An immersive walk and talk in central Govan with Neil Gray, exploring issues of Clydeside gentrification and development, asking what it all means for the Clyde Commons. With new developments, including the Govan–Partick bridge, Govan is often said to be ‘up and coming’. For some, this is good news and for others it suggests the possibility of gentrification in the area, leading to higher housing costs. But what is gentrification? How does it reveal itself? New cafes and bars? middle class incomers? Or something else? This immersive walk and talk, led by writer, researcher and former resident Neil Gray, will cover the central Govan area, discussing these issues and asking what it all means for the Clyde Commons. It will also pose the question of walking as an urban research method.

Following the walk, we’ll gather at the CHE library in the Pearce Institute for its re-opening after months of repair and restoration, and relaunch as Govan’s community wisdom space. CHE Executive Director Luke Devlin will invite reflection on our vision and heritage, followed by a collective oiling of the Centre’s famous handcrafted table to reconvene the space. Rich in symbolism and shaped by many hands, it stands as a living artefact of the Centre’s enduring conversation between ecology, culture and community.

Expect conversation, encounter and the unexpected as we explore the cultural, political and ecological life of the Clyde bioregion in a roundtable gathering to conclude the event. This evolving session will bring together voices, practices and perspectives connected to the Clyde bioregion and community, opening space for shared inquiry into heritage, ownership, ecology and belonging. The programme is still unfolding: registered attendees will receive full details.

Contributors:
Neil Gray – writer, researcher, and former resident of Govan, whose work includes a focus on housing and tenants’ movements, and urbanisation
Saffy Setohy – dance artist and choreographer, former artist in residence for the Clyde Bioregion Programme
Luke Devlin, Executive Director of the Centre for Human Ecology

This is the first gathering of our event series, Dear Green Commons. It is followed by another event on the same day, ‘Flourish’ (separate booking required).

We’ll explore these heritages as a living commons for economic activity that sustains wealth and power within local communities. The resulting discussion will feed into the wider conversations of the Dear Green Commons event series on how to nurture and protect the commons across the city in just and equitable ways.

Contributors:
Pinar Aksu, Diana Quintana Cataño, Zarina Ahmad, Fergus Walker, Moogety Garden, Svenja Meyerricks

Dr Pinar Aksu (keynote) is a Research Associate on multilingualism and learning for sustainability and a Research Affiliate with the UNESCO Chair RIELA at the University of Glasgow. Pinar recently completed her PhD on art practices for social change and access to justice in migration. Pinar is also a campaigner and activist on asylum, immigration, law,  and politics. She is interested in finding connections between solidarity, art, justice, and the law with migration, with a focus on creating welcoming communities through critical dialogue and understanding of one another.

Zarina Ahmad (panel) is a feminist climate change and race equality activist. She is also a doctoral researcher at the University of Manchester on food and environmental sustainability in immigrant households.

Diana Quintana Cataño (panel & busker in residence) is a Colombian community educator, artist and organiser shaped by feminist and popular education traditions from Latin America. She has participated in grassroots organising in Argentina, Colombia and Scotland around collective memory, land struggles and social justice.

Fergus Walker (panel) is The Orchard Project’s project manager for Glasgow and Strathclyde. Fergus grew up on his family croft in the Isle of Skye, and this formative education sowed the seeds of an ongoing interest in sustainable food production. He is a founder and chair of practical projects to support small-scale and cooperative food growing in Scotland.

Moogety Community Garden (stall) is a ‘practically existing commons’ space in Govan where the community contributes and learns gardening skills, and gets involved in the community.

Dr Svenja Meyerricks (host, Centre for Human Ecology) is a human ecologist who works in regional climate networks. She is involved in grassroots commoning processes, regenerative food production and degrowth / wellbeing economics. She is also a former Govan resident and co-founded Moogety Garden.

Flourish is part of the Centre for Human Ecology’s event series Dear Green Commons, which explores how to share a city by nurturing and protecting our commons.

Entry is free/donation-based, but booking is required. All are welcome.

Supported by the Glasgow 2026 Festival.

