Author: Jen Keywood

October 2, 2023

For the past couple years, the Grounds and Sustainability Teams have been working hard to create a safe haven for native wildlife on campus. The results have been exciting to observe, and we are happy to report that we now have some regular hedgehogs that seem to have made themselves at home! 

Both juvenile and adult hedgehogs have been spotted in and around Glasney Student Village, catching bugs under streetlamps and scurrying through hedges. FX Plus Biodiversity Project Officer, Abhishek Dixit, says that it is a positive indication that there may have been active nests on campus over the summer.  

Sadly, elsewhere hedgehog populations have been declining due to shrinking wild spaces and hedgerows, the use of pesticides leading to a reduction of available food, deaths due to road traffic, climate change leading to disturbance in their natural life cycle and food availability and littering of their natural habitat. It is fantastic to see that hedgehogs are making a comeback and are returning to Penryn campus. 

Hedgehogs play a critical role in ecosystems of the UK. Being avid insect eaters, they help control populations of pests and insects that would otherwise severely damage plant life of forests, gardens, and farms.  

Through our biodiversity initiatives, we are working towards maintaining and enhancing a well-connected mosaic of habitats (woods, grassland, wildflower meadows, deadwood piles etc.) for our spiny friends to safely navigate around our Cornwall Campuses. 

Thus far, our hard work has paid off with Penryn Campus receiving both Bronze (2020/21) and Silver (2021/22) level certifications with the Hedgehog Friendly Campus program, which is run by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. Now, with confirmed sightings of hedgehogs, this year we are aiming to go for gold certification!  

At FX Plus, we are committed to continue to identify more ways to nurture nature across our beautifully biodiverse campuses, which includes finding creative solutions to remove the potential risks faced by hedgehogs and other wildlife. 

September 25, 2023

The Ecological Citizen Course launches on Penryn campus this week, starting on Friday 29th September. For the last 12 months, the Ecological Citizenship Course has been co-created by students, staff, and our community in response to the ecological crisis. This course is open to all students and staff at Falmouth University, University of Exeter in Cornwall, FX Plus and the SU.

The course aims to nurture creative responses to the climate and ecological predicament faced by us all, and is a supportive space which encourages collective learning, creative enquiry and addresses eco-anxiety. The course is particularly relevant to all those interested in thinking about and shaping the systems of change at play in our world.

Participants will learn by doing through talks, discussions, and workshops. There will also be practical sessions like tree planting, citizen science, ecological structure building, food growing, art making, community service and much more.

The weekly course will usually take place every Wednesday, but the launch and Fireside Feast has been moved to Friday 29th September due to high winds and rain expected this Wednesday (27th Sep).

Those attending the course will now meet on Friday (29th Sep) for a Fireside Feast in the Amphitheatre, outside Peter Lanyon building at 4pm. The Ecological Citizen Course will end with a celebratory Festival Gathering and ‘graduation’ in June.

Reasons to join

• Connect with a diverse group of people invested in responding to the ecological crisis.

• Learn more about the systems at play in our changing world.

• Support your creative practice.
• Process emotions and foster pathways for hope.
• Learn by doing. Attend talks, discussions, and workshops, but also practical sessions like tree planting, citizen science, ecological structure building, food growing, art making, community service and more.

• Develop future facing communication and leadership skills.

• In this course, no one is in charge, and everyone is in charge.

• Have fun. The course will end with a festival for participants and its own ‘graduation’ event.

How do I sign up?

To find out more and to register, visit the webform here.

September 22, 2023

Falmouth University and the University of Exeter and walking and cycling charity Sustrans have organised several Active Travel Events at our Penryn Campus, taking place on Wednesday 27^th September and Thursday 28^th September.

On Wednesday from 10am – 5pm, Sustrans will be running a ‘Dr Bike Day’ with free bike safety checks and adjustments, free bike security marking and local walking, cycling and public transport advice.

Their Dr Bike stand will be located in the Courtyard between the SU and the Stannary and the service is free for all students and staff. Simply leave your bike with Sustrans and pick it up later.

If you don’t have a bike, you can still pop by to say hello! There will be plenty of walking route and public transport information, as well as free maps for those seeking discovery and adventures in Cornwall.

In addition, there will be information for students on how to get free e-bike hire, and for staff about our cycle to work schemes!

