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Notes from the garden
Learnings from Future Neighbourhoods
It’s a beautifully golden afternoon in late October, and I am sitting in Somers Town on a table outside the pub, admiring the seven foot sunflowers that are growing opposite the medical centre.
Unexpected Journeys
Zakariya Sharif Nur, former Global Generation’s Generator and Alumni and now creative strategist ( https://zacology.com/about_ shares the story of when he joined GG as a young person almost 20 years ago and was involved in the creation of our first KX rooftop garden
Looking back at 2024 and looking ahead at 2025
I wake to a bright crisp winter’s day. Finally … after weeks of storms ravaging the country.
As the year ends we are reminded of the magic and beauty that our gardens bring, as places to come together and celebrate, even in difficult times. This year it has been challenging not to be taken over by fear and despair, with extreme weather events being mirrored in different ways across the world, from floods to droughts; with the most recent political events; with wars destroying land and displacing entire populations; and with the constant increase in the cost of living creating ever more inequalities between those that have and those that do not.
Celebrating Personal Transformations - Moments in motherhood and career
3 months ago I made the journey back to work after 10 months on maternity leave. As we sit down to write our blogs, I feel compelled to recognise this shift in my life over the last year, how I have felt working in GG and how my new lives intertwine with work.
Building the past and dreaming of the impossible
I was 14 when I first joined the Youth leadership programmes at Global Generation. Returning to the place where my journey began feels surreal. When I first arrived at the Triangle Site, I had the same feeling I did when I first set foot in the Skip Garden:
NOTES FROM A SKETCHBOOK
I was very excited about joining the Global Generation team for my year 10 work experience placement. Throughout my childhood I have been following the progress of each temporary garden, starting with The Skip Garden at the top of Kings Cross.
Creekside Seasons
A puncture is not how I envisioned starting the day, no one ever does. They always seem to happen when you’re in a rush, people are expecting you, and the weather is particularly…challenging.
Under 5's Messy Play launches at the paper garden
I first visited the Paper Garden when it was inside the Printworks. I attended a community celebration with my two children. We had a great time making pizzas and sawing wood. I thought to myself, what a wonderful place to have so close to home.
City Girl in Nature - Paper Garden reflections
Where do I start about my experience of working with Global Generation in particular Paper Garden.
I remember the first time I was invited down to Paper Garden, Emma had got in contact as she had seen my work, the content I was sharing on YouTube around connecting with nature on our doorstep and what inspired my journey to become ‘City Girl in Nature’.
How To Till Concrete
There was once a palace made of copper, which stood on mounds of woodchip in the middle of desolate plains of concrete. Around it, hedges grew that rivalled ancient palace grounds, like the Yuanming gardens of Imperial China, that tickled the beard of the Old Green Man of the English forests.
Meet the trainees
Our first cohort of earth build trainees has completed their programme. They have learned on the job, while working on our sustainable natural build construction project to create our first permanent community garden, at the #TriangleSite.
We are brick makers
Flow Bracey who is one of our Earth Build Trainee’s reflects on her first involvement with GG as a Brick Project Assistant for the making of our first permanent garden, the Triangle site.
Bumps, Wrinkles and Breakthroughs
Sitting on the other side of the world in Aotearoa New Zealand, where I now live, I received a piece of ‘looking back, looking forward writing from Nicole’ . It was a response to the idea that we might co-write a blog post in recognition of Global Generation’s 20 year history.
Diving into the Voices of the Water Exhibition
Two years ago I joined an exploratory wandering along the river Fleet, with the newly launched Voices of the Water project. We followed the secret river from its source, bubbling up from the ochre clay nursery springs beneath Kenwood, where it nourishes the happy bathers of the ponds just beyond - before dipping down again and winding, largely concealed, toward the city and the Thames.
GG turns 20: A life story, through Kathryn’s eyes
How time flies.
We first met when you were 13 and I was 18. You had just started exploring Canada Water and made yourself known to the community pretty quickly, in my eyes.
VOW: A JOURNEY IN MY DREAM
In London, where the hustle and bustle of the city never seems to pause, winding their way through history and modernity alike, flow the canals. I love walking around London canals as they create hidden pockets of calm amidst the urban frenzy and beneath these waters lies a secret world, full of life and mystery.
Vow: Stories in action
Salina Khatun, a dedicated primary teacher and the CEO of Kindle Corner, is making waves in her local community of Somers Town through a unique initiative called "Stories in Action." These engaging storytelling afternoons are a part of the Voices of the Water project, where Salina and her team of passionate storytellers ignite the imaginations of young children and their families by immersing them in the world of water-themed tales.
Story Garden as a space for Islington primary care staff to gather and connect
I would like to extend a huge heart-felt thank you to the Story Garden for hosting the Islington Wellbeing Community of Practice's monthly in-person gatherings. We, the Islington Wellbeing Community of Practice, are a group of primary care staff; we used the time in the garden to self-nourish, connect with others, and to learn, support and inspire each other to make wellbeing changes within our workplaces
Connecting with Water Through Imagination, Myth, and Art
The barge art session hosted by Sarah Pimenta and Pia Jones was reviving.