Staff, students and local residents have rejuvenated a vacant brownfield site into a nursery growing native trees – 1,000 trees will be nurtured over the next two years, all of which will be planted within Belfast, as part of the Million Trees for Belfast Campaign. This project was imagined by the local San Souci Residential Group and local students, who are now responsible for the long-term management of the site with the support of The Conservation Volunteers NI.

Biodivers:City is a student led Living Labs project which aim to complete a biodiversity audit of Queen’s campus, ensuring Queen’s Estates have a firm understanding of the wildlife present within Queen’s, allowing habitats within campus to be managed, enhanced and protected. Collaboration from students across the University has been achieved, and funding from Queen’s Green Fund that was received for the project will be used to implement the Biodivers:City report recommendations.

The Green at Queen’s Allotment idea was created by a group of student volunteers, who worked in partnership with The Conservation Volunteers to launch the allotment in 2019. They have successfully harvested the first of their vegetables and are currently planning the creation of a polytunnel at the site. To ensure the long-term legacy of the allotment, the students created the Green at Queen’s Society.

The Alleyway Transformation Project works with local resident groups to transform unused spaces within South Belfast into vital community spaces with seating and planting. Queen’s students, staff and local residents have tided, painted and planted two alleyways – Miracle Way and Caledonia Alley. The volunteers work with Belfast artists to create murals that reflect the local community spirit. Further, the student volunteers and residential groups work in partnership with the ‘Live Here Love Here’ Campaign to ensure the area is continually maintained and enhanced via clean ups throughout South Belfast.

The Queen’s Medicinal Garden brought academics, lab technicians and students from our Faculty of Health Sciences together. Academics contributed their knowledge on the plants which are core in their research drugs. This information was collated by a group of staff, students and the Queen’s gardening team to determine a list of suitable plants for the medicinal garden. The garden and interpretation board is located on a busy public walkway which links the University’s Health Sciences Campus to the City to the Belfast HSC Trust City Hospital site. This information has also been integrated into some undergraduate teaching as part of their lab activities.

The School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering recieved £200 from the Green Fund to produce a digital timeline of their apple orchard. The below videos show the annual lifecycle of their apple trees from dormant, in blossom, early fruit, in leaf and fruit ready to be picked.