Our city is a people’s city. Dear Green Commons is four public gatherings in June & August 2026 from the Centre for Human Ecology, exploring the commons as a practical foundation for co-creating just futures in Glasgow.

Clyde Commons. An immersive walk and talk in central Govan, exploring issues of gentrification, bioregioning and embodied practice – asking what it all means for the Clyde Commons, using walking as an urban research method. The event will also see the re-launch of the Centre for Human Ecology’s Clydeside reference library and community learning space, in the Pearce Institute.
Contributors: Neil Gray, Saffy Setohy, Luke Devlin and Dr Anne Winther
13 June, 2pm – 5pm
The Pearce Institute

Flourish. A sharing of stories that explore the city’s diverse intercultural heritage as a living commons through food cultures, art and economic activity that sustain wealth and power within local communities.
Contributors: Dr Pinar Aksu, Zarina Ahmad, Diana Quintana Cataño, Fergus Walker, Moogety Garden and Dr Svenja Meyerricks
13 June, 6pm – 9pm
The Pearce Institute

Our Dear Green Commons. A forum co-hosted with GalGael foregrounding local experiences of inequality, resilience, and community organising, situating Glasgow within wider global movements for climate justice, housing justice, and economic democracy. Participants will collectively articulate visions of the commons as infrastructures of care and mutual support.  
8 August, 2pm – 5:30pm
GalGael Workshops & Garden

A Commons Ceilidh. A gathering co-hosted with GalGael that shares songs, stories, spoken word, honouring community voices and weaving together insights from the previous sessions. A warm, welcoming space for anyone who loves and wants to celebrate this city.
8 August, 5:30pm – 8pm
GalGael Workshops & Garden

All tickets are free/ by donation. All are welcome. Supported by and part of the Glasgow 2026 Festival.

The Centre for Human Ecology board of directors, July 2025: With great sadness, and yet a sense of rich fulfilment, The Centre for Human Ecology announces the death of emeritus director, Ulrich Loening at the age of 94. 

Ulrich died on Thursday 10th July in the afternoon in his beloved home at Ormiston in East Lothian. He was cared for by his devoted family, with flowers and vegetables at their peak in his cherished garden, his bees happily buzzing, and surrounded by love.

Ulrich’s teaching, wisdom and presence had an extraordinary impact on generations of CHE students and colleagues, along with many visits and ‘graduations’ beneath the ancient Ormiston Yew, with wonderful hospitality from Ulrich and his wife Francesca. Beyond this, his expansive interests included his work on molecular biology at the Departments of Botany and then Zoology in the University of Edinburgh, founding a sustainable forestry and timber milling company, and passions for music, organic farming and energy conservation.  

An obituary is in preparation for publication in the Scotsman, and details will be forthcoming of a public celebration of his life to take place at Ormiston.  CHE are developing ideas for how we can honour his legacy, and his visions for the future of human ecology. 

Please join us to mourn the passing of Ulrich, and offering deepest condolences to his family. If you wish to leave a tribute, or a message of condolence, you may do so below.

Space will be held for us all to reflect on land justice struggles in a Scottish context.

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/…/shared-struggles-for…

We will encourage cash contributions on the day, which will be split between our speakers to help fund their struggle.

Climate Resilience: A conversation about Dùthchas

Online via Zoom, 1930-2100 UK time, Wednesday 23rd April 2025

The Centre for Human Ecology and the Alliance for Intergenerational Resilience, in association with The Institute for Northern Studies, UHI, the British Academy and Western University are pleased to invite you to this upcoming online report launch and panel discussion. Join us for what promises to be an insightful and timely event.

Download the report here: https://www.che.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Gaidheal-Resurgence-30Mar.pdf

Register to attend the event here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/climate-resilience-a-conversation-about-duthchas-online-report-launch-tickets-1316105479919

About the event

“My soul is entwined with the land, and that is the way I see the world” – Peigi Ann Sheilds

The human-planetary challenges confronting us today – global warming, rampant capitalism and extractivism, displacement and cultural dislocation are causing many of us to search deeply for what climate and cultural-ecological resurgent work looks like in these times. How do we strengthen climate and cultural resilience and how do we ensure Indigenous Knowledge is part of this? In the Gàidhealtachd (the Gaelic speaking Highlands and Islands) and in the communities beyond it, the Gàidheil Indigenous concept of dùthchas – a deep interconnectedness with the land, one’s community, collective cultural memories and the basis for traditional ecological knowledge – has been at the centre of many conversations.

