If you haven’t accessed the Arts, the Environment and Sustainability VLE Resource yet here’s a brief overview of its intent and content.
What is it?
Arts, the Environment and Sustainability is a free OCA Learn Resource – a space that has been created to present relevant student-facing research and activities. These include resource Padlets, reading lists and the hosting of events such as the yearly OCASA Summer of Sustainability workshops. It was co-created by OCA Tutor Dr Emma Powell, OCA Quality Manager Joanne Mulvihill-Allen and student Ashley McLaughlin. It was initially funded and hosted on the OCA Student Association (OCASA) site and then moved across to the OCA VLE for all Foundation, Undergraduate and Postgraduate students to access.
In moving this space from the OCASA website to OCA Learn we hope to build the community, discuss climate justice issues, share and make meaningful incremental changes to our practices and the learning and teaching community.
Why are we doing this?
Given the climate emergency we all have an invested interest in sustainable practices and how these relate to the arts. As individuals and as an organisation we want to encourage discussion and the sharing of ideas and to collectively contribute to an action plan around sustainability that is meaningful and achievable.
What are we doing?
We planned and developed OCA's first Summer of Sustainability in 2023. This was a series of online and in person events linked to the theme of Sustainability and the Arts. We also shared a wealth of student work and launched an Instagram challenge "Sustainable September". We ran another Summer of Sustainability in 2024 and we have ‘in progress’ plans for a Summer of Sustainability in 2025.
How to Get Involved
There are different ways to participate. You can dip into one-off activities or get more regularly involved.
Join an online study event
Use our online learning materials, research and resources
Share your work with us
Why participate?
Share ideas, creative exercises and methods across disciplines
Develop peer support networks
Cultivate ideas to nurture
Gain a personal perspective on ways of responding to the environment and natural world
Challenge your creative thinking, generate ideas and new ways of working
Gain an understanding of working in response to a specific site
Visit lesser known projects and non-art venues (not the big galleries)
Co-learn with plants, micro-cultures, art & design and science
Meet other creative people, share creative tools and ideas across disciplines
Nurture a peer support culture, network with OCA students and staff
Experiment with observation (drawing, writing, photography…)
Record experiences and processes (image, sound, text…)
Reflect on your own learning
We Use Padlet to Share Our Resources
Throughout your engagement with our Arts, the Environment and Sustainability learning resource you will often be directed to Padlet to share your work and to find research and resources. Padlet is a virtual bulletin board used for collaborating.
Sustainable Practice Pledge
OCA and OCASA are committed to reducing the environmental impact we have by using various sustainability initiatives. We invite you to take part in this endeavour by signing our Sustainable Practice Pledge. Scan the QR code on the image on the VLE or sign the pledge here.
Summary of the Current Resource Areas
Below you'll find an overview of the various resource areas but we'll take a deeper dive in future blog posts.
'In Your Own Time' Activity Book
In this section you'll find an activity book which contains practical exercises and instructions designed to be undertaken in your own time enabling you to learn and experiment at your own pace. You'll find content such as: Bookmaking / Printmaking / Eco-dyes / Other tips and quick activities for environmentally sustainable creative practice and play.
Research and Resources
In this section you will find a range of different research and resources relating to Arts, the Environment and Sustainability.
Including: Some of the recorded online resources from OCA events / Books, video and audio recommendations/How Green is Your Curriculum activity and Padlet/Additional Online Learning/Carbon Footprint information.
Environment and Sustainability Glossary
Definitions of some of the terms and language relating to the environment and sustainability.
Art Recycling Hub
This is a group for students to offer items that would otherwise be thrown away. Your junk may be someone else's gold! The aim of this group is to encourage the use of recycled materials in our artwork and to prevent items from going to landfills.
OCASA's Summer of Sustainability 2023
In this section you will find Padlets or other resources/recordings relating to the five sessions that were run as part of this event. Catherine Byrne, Programme Leader Interior Design, kicked off the season with an in-person trip to the Serpentine Pavilion in London. Following this Andrea Norrington, Photography Tutor, ran a bookmaking session. The book structures created the basis for mini sketchbooks that reused waste materials. Liz Cashdan, Creative Writing Tutor followed by running two sessions exploring how poetry can promote sustainability. Next came Jenny Udale, Textiles Tutor, who created a Padlet and ran a session on mending and repair. The online sessions ended with Barbara Henderson, Programme Leader Creative Writing, running two workshops on climate fiction.
OCASA's Summer of Sustainability 2024
In this section you will find Padlets relating to the six sessions that were run as part of this event. Some of the tutor areas also include recordings so that you can still complete the activity in your own time. The six tutors who generously participated were Andrea Norrington, Gill German, Rab Ferguson, Jenny Udale, Catherine Byrne and Liz Cashdan.
Summer of Sustainability Student Work
View the work submitted by OCA students for 2023 and 2024. Many thanks to everyone who participated.
Arts & Environment Online Activity 2019
There is a 2019 Arts and Environment online learning resource that you can access. The content was inspired by visits to Down House and South London Botanical Institute, to be used while being physically there and while being physically absent from the space. As Starterculture Dan Robinson & Melissa Thompson developed a series of partnership projects between OCA and external venues to nurture engagement through situated learning. They developed the online resource as part of an iterative design process with students and staff at OCA. The resource was initially available to students who took part in Arts & Environment study event activity but is now open to all.
You will find the Arts, Environment and Sustainability space on OCA Learn here. If you have any difficulty logging in please email blog@oca.ac.uk
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