Hello! It’s been a while since I’ve last updated, but as of right now, I am currently well into my study abroad experience at FSU London! Over the past few weeks, I’ve explored the city, researched London’s environmental regulations, and adapted to city life- which is definitely much different than my farming experience. It’s a little overwhelming being in a place with this much to offer, and it’s really had me thinking about what specific conservationalist strategy may be the most effective to cover and bring back to FSU. However, after walking through multiple Natural History Museums, reflecting on my time on the farm, and thinking about what environmentalist strategy has stuck out the most to me, I think I know what I would like to focus on.
One of the most surprising things I’ve learned from (temporarily) living in a country much, much older than mine is that older city infrastructure designs often allowed for a large amount of integrated urban green space. Prior to “cleaner” industrialism and modern medicine, whenever city folk were ill (mentally or physically), they often sought out areas of nature they could be in. As a result, London has multiple parks in every single borough and neighborhood, unlike many modern American cities. As I’ve previously mentioned, I also took notice (and surprise) to the Cornish street hedges that lined Lanlivery, along with the rest of Cornwall and how they took up minimal space while also allowing for thousands of miniature ecosystems to thrive.
These two observations of London urban green space and Cornish hedges have helped me realize that I would like to pursue the study of creating modern urban green spaces in new/developing cities. I plan on visiting urban green spaces in London that have been specifically built for conservation, so that I can better understand how they were successfully integrated. I’m very excited to learn more about this topic, as it’s something I think we could see a lot more of in the states. I’ll continue to update more frequently as well, now that I know exactly what I want to explore!
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