In celebrating the launch of “Dùthchas agus dualchas an saoghal nan Gàidheil” (English title: “Gàidheal resurgence and indigenous place-based knowledge in and of the Hebrides: Strengthening climate and cultural-ecological resilience.” ) a report by panellist Lewis Williams about Indigeneity and strengthening climate and cultural-ecological resilience on Skye and Lewis, we will come together as some of those involved with the report to bring our community-grounded perspectives to some of its themes. We will each offer our perspectives on a variety of issues including contemporary challenges, intergenerational trauma, Gàidheil Indigenous resurgence and climate and cultural-ecological resilience, newcomer belonging and the relevance of dùthchas as a practice in these times. A public question and answer session will follow.

About the panellists:

Peigi Ann Shields is a 28 year old crofter and is Head of Gaelic and Community Engagement for Grinneabhat, a centre for Gàidheal culture and arts and a community gathering space run by Urras Coimhearsnachd Bhràdhagair agus Àrnoil (UCBA), the Bragar and Arnol Community Trust. She is a Gàidheal from the crofting township of Bragar on the West side of Eilean Leòdhais. She is Gàidhlig speaking, and her family have been in Lewis for many generations. Coming from a traditional Gàidhlig speaking family, she considers that Gàidhlig language and culture have been integral to shaping her life. Speaking Gàidhlig, working with the animals on the croft, peat cutting, looking after her home, and having a strong sense of community lie at the heart of how she lives. Peigi Ann sees that she has a responsibility to teach her children the knowledge of how to live as Gàidheil in the world that has been passed down by family members. 

Alastair McIntosh is a Fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology and an honorary professor at the School of Education in the University of Glasgow. His books include Soil and Soul: People versus Corporate Power and Poacher’s Pilgrimage: a Journey into Land and Soul. While he has lived in Govan, Glasgow for many years, Alastair grew up in Leurbost on the Isle of Lewis and has remained strongly involved with land reform and community development in the Western Isles.

From Aotearoa (New Zealand) Lewis Williams is a registered member of Te iwi o Ngāi Te Rangi (the Ngāi Te Rangi tribe of the Tauranga Moana). She is also of Gàidheil (nan Argeantaich, Eilean Arainn), Welsh and German descent. Her great great grandfather Daniel Sillars was from a crofting family in the village Imacher, Arainn. Born in 1830 during the Arainn Clearances as a young man he set sail for Aotearoa where he married into the Ngai Te Rangi tribe. With a social work, community development and academic background, today Lewis’ work is focused on focused on Indigenous cultural-ecological thrivance for planetary abundance. She divides her time between the Deshkan Ziibing, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, Onyota’a:ka, and Lunaapéewak peoples (Turtle Island / Canada) where she works in the Indigenous Studies Program and Department of Geography and Environment at Western University, and Tauranga Moana, Aotearoa. She is the Founding Director of the Alliance for Intergenerational Resilience.

Agnes Rennie, (formerly Agnes Gillies) who will chair the panel, is a Gàidheal from Gabhsann (the village of Galson) located in the North of Leòdhas where she grew up on a croft. Both of her parent’s families were resettled on the land 100 years ago, following its clearance in the 1800s for large scale farming and subsequent resettlement resulting in part from the 1919 Land Settlement Act. Her people have had an Indigenous relationship with and lived from the land of Eilean Leòdhais for many, many generations. Growing up in a Gàidhlig speaking family, Gàidhlig is Agnes’ first language. Today Agnes is Chair of the Board of Directors of Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn, (Galson Estate Trust), a community owned trust overseeing the revitalization of Gàidheil Indigenous lifeways on 55,000 acres of community owned land. Agnes is also Vice Chair of Community Land Scotland.

Summary: Ever wondered how to find out more about nature on your doorstep,learn more about habitats, and develop practical know-how? Worried about climate change and other human impacts on our environment and want to find out how you can make a difference? 

