote health, lower initiative — a proposal to make Lon- nationwide marketing campaign to get possible way. However, the cheapest obesity, decrease the problem of air pol- don the first National Park City, where children in touch with Nature. David way can also be the most risky. Whoever lution in the city and also be an environ- people and nature are better connect- made the film Project Wild Thing about cycles in London would agree with me mentally friendly transport option.” ed, that is rich with wildlife and every the experience, and a movement to re- that cycling in London isn’t easy, it’s child benefits from exploring, playing wild childhood, The Wild Network, has hectic and dangerous, mainly because of Ideally, the suspended cycle paths could and learning outdoors and where we all grown up around the film. the non-friendly roads for cyclists. generate energy by using solar panelled enjoy high-quality green spaces, the air roads, as developed in Netherlands and is clean to breathe and green homes are Architect, artist and technologist ** also could be used as a method for rain affordable to all. Christian Kerrigan. 200 Year Continu- water collection. um is the overarching title of Christian’s So far what’s been done for cyclists in We have been fortunate enough to work work which explores the possibilities of the city is minor, the blue painted cycle Cyclists around the city have been with Daniel to create the WILD sympo- time in relationship to technology and tracks are inadequate for the simple skeptical regarding the project because sium which is populated with pioneering the natural world. In Christian's project reason that most of them are a small our first impression was that we’d be individuals who are working in symbiot- ‘Growing A Ship In A Yew Forest Over part of the bus lanes that remain very isolated from city life. However Martin ic territories, investigating the exciting 200 Years’, artificial and wild systems dangerous, especially when battling reasssured me: “SkyCycle is a solution intersections between nature, design, are choreographed, and the natural pro- ferocious double-deckers at junctions. them to commute to work or university roads wider. We will have to think about for people who cycle to commute to technology and urban life. duction of resin is harvested from the To improve the roads for cyclists, the in the fastest and cheapest way possible, something new and building in the air is work, it is taking away people from the Wilderness at St Johns Cambridge and Designer Tim Brooke of Future Cit- yew trees as a way of measuring time. North-South and East-West cyclists improving journey times by 30 minutes a solution to that.” transports but certainly no trying to take Contributors to the WILD – ReNaturing their collaborative research regarding ies Catapult. Tim believes that we need only superhighways are being build according to the proposals. them away from the city. People could the City include Symposium: mental well-being in the city in the con- to go Back to the Future, and that old Chair of Design for Social Innovation around London. These superhighways The SkyCycle proposal was developed still cycle in the streets on ground level, text of Ecologies of Addiction. is the new new. Future Cities Catapult at UAL Ezio Manzini. Ezio will present will connect the four major areas of With more than 200 entrance points, by Sam Martin and his employee Oli at their own risk.” Green Candidate for London Mayor is a Government supported centre for ‘the wild/culture paradox’. He asserts the city once completed. Unfortunately, easily accessed through hydraulic plat- Clark, and its innovation quickly caught 2016 Siân Berry. Sian will talk about Design scientist and futurist Melis- the advancement of smart cities and he that today, in the anthropocene epoch these cycle superhighways aren’t being forms, this cycle superhighway in the everyone’s attention. Developers and ** ‘Your London’ — Giving London back to sa Sterry of Bionic City. Melissa’s intends to prove that some of our best (an epoch that began when human activ- constructed all across London. air will be accessible from all around the other architecture firms such as the Londoners: She wishes to empower Lon- contribution is entitled ‘Anthropomor- choices are from a long time ago and far ities started to have a significant global city, about 210 kilometers (136 miles) world-renowned Foster & Partners, re- With a constant population growth doners to reclaim their city. As Green phic meets animal architecture’. Her far away… impact on the Earth’s ecosystems), to A great city like London needs a radical long, as far as the M25 goes in few plac- sponsible for the Millennium Bridge and and a rise of housing in the city, cy- Mayor she will give people the powers work at Bionic City asks ‘How would give ‘wild’ the opportunity to thrive, we