News and Blogs Round-up

Martineau Gardens, in Edgbaston invited pupils from Christ the King Primary School, Kingstanding  to become Plant Professors for a day, during their school visit to the Gardens on Outdoor Classroom Day (Thursday 18 May). When pupils attend a teaching session at Martineau Gardens they learn about the natural environment in the grounds of a beautiful community garden. Whilst …

May 20th marked 14 years of Arkive which now features over 16,000 species, adding over 3 new ones every day. In the human world, the 14th year of marriage, is celebrated as the ivory anniversary. While elephant-themed gifts are now the go-to for many couples, the ivory trade persists around the world and is driving the world’s largest land animal to extinction. For this 14th anniversary,…

 Yesterday was the International Day for Biological Diversity – and we forgot to remind you; but maybe you knew already.  The UN set up IDB to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues.  You’ll find some history here.  The theme for 2017 is Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism, and here’s what the UN press release said: Tourism…

This link takes you to a series of graphs in the Economist which show how a range of different countries in the EU use wind energy to generate electricity. In 2015, the amount generated from renewables was 600 Terawatt Hours with wind being the source of over 50% of it. Germany is the best generator…

The Woodland Trust is leading a call for a Charter for Trees, Woods and People (the charter project) with more than 70 organisations taking part.  The details are here. On 6 November 2017, the 800th anniversary of the influential 1217 Charter of the Forest, the Trust will launch the Charter for Trees, Woods and People.  It says…

It’s World Environment Day on June 5th. What will you be doing? Here’s a pack of ideas for you, and a series of toolkits if you’re short of inspiration.

The Health and Wellbeing from Natural Places for Schools and Community event will take pace on Friday 23 June at the University of Plymouth. This will combine research and practice to help schools and community organisations deliver health and wellbeing outcomes in natural environments using evidence-based practice. There will be two parallel session strands that feature research from school and community contexts…

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, together with The Prince of Wales’s International Sustainability Unit, have announced the launch of the $2 million New Plastics Economy Innovation Prize. The Prize which is funded by Wendy Schmidt as Lead Philanthropic Partner of the New Plastics Economy Initiative, calls for innovators, designers, scientist and entrepreneurs to help create packaging that keeps…

The Science Geek blog has a detailed account of the discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a small cool star known as Trappist One.  It begins: Trappist-1 and its planets were discovered by a team from the University of Liege in Belgium, using a telescope in Chile called TRAPPIST – the TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope.  The team discovered the…

There will be a Promoting Environmental Education in Bangladesh workshop on 20th July at BCU, Millennium Point, Birmingham (approximate 10:00-4:00 with lunch provided).  This is held in partnership with the Build Bangladesh/ Prokriti O Jibon Foundation (PoJF) The purpose of the workshop is to share background experience and knowledge on establishing environmental education programmes as part of mainstream curriculum,…