"My faith community is Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and has been for over ten
years.  It is a diverse congregation in terms of age, gender, race, and partner choice. Over the past 3 years, our Green Team has not convened, the efforts to ensure Zero Waste events have waned, and the nearby native butterfly and bird garden has been tended by a small group.

 

The Church Building as well as the surrounding green space is in marked disrepair. The Congregation has partially healed emotionally as we proceed with almost all of our activities and worship as a community.

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Take a Hike Day, November 17, will congregate a handful of GSLC families to better understand the historic natural landscape and to identify ways our families would want to “Heal our Earth.”

"Citizens of Quzhou have always had a strong sense of belonging and deep love for the area. Life is peaceful and the landscape is amazing. People born here usually come back to their homes when they grow older. Although the economy still needs developing, the prices and incomes are balanced and support dwellers, allowing them to enjoy their lives.

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Luming Park is an example of a "sponge city," which means that places with plant coverage are better in permeability and infiltration capacity. They absorb the run-off, decreasing the leaching speed and helping to purify water. News coverage has also reported on the park's design and advanced functions. Sponge cities help to solve water resource problems and improve water quality through sustainable methods. This project provides ecosystem services and spreads the spirit that mankind and nature are a coherent entity."

"The Greening Wingrove project is located in the inner West End of Newcastle upon Tyne, which is a small city in North East England. This part of Newcastle hosts the most ethnically diverse set of neighbourhoods in the North East Region with just over 50% of the local population drawn from, principally, Africa, Pakistan, the Middle East, Bangladesh, and Western and Eastern Europe.

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The memory that our area had once been seen as a suburb and had been a place that had gardens was important. Some older residents who had grown up locally still kept small gardens in the narrow frontages of their terraced houses or flats. They were very few in number, but along with new interest in growing food (something that appealed across ethnic groups), and resources from the Lottery funding, it became possible to restart gardens."

"Clement Forest, located in the middle of a residential area, was utilized by the community years ago as a natural area and green space, and also as a walkway for adults to get to jobs and kids to get to school. By walking through the forest, people could avoid walking along the busy streets with their many cars and unclean air. Over time, the forest became neglected and was viewed by residents as unsafe. It was used as a dumping ground and place where drug deals occurred.

 

The community is responding by volunteering time to clear brush for the nature trail, building small bridges and steps across creeks and up hills, and picking up trash. Innumerable bags of trash, tires, and other items have been pulled from the forest depths.  This effort is extending beyond just the surrounding neighborhood, with local government and non-profit organizations beginning to see the vision of the project and its benefits not just for this neighborhood, but as a model for other remnant forest and natural areas tucked away within the city."

"Strandveld Fynbos is a paricularly unique vegetation endemic to the coastal flats
of Cape Town.  The large tracts of Milkwoods, (Sideroxylon inerma), which I remembered from my childhood, so beautifully sculpted by the South-easterly winds had disappeared entirely and
some Strandveld species and the fauna that it supported had become endangered due to this rapid urban expansion.

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Muizenberg, Cape Town is a loosely woven menagerie of bohemian people. Artists, surfers, artisans, authors, intellectuals, academics and activists from all walks of life call it home. The Garden Club had its first meet in my garden in September 2017.  A year later we are a committed core group of eight local gardeners who gather every fortnight, rotating in each others gardens, with biophilic enthusiasm. We exchange surplus plants, cuttings, stories and knowledge. We lean on and support each other through tough times and we all share a love for our environment and its community."

"My Civic ecology practice is in Nigeria-
“Clean Up Nigeria”. This practice is led by a
non-governmental organization committed
to environmental sustainability and protection, social responsibility and community development in Africa.

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Most parts of the cities in Nigeria are broken
places. The government has not been able
to do much to restore cleanliness in the city. There is the need for active citizen involvement to bring sustainable solutions to the sanitation situation.

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There is a fast growing population of young
Nigerians who despite the long history of
uncleanliness still believe in Nigeria’s dream
of being the neatest in Africa. For the love
they have for Nigeria - Topohilia, the
passion to save lives from the devastating
impacts of poor sanitary conditions and
Biophilia - not giving up in their efforts, they have come up with different innovations and initiatives to clean up the city."

"It is no surprise that one of the issues that require the most attention in Mexico
is violence. We, who live immersed in this environment, know that there may not always be a tomorrow, and therefore, we seek to leave a minimal but positive impact on our environment. I live in Toluca, Estado de México, one of the places with the highest rates of femicide; the sale of drugs and guns,
assaults and, most repugnant crimes, are becoming daily occurences.

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However, the memories we have
about the place where we grew up are important, because many are
associated with positive learning experiences. Maybe we can no longer have green areas in the same places a few years ago, but if we can create new green areas, we can create new experiences and beautiful memories about how to improve the environment for present and future generations by maintaining the flora and fauna that continues to surround us."