• Sat 26th April, 10am – 3pm, Lukestone Farm and Locherwood Community Woodland, Clyde Muirshiel
  
  Practical introduction to reforestation: principles of rewilding and tree planting, with Peter Livingstone, Eadha Enterprises
  We will plant aspens and protect them with tubes and stakes at Lukestone Farm, and learn to identify trees and plants at  Locherwood as we progress around the woodland. We will plant some native shrubs to see and understand ongoing rewilding work including introduction of ground flora.
  
  
• Sat 3rd May, 10am – 3pm, around Inchinnan
  
  How humans shape nature, with Luke Devlin and Svenja Meyerricks, CHE; and photo walk with Becky Duncan, Open Aye
  In this session, we will explore the impact of human development on place-making, and how to connect more deeply to places by exploring local histories of human-made and natural habitats. On the photo walk we will be creative, active and outdoors for around two hours, so participants should feel comfortable being mobile for that length of time. We will be venturing off paths and into woodland areas.
  
  
• Sat 17th May, 10am – 3pm, Clyde Muirshiel Country Park
  
  Phase 1 habitat survey and breeding bird survey with Liz Parsons and Alan Wood, Starling Learning
  An introduction to carrying out a habitat survey. We will look at a variety of habitats including acid grassland, marshy grassland, woodland edge and blanket bog. We will identify plants to help us decide on the habitat type and use codes to map them. The breeding bird survey will use a technique called Common Bird Census. We will visit all the habitats and look for evidence of breeding – birds singing, alarm calling, feeding young, display flights and we will use codes and mark them on the map. Bird species will include Meadow Pipit and Skylark and a variety of woodland birds.

• Online sessions: Tuesdays from 7pm – 8:30pm on 22nd April, 29th April, 6th May, 13th May and 20th May
  
  See full programme below.

Who is it for, and what commitment is required?

This programme is designed for participants who live or work in Renfrewshire or have another connection, and do their best to attend all sessions (online sessions will be recorded for catch-up).

Each participant will be invited to reflect on especially the practical elements of the programme through written notes and/or audio recordings, which will be included in a short report by the Centre for Human Ecology. Upon completion, each participant will receive a Certificate of Completion from the Centre for Human Ecology. 

On the field days, we will be covering rough ground and some parts might be tiring, so participants will need a degree of fitness, although we will take our time and go at a comfortable pace. Participants will need warm, waterproof clothing and wellies or waterproof boots. A folder and binoculars will be useful, but we will have some to share.

For the photo walk, participants will use camera phones, or small digital cameras will be available to borrow, if preferred. Please bring water and snacks and wear clothing and footwear appropriate for the weather!

What does it cost?

The course is free to attend, but we ask participants to commit to all of it – or to let us know which sessions they can’t make when applying for a space. We’d also ask participants to share with us reflections and output (written words, recordings, photos from the walk etc) for the project report. If participants are able to make a voluntary donation to the Centre for Human Ecology, it will enable us to offer similar courses in the future.

Contributors:

Liz Parsons has run Starling Learning for 29 years co-ordinating ecological consultancy, environmental education, conservation management and wildlife gardening.

Alan Wood has worked for Starling Learning for 25 years. He is a keen ornithologist and ecologist and as well as carrying out many surveys for work, he has co-ordinated many bird surveys for the Scottish Ornithologists Club Clyde branch.

Peter Livingstone is the co-founder and CEO of Eadha Enterprises, an environmental charity and social enterprise based in Renfrewshire with expertise in aspen conservation and developing aspen woodlands. Eadha maintains a native tree nursery specialising in aspen and other rare species.

Dr Svenja Meyerricks is a human ecologist who holds a PhD from the University of St Andrews on community projects for climate action, and has been involved in and developed a number of projects over the last 15 years. She is a Fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology, and co-designed and taught on the DE/GROWTH and Human Ecology course.

Luke Devlin is Executive Director of the Centre for Human Ecology, and is a freelance researcher, writer and broadcaster on climate change and ethical affairs.