Do you already walk or cycle to campus, or perhaps you are thinking about starting? Changing facilities, showers and cycle parking are available across the site. If you’re not sure where they are, come and talk to the team on the Wednesday 27^th.

On Thursday 28^th September from 10:00am – 13:00pm, why not learn how to look after your own bike by signing up to a free bike maintenance session?  Sessions will take place outside in the Courtyard between the SU and the Stannary and are open to everyone.

Free Maintenance Sessions on Thursday 28^th include:

• Session 1: M checks and general maintenance, 10:00am – 10:45am
• Session 2: Puncture repairs, 11:00am – 12:00pm
• Session 3: Brakes and gears, 12:15am – 13:00pm

Sign up at the Dr Bike stand on Wednesday 27^th September or email Helen Morse on helen.morse@sustrans.org.uk.

For more information contact sustainability@fxplus.ac.uk.

September 14, 2023

Last month (August 2023), our university community was saddened to learn of the untimely passing of our colleague Doug Walker. Doug was a revered member of the FX Plus IT & Digital Services Team for over 11 years and was diagnosed in early May 2023 with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML). The type of AML that Doug had was extremely aggressive, and after a brave three-month battle with the cruel disease Doug passed away peacefully surrounded by his family. Doug leaves behind his partner, Charlotte, and two sons.  

Colleagues from across our university partnership attended a memorial service last Saturday (9th September 2023), whereby the family asked not for flowers but for donations to help raise money for Leukaemia charities and bodies of medical research that aim to give people with a similar prognosis to Doug a better chance in the future. “All Doug wanted to do, and did, was help people. We hope you can help us honour him,” said Charlotte on the gofundme page set up for the cause. 

With the support of Doug’s family, on Sunday 17th September, a group of five colleagues and friends aim to take on the challenging ride from Falmouth to Taunton (200 kilometres). Four of the group will attempt the full 200km distance, with the fifth member aiming to cover at least 120km, all to raise funds to help others fight AML in memory of Doug. The riders taking on the challenge include Rob Lawrence, David McAllister, Stuart Gaslonde, Tim Lawrence and Nathan Prisk. The team will also be followed by Gemma Prisk who has volunteered to drive the safety and support vehicle.
 
Rob Lawrence, the organiser of the 200km bike ride, said: “Soon after we discovered that Doug was ill, we wanted to help. We planned this challenge as a fundraising event for Doug, hoping to raise money for research into AML and to show support for Doug and his family. Sadly, AML took Doug far more quickly than any of us could have anticipated. Doug and Charlotte faced AML head on with incredible courage and dignity, and we want to honour that by completing this challenge – in Doug’s memory.” 

The team of riders will set off from Falmouth campus at 07:00 on Sunday 17th September. If you would like to support them, please donate via the family’s gofundme page. You can also check out the full cycle route here. Do join the ride by popping out and giving the team a wave if you see them passing.

August 23, 2023

Work by students from Falmouth University’s School of Communication and Institute of Photography is currently on show in the exhibition space next to the Compass Desk at Penryn Campus Library. The display takes viewers on a unique A–Z journey through 26 Cornish places and their richly resonant names, in poetry and photography. A beautifully produced book designed by a team of Graphic Design BA(Hons) students, also accompanies the exhibition.

The exhibition seeks to unlock the secrets of language, history, and the legend of some of Cornwall’s place names. To do so, the national writers’ association invited 26 writers to visit 26 places around Cornwall, some well-known, some well off the beaten track. Photographers then took the writers’ words with them to explore these places and inspire their own work, and the result is a multi-faceted celebration of Cornwall and its richly storied culture.

Julia Webb-Harvey, a Falmouth-based writer, PhD student and co-organiser of the project, said: “Like many people who live in Cornwall or come here as visitors, I’ve long been fascinated by the wonderful resonance of Cornish place names. There’s so much history and so many fascinating stories behind these, and that’s what we wanted to uncover.

“We’ve included places for every letter of the alphabet and in every part of Cornwall. Finding an X was challenging but it turns out there is one – though it’s not at all easy to get to!”

Each writer has created a ‘sestude’ – a poem of exactly 62 words – in response to their place, and these are being shown alongside the photographers’ work at Penryn Campus Library.