solution to encourage its inhabitants to es. The SkyCycle will itself be a network; the redevelopment of Trafalgar Square cling is certainly the cheapest way to they need to run their own communities nature design a city?’ and explores the Nature-based psychotherapist Beth must consciously choose to do it. Ezio cycle, in spite of the dangers spread by it could directly connect its users easily in 1996, and Space Syntax joined. At get around, the thing is London is far as tenants, commuters, pedestrians, potential of biomimetics, biotechnology Colliers. Beth will unpick the benefits of says that we must learn to think in a word of mouth or the Evening Standard. to the city and other areas. At up to 15 first, the idea was just a thought as behind the culture of cycling: “London is parents, children and citizens. and biology in the built environment in natural therapy and nature within urban world where non-humans (including This radical solution could come in the metres wide, the SkyCycle would cer- explained by Martin: “One evening after not a city for cyclists, the infrastructure the now, near and far future. Melissa is lifestyles. Her practice ‘Wild in the City’! those that are not responding directly to form of SkyCycle. tainly not create any traffic on the roads work we were on our way to the pub of the roads do not allow us to live in a Rewilding Britain Carlo Laurenzi recognised as a world leading authority provides opportunities for those living human needs), have a reason to exist. and could challenge London’s cost of with Oli and he suddenly started the cycling-friendly city like Copenhagen. OBE, formerly London Wildlife Trust on the science, technology and thinking in cities to have greater contact with Could you imagine yourself being able to transport with no intention to charge its look up at the railway tracks which are For example everyone in Copenhagen CEO. Rewilding is allowing nature to that could help build a better world. nature and benefit from its potential to Ralph Underhill of The Public Interest cycle in London above train tracks, far users any fees. part of our every day sight from the cycles, firstly because their roads are look after itself, helping people to thrive support well-being. Research Centre, and author of ‘Com- away from the buses, traffic lights, pe- office [located in Battersea]. This is how wider but also because it’s incarcerated alongside wildlife, securing the good Landscape architect Andrew Grant mon Cause for Nature, Why conser- destrians and the other multiple things ** it started, he asked me: ‘Why don’t we within their culture. London isn’t like things that nature provides - clean air of Grant Associates. Andrew believes Radical gardener Richard Reynolds vation needs to change’ will chair the that get in your way when riding the put a cycle path above them?’ and we’ve that and this could change if people and water, carbon storage, flood control, that each city should develop ‘Forests of Guerrilla Gardening. Richard be- Future Feral Debate. streets of London? Well this might be At this point, I do agree it will allow been developing it ever since. were feeling more confident to cycle amazing experiences of Imagination’ to reconnect the urban lieves long term determination and citi- possible. Two architects from Exterior us to have an amazing view but it still safely in the city.” populations with the sensory and spatial zenship proves that Illicit cultivation can Surrounding the WILD symposium, Architecture have proposed a plan that sounds absurd to cycle ‘in the air’, two “The proposal was welcomed by Net- He is passionate that we can’t build experiences of wildness and natural plant perceptual change at The Elephant lectures will be a showcase of art instal- could solve London’s problems regard- floors above ground levels. I thought work Rail and a few months later we Nothing is technically happening to the natural processes but we can help them phenomena. A fusion between art, & Castle and beyond. lations and performances. Silva + Sajovic ing transport: the SkyCycle. tomyself that it will mainly result in found ourselves in City Hall having a SkyCycle project until they get political re-assert themselves. For example, by science, play and curiosity, they can be will host a performative talk (‘Eating negative consequences on the cycling conversation with Boris Johnson in the support and that is the only thing they reintroducing missing species, or by permanent interventions in the city or Artist Rachel Jacobs of Active Ingre- the Bones’) amidst their ‘Five Hundred Despite the collisions and fatal accidents activity of our city until I met Sam Mar- hope to get his approval. Unfortunately, are officially waiting for because until reducing high populations of grazing temporary expositions of nature as well dient. As part of the artist collective Flowers and the