Becky Duncan founded and manages Open Aye, a community interest company, using photography and participatory projects to document, celebrate and strengthen Scottish communities. We stand for equality, inclusion and fair representation. Becky is a documentary photographer and socially engaged arts practitioner. Half of her time is spent taking photos, and half is spent facilitating participatory arts projects. She will also soon finish her Masters in Art & Social Practice, from University of the Highlands and Islands, where her specialism lies in nature-based creative community connections, for integration and wellbeing. 

• Can community energy projects contribute to and benefit from ongoing discussions about alternative economies?
  
• Might community energy organisations play a pioneering role in implementing and operationalising alternative economies?
  
• Could the community energy sector benefit from translating practices that are already in place in into the kinds of language that activists, policymakers and advocacy groups are using?

Read the report here.

Key components of the course:

• Weekly online sessions: Tuesdays 7pm – 9pm, Oct 17th – Dec 5th 2023

• A residential learning retreat and field trip, Whatton Lodge, Gullane, Nov 16th-20th

• Co-learning lab and gathering, 9th Dec (Central Scotland, venue tbc) : final event with sharing of participants’ learning

• Self-directed study: through a course handbook, online resources and a practice-based inquiry / study / creative exploration.

• At least three additional peer group meetings will be held over the period of the course (times to be agreed by participants)

Description

In times marked by accelerating climate breakdown, and social ad economic volatility, uncertainty and complexity, the knowledge and skills required to understand and navigate the metacrisis call for new forms of education and community.

We will explore together where we are now, how we got here, and what we can do about it. DE/GROWTH means engaging with the framing and literature on degrowth: new economic thinking in response to biophysical limits – such as redistribution of resources, work and, global solidarity – while drawing on the deep roots of human ecology to explore belonging in relation to communities of place, climate justice and ecological sustainability.

During the course, together we’ll create a collaborative learning community around the core themes, and create ripples to embed principles and practices of degrowth and human ecology among community and climate activists across Scotland. We draw upon methods taken from popular education practice, building on a rich heritage of radical pedagogy.

Residential

The residential takes place at Whatton Lodge, Gullane, East Lothian, home of Lothian Mineworkers Convalescent Home Trust, which was set-up in 1948 to provide breaks and respite for ex-miners and their families after serious accidents or illness. Situated by the Gullane sand dunes, with a gate to the beach, the home of this year’s residential offers a beautiful and comfortable setting for learning, as well as a suitable venue to reflect on the meaning and memory of deindustrialisation in Scotland and its legacy of extractivism and inequality, which will be explored in the course content.

The residential is a transformative learning community in microcosm: designed to complement the online sessions with in-person collaboration and cooperation around the learning content and other group activities. It has four main components: learning sessions exploring human ecology, degrowth, the solidarity economy, and regenerative cultures, guided experiences engaging with land/waterscapes and each other,: peer groups meeting to discuss and inquire into their questions together, open space where participants self-organise sessions around specific topics or activities: and place-based learning from the community and bioregion. And no residential is complete without a self-organised ceilidh!

Please note that travel to and from the residential must be met by participants individually. If these are a barrier, please let us know when completing the application form below and we may be able to support your travel.

Who is the course for?

People normally based in (or with a connection to) Scotland who are active in their community and/or activist groups and keen to learn with like-minded peers. We encourage those who may not ordinarily have opportunities to take part in a course like this and will aim to accommodate barriers you may have to participating. Please get in touch and let us know if there is anything which might prevent you from taking part.

What you need to commit to:

We are making the course available for all to participate in, regardless of finances, but this does not mean that it is ‘free’ in an absolute sense. There is no charge for the course as it is fully funded by Enough! Scotland. However, delivering this course requires resources, labour and money; and places are limited. So please only apply for a place on the course if you can reasonably expect to be able to fully participate in all components for the duration of the course. The course comprises of 7 two-hour online workshops (delivered via Zoom), a four day residential, and an online virtual learning environment in which course readings and resources, and discussion threads are accessed.

