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A green recovery for Goldsmiths and Lewisham
This week was an important one for our work at Goldsmiths to tackle the climate emergency, as we published our action plan to get Goldsmiths to carbon neutral. A student and staff campaign last year called for a Green New Deal for the College – it was a campaign I was delighted to support in… →
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Welcoming refugees in hostile times
Last week I was delighted to welcome guests to the first meeting of Localities of Welcoming, a new project connecting people across Europe who are involved in refugee welcoming and support. Below is a guest post about the project by its organisers – my Goldsmiths colleague Professor Sue Clayton, and Professor Anna-Louise Milne from the… →
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Reasons for hope on World Environment Day
Last month London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced plans to close main streets in central London to cars and vans to make cycling and walking safer in the capital, maintaining the quieter roads we’ve seen during lockdown and easing pressure on public transport as people return to work. These are significant changes: when they come into… →
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A local community response to Covid-19
I’ve been moved to see how people are coming together to support others during this pandemic. There are some really important initiatives happening in Goldsmiths’ home borough of Lewisham. Goldsmiths partners including Lewisham Local and Lewisham Council have been playing a pivotal role in the community during the pandemic. They’re part of Lewisham Response Hub… →
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Supporting key workers
Today, 1 May, is International Workers Day. As many of us will be, I’m thinking about the thousands of people across the country who are key workers – risking their own safety on the front lines of the Covid-19 crisis every day. Earlier this week saw one minute’s silence observed across the country to remember the key workers who have tragically died from… →
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The Goldsmiths community – thank you
These really are unprecedented times for us all, personally, professionally and for our community. As Goldsmiths Professor Tim Crook highlighted in a recent blog post, the Goldsmiths campus hasn’t been this empty since the outbreak of World War Two in September 1939, when most staff and students relocated to University College Nottingham to see out… →
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UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women: Global Grantee Convention
The Convention, which took place in Sarajevo between 4-7 November, brought together all current grantees of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women (UN Trust Fund) for the first time, along with UN teams and government and private sector partners from across the world. I worked with the UN Trust Fund closely during… →
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Launch of the Battle of Lewisham mural
In today’s increasingly polarised society, it’s good to be reminded how a community can come together to challenge those who seek to undermine its values. I was reminded of this at the weekend when I spoke at the launch of a new mural commemorating the Battle of Lewisham. That Saturday in 1977, a community came… →
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Breaking Ground
London College of Fashion, UAL alongside its new neighbours in East Bank officially ‘broke ground’ this morning. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who officially launched the beginning of construction works said: “Culture and creativity has shaped our city and made us who we are – the capital is overflowing with talent and imagination and… →
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World Refugee Day: Reflections from Za’atari
As the project evolved I became increasingly fascinated with where the tent had come from, unanswerable questions I received from children, took me to Za’atari – where the tent had once been home to a fleeing Syrian family. I learned fast, that the first person you meet in camp is yourself, your beliefs, your defences,… →