Mother Plant’ exhibi- that cyclists have experienced on the tin, one of the two architects behind the he did not approve the cost of it, we esti- the Mayor of London approves the plan, animals to help woodlands grow. More as human imagination. Active Ingredient and in her creative tion. Active Ingredient and ATM street roads recently, figures have shown that SkyCycle project, in his office at Exterior mated the first trial route from Stratford no building can be done. Boris Johnson woodland leads to more insects, more and research work, Rachel explores data, art will display artworks that respond to cycling in the city has risen about 70 per Architecture. In a city like London where to Liverpool Street (about 6.5kms long) already rejected the project so the team plants, more birds, more animals. Rewil- Social/environmental designer An- dialogues and participation to reveal the changing urban ecosystem. cent over the past decade. As a result, most of the roads and the streets are to cost about £220 million, it sounds is talking to other politicians including ding isn’t an alternative to farming. On drew Merritt of Something & Son. invisible, hidden and emotional narra- SkyCycle London is a transport infra- not wide enough to build a cycle path on like a lot but it is actually cheaper than candidates for the London Mayoral elec- the contrary, it can be farming’s greatest Andrew is going to explore bringing tives. Working on city streets, in derelict WILD: ReNaturing the City structure project entirely dedicated to the side of the main roads like in Berlin building traditional roads or tunnels.” tions, due in May this year. ally, by helping restore nutrients to the nature into the City via design and buildings, industrial spaces, galleries Wednesday 10 February current and future commuters on bikes. or Copenhagen, model cities for cy- soil, providing for pollinating insects, architecture. His work is rooted in and forests in the UK and internation- 5.00 – 8.40pm cling, as explained here by Sam Martin, Instead, the Mayor decided to invest in The SkyCycle’s chances of being built purifying water, reducing flood risk and inquisitiveness and experimentation ally to transform environments. 'Active London College of Communication Instead of digging down underneath SkyCycle is a solution to the problem the Garden Bridge (see p36), which will depend clearly on a political approval. If helping resist droughts. with a passion for socially driven and Ingredient in collaboration with Hugo Elephant & Castle SE1 6SB ground levels like the Transport for Lon- of space: “London’s firsts roads were only be accessible by pedestrians and it were to receive approval, the network environmental challenges. A keenness Richards and Natali Tublenchak’. at end don’s (TfL) Orbital Tunnel plan for car build a long time ago by the Romans does nothing to help the rising number will take over 20 years to be built so Landscape architect Johanna Gib- to collaborate has led him to work of her paragraph? For more information, to view the drivers, the SkyCycle would use materi- for horses careering, they are not wide of cyclists dependent on the busy and the estimated 400,000 SkyCycle rid- bons of J & L Gibbons. Johanna’s alongside many different professions programme and booking: als which are already available to build enough for cars, buses and cycles. If we chaotic roads and their commuters. ers-during rush hours-will have to wait work, interests and research are from including swift experts, mushroom men, Documentary filmmaker and cam- events.arts.ac.uk/event/2016/2/10/ the network of elevated cycle paths want to improve the activity and the to be able to cycle in the air and the rest the community nurture in Dalston and scrapyard merchants, farmers, horticul- paigner David Bond of Green Lions. WILD-ReNaturing-the-City/ above train tracks. The routes have been safety of cyclists, there is no way we Cycling offers many benefits. Figures of the Londoners to enjoy impressive spontaneous self seeded urban ecology turalists, scientists and sociologists. David asserts that you can market Na- designed for all Londoners, to allow can knock down side buildings to make have shown that people who cycle to sights of the city. of Bethnal Green to Capability Brown’s ture: that it is the ultimate free wonder #LCCGreenWeek

48 49 LAST WORD Words: David Cross Image: Georgia Brown

Making Change

From fossil fuel divestment to the university as a co-operative social enterprise

In February 2013, UAL Vice Chancellor Nigel Carrington signed the People & Planet ‘Green Education Pledge’ commit- ting UAL to a clear position of engage- ment with sustainability. In my new role as an artist on a placement, I wrote to him to say that this pledge was a bold and admirable move. But we’d need to act fast, if we’re to keep up with the leadership being shown by the students.