As part of the course, participants will be asked to conduct a personal action inquiry into a question of their choosing related to the course themes, and to share the results of this inquiry with the course cohort in the final session, in whichever format/ creative medium they choose (for example, a poster presentation, a text, talk, artwork, or workshop). This will comprise a Co-Learning Lab and gathering on the 9^th December 2023, in which the knowledge created during the course will be shared more widely.

Participants, upon completing the course, will be eligible to receive a Certificate of Completion. As part of our ongoing inquiry into co-operative and alternative economic practices, participants will have the opportunity to explore ways to contribute to the course, and associated activity by means of knowledge exchange, skillsharing and collaboration. This includes the opportunity to contribute to the educational charitable work of the Centre for Human Ecology by making a one-off or regular financial contribution of the education co-operative via our OpenCollective platform, 100% of which will go towards developing future educational work.

How to apply:

In order to apply, please complete a short form outlining why you would like to take part in the course. Our courses are generally oversubscribed, which means that we have to select participants. We select participants using the criteria of creating a diverse group of peer-learners based on the information you provide in the application form.

To apply, please fill in the application form by Wed 30th August, 2023:

Course Application Form

This event has now passed.

“I’ve long felt Dougald Hine an elder to our environmental movements.” – Gail Bradbrook

“At Work in the Ruins is essential reading for these turbulent times.” – Amitav Ghosh

To mark the publication of At Work in the Ruins: Finding Our Place in the Time of Science, Climate Change, Pandemics & All the Other Emergencies, we invite you to an evening with Dougald Hine (co-founder of The Dark Mountain Project), Alastair McIntosh, Caroline Ross and Dougie Strang.

At Work in the Ruins is the fruit of years of conversations and collaborations with climate scientists, artists and activists. “Climate change asks us questions that climate science cannot answer,” Dougald writes, and the book is a reckoning with these questions, their significance for the climate movements that emerged in 2018/19 and the way that the pandemic has changed the context in which we answer them. It’s also about how we find our bearings and what kind of tasks are worth giving our lives to, given all we know or have good grounds to fear about the trouble the world is in.

There are threads in the book that trace back to the impact of Alastair McIntosh’s Soil and Soul, which Dougald first read at the age of 25, having walked away from what had looked like the beginnings of a successful career at the BBC. The journey this led him on included founding the Dark Mountain Project with Paul Kingsnorth – and it was Dougie Strang who brought Dark Mountain to Scotland in 2010, organising the first in a series of Carrying The Fire gatherings. Caroline Ross became another close Dark Mountain collaborator and her work – making art without oil from “found and ground” materials – features in the discussion of the future of science in the closing chapters of At Work in the Ruins.

Out of this weave of friendship and mutual inspiration, and held in the powerful history of Galgael, we invite you to join us for a special evening that will be the first public launch event for At Work in the Ruins in the UK.

There will be a book stall and signing as part of this event.

NOTE: The Galgael space will be chilly on a February evening, so please wear warm clothes and bring a blanket.

Praise for At Work in the Ruins:

“Here is a book that explores the public understanding of science around climate change, Covid and social movements. Asking if we demand too much of science, Hine points beyond the ‘dark hubris’ of despair. With eloquence and honesty, he invites us to the hope of deeper mystery that life on earth might yet unfold.” – ALASTAIR MCINTOSH, author of Soil and Soul and Riders on the Storm.

“A deep reflection on the foundations of the destructive path humanity has been pushed on, driven by colonialism, modernity and fossil fuel addiction, the love for centralisation, control, consumerism, certainty.” – VANDANA SHIVA, author of Terra Viva

“I consider this book a must-read for all those activists feeling lost, desperate and perhaps subject to ‘press-on-itis’. Let’s find our curiosity together, hold each other as we navigate the turbulence and face our lack of roadmap. For me, reading this book was like having a long and honest supper with an old friend around a warming fire. I finished it with a relieving sigh, feeling nourished, heart opened, humanity seen.” – GAIL BRADBROOK, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion

“Let Dougald Hine’s masterful storytelling mark you; let his song of loss and longing, his call to fugitivity, dispossess you of your steady gait and poise. Perhaps then we, collectively infected, might together witness the incomprehensible.” – BAYO AKOMOLAFE, founder of The Emergence Network