The accompanying book includes poems, photography and longer explorations of the places and their names, with an introduction by Cornish language expert Kensa Broadhurst looking at how historical and linguistic change has shaped the names of Cornwall’s villages and towns. Penryn Library have three physical copies of the book, titled ’26 Places in Cornwall’, available in their collection to be borrowed.

Tom Scott, a writer and Falmouth University lecturer who helped organise the project, said: “I was assigned to Nancekuke, near Portreath, which has not only a fascinating history but also a mysteriously ambiguous name. The Cornish language has changed over time, and possible derivations from Kernewek include phrases meaning ‘blind valley’, ‘empty cemetery’, or possibly even ‘cuckoo valley’.

“At one time it was home to the UK’s largest chemical weapons factory, but before that it was a popular spot for picnickers from nearby Redruth, and famous for its splendid turnips. It was an extraordinarily beautiful spot to visit, but it also felt haunted by many ghosts from the past.”

The celebrated Falmouth-based poet Penelope Shuttle was assigned to Feock and was so inspired by it that she produced 26 sestudes responding to the place and the shadowy saint from whom it takes its name, five of which are included in the book.

The photographers contributing to the project are all Cornwall-based and include several who have shown internationally as well some of Falmouth University’s most talented student photographers.

Tom said: “Being able to involve students in collaborations like this is one of the best things about teaching at a multi-arts university. It’s a great way of challenging them creatively and gives them valuable experience of working on high-profile projects alongside professional practitioners. And the work they’ve produced for the show is stunningly good.”

The exhibition at Penryn Campus Library will run until Friday 20 October. The library is open from 9am to 8pm Monday to Friday, from 10am to 6pm on Saturdays, and from 12pm to 6pm on Sundays.

Penryn Campus Library is home to an archive of books that have been born out of previous 26 projects with partners including the V&A Museum, the London Underground, PEN International and the British Library.

The book that accompanies the show, 26 Places in Cornwall / 26 Tyller yn Kernow, can be bought at the Falmouth Bookseller or from the 26 website, where you can find out more about the project.

August 17, 2023

Penryn Campus, which is jointly owned by Falmouth University and the University of Exeter, has officially been recognised as one of the country’s best parks as it once again achieves the coveted Green Flag Award for 2023.

For the sixth consecutive year, the Penryn campus will raise its Green Flag – the international quality mark for parks and green spaces – from the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy.

Penryn campus is set in 100 acres of countryside, overlooking the Fal estuary, and unfurls from the historic Tremough House, which has its origins as an 18th century girls’ boarding school. The grounds boast herbaceous beds, sub-tropical planting, a fruit producing orchard, an 18th Century lime avenue, and a drive with Pinetum native woodlands and historic rare rhododendrons which were cultivated on the site in the Victorian era.

Keep Britain Tidy’s Green Flag Award Scheme Manager Paul Todd MBE said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved at Falmouth University and the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in achieving a Green Flag Award.

“The site is a vital green space for the community, bringing people together and providing opportunities to lead healthy lifestyles. The staff and volunteers do so much to ensure that it maintains the high standards of the Green Flag Award and everyone involved should feel extremely proud of their achievement.”

At Penryn, specific care and attention have been made to seed and set aside wildflower areas, to protect and increase biodiversity. “Both Falmouth University and the University of Exeter are dedicated to sustainability under their Climate Emergency declarations and a key part of this involves supporting green spaces and the biodiversity on our beautiful campus,” explains Oliver Lane, FX Plus Director of Residences and Facilities in Cornwall.

The Green Flag Award scheme, now in its 27th year, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

“It is fantastic that Penryn has retained this award for a sixth year. It highlights the hard work of our teams and volunteers – both students and staff. Particular thanks should go to Toby Nenning, Grounds and Gardens manager, and Casey Thomas, Head of Facilities Management, and to their teams,” said Oliver.

The esteemed accolade is testament to the tireless work and dedication of the entire team that care for the grounds and gardens at Penryn, rain or shine, 365 days a year, so that all campus users can enjoy the beautiful green spaces here.

We hope that over the summer, whilst the gardens are in full bloom, you will join us on the number of walks and activities that the Sustainability teams have planned to encourage you to connect and immerse yourselves in the nature that we are nurturing here on campus grounds.