UAL banks with National Westminster, which is wholly owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). During the times of easy credit, RBS made so many reckless loans that in 2008 it had to be bailed out with £45 billion of public money. A Cabinet Office spokesper- son said: “the failure of RBS played an important role in the financial crisis of 2008/9 which, together with other mac- roeconomic factors, triggered the worst recession in the UK since the Second World War”. When the disgraced Chief Executive Officer of RBS, Sir Fred Good- win, was stripped of his knighthood, the UK Chancellor George Osborne commented: “RBS came to symbolise could that mean that we’ve no hope of United Nations Principles for Responsi- differently, they could allow us to trans- everything that went wrong in the Brit- influencing RBS because they have pow- ble Investment. Congratulations are due form UAL into the university we want. ish economy in the last decade”. er over us? Or at the other end of the to the UAL Fossil Free team, and to UAL As an experiment in co-determination, scale, could our enormous institutional for listening to them! we could get together and envision UAL RBS branded itself as ‘The Oil and Gas debt make us a valued customer? as a truly sustainable organisation. Bank’, investing aggressively in extreme Positive thinkers might see this as a fossil fuels, including extracting shale I’ve proposed since 2013 that UAL sign that research, reasoned arguments Through a series of talks and discus- gas by ‘fracking’, which poisons vast should divest any funds it has invested and creative actions can have aprofound sions, an exhibition of videos, maps, quantities of drinking water and com- in fossil fuels, and reinvest in energy effect. Realists might remind us that the diagrams, sculptures, paintings, and pounds climate damage from burning that is not only renewable, but also sum divested is only a fraction of the performances, we could develop a model hydrocarbons, through the leakage of decentralised, diversified and demo- university’s total funds (UAL’s annual of UAL as it might be. Here’s what I unburned methane gas. RBS is a major cratically controlled. I have written to report for 2015 says our total income is would like to see: UAL as a co-operative- source of finance for tar sands oil ex- key people in UAL — the Vice Chancel- £263.8 million, and our net assets are ly owned and managed, not-for-profit traction in Alberta, Canada. Destroying lor, Director of Strategic Development, £254 million). Critical thinkers might social enterprise. the wilderness, extracting oil from tar Director of Finance and UAL Head of ask: “What is the difference between sands also emits up to four times more Sustainability — providing summaries a token gesture and a transformative Under ‘Business As Usual’, studying art CO2 per unit of energy than convention- of the latest research connecting climate change? Should we judge an action by and design has been about acquiring al drilling. change and the financial system, and the intention, or by the outcome?” Eco- transferrable skills of innovation and warning of the risk of reputational dam- logical thinkers and artists might agree enterprise to boost employability in the RBS has also funded a devastating age through being associated with RBS. that the link between cause and effect is creative industries. But there’d be no mountaintop removal for opencast rarely ever simple or straightforward. jobs on a dead planet! Besides, artists coalmines in the Appalachian Mountains Across UAL I have given lectures about and designers can do more than deliver in the USA. Between the years of 2005 art, climate change and finance, and Sometimes the law of unintended con- creativity to industry — they can resist and 2011 RBS financed coal mining and argued for divestment. In response, a sequences can create surprising oppor- the monoculture of thought, and con- power companies with £9.4 billion. Polly group of students came forward to form tunities. For example, through its Green tribute to the cultural transition to eco- Higgins, a leading international lawyer, ‘Divest UAL’. They set up an online Paper, the government is pushing for logical sustainability and social justice. is working for the term ‘ecocide’, the de- petition and Facebook group, went on fundamental changes to higher educa- struction of our living ecosystem, to be marches, held stalls at UAL events, and tion. Dr Andrew McGettigan observes The Global Divestment campaign has officially recognised as a crime against submitted a Freedom of Information re- that the proposed changes include: united critical thinking and creative peace. If she and her colleagues succeed, quests. They also staged ‘die-ins’ which – allowing the assets of post-92 univer- action to revoke the fossil fuel industry’s RBS could be tried in the Internation- supported the factual research and prac- sities to be transferred into private “social license to operate”. The 2015 al Criminal Court for their key role in tical actions by demonstrating courage ownership Paris Climate deal has signaled the end financing ecocide. and solidarity. – freeing up universities to change their of fossil fuels. Now, by acting together own governance structures through our university, we have a rare So this pulls our relationship with RBS The Divest UAL group has inspired me. – ending universities’ obligation to oper- chance to protect what we value and into question. Should we try to engage More importantly, they’ve got a result: ate in the public interest make something amazing happen. Our RBS in dialogue about the transition to a in November 2015, UAL announced that future depends on our ability to envision zero carbon society? If it’s true that UAL it will divest its endowments of £3.9 These proposals are designed to destroy alternative possibilities, and to choose has borrowed £200 million from RBS, million from fossil fuels, and sign the education as a public good. But used from amongst them as an act of free will. Take the bike 50 DO THE GREEN THING 51