CHE student Jamie Auldsmith writes: We’ve been a busy bunch so far this semester. We’ve spent many hours in the library, diligently critiquing the carbon footprint model, and preparing for our Ethical Enterprise and Food & Agriculture option modules. But three of us (Gerry Aiken, Dan Glass, and Svenja Meyerricks) have already made it to the front page of the Strathclyde University Telegraph, representing the University at Faslane during the Big Blockade.

We decided early on that raising awareness of Human Ecology and promoting its values within the University would be a key aim for our cohort over the year, and this has already resulted in some exciting developments. The established Human Ecology Society has been re-energised by Melissa Garvey, and we are due to have our first meeting of the academic year shortly. With a view to making Human Ecology as inclusive as possible, we hope to involve both students and non-students, as well as staff from other disciplines. We welcome anyone who may be interested in embodying the values of Human Ecology, with a particular emphasis on promoting activism in and around the University.

To this end, members of our cohort were active in Strathclyde Student Union’s Green Week. As well as debating the Green-ness of the University and celebrating a new contract providing recycling facilities at the Student Union, a day was spent collecting an astonishing number of plastic bags from around the campus, to highlight the need for long-life carrier bags, also introduced in the Union that week. Helen Johnson has been investigating the possibility of starting a composting scheme for the food-waste generated on campus, to further reduce our University’s environmental impact.

As for building our cohort’s community, we’ve enjoyed some great times together by venturing out of the city. Several of us spent a weekend up north at [coursemate] Gerry Aiken’s home in Buckie. We’ve been climbing mountains large and small in and around Glasgow and Edinburgh, and we spent Guy Fawkes night on the beach in Ayr. Many of us attend the Department of Geography and Sociology’s weekly documentary film screenings, and the first in a series of skill-sharing workshops is coming up soon, offered by Stephen Dietrich on the topic of facilitation. We’re also planning to attend Talamh’s Life Centre’s Tree Weekend, where we’ll be taking part in all sorts of tree-related activities, including weaving a willow hedge planted last year.

Last but far from least, there has been a plethora of social gatherings, which have helped to create a friendly and welcoming Human Ecology community in Glasgow, a city which was fairly new to most us at the start of the year.