The Dartford Eco Project
The Dartford Eco Project is a collaborative project between Dartford Science and Technology College (DSTC) and Dartford Healthy Living Centre. DSTC began the project just under 2 years ago, turning an area of our school field in to a centre of sustainability.
Our goal was to rewild the site as much as possible, whilst developing areas for growing and learning about food and the environment. The collaborative effort involved volunteers from the local community, attracting parents, members of the public and experts in environmental careers.
Together, we created an incredible space that has already sustained itself for a year. We have started to develop a wildlife pond, begun building a compost toilet and installed 10 raised beds to grow produce. Our Eco Project now runs weekly, with staff and students taking part to look after the area.
The project is one of few in the district and is unique to the local community. The self-sustaining aspect of the land after being rewilded means it attracts a variety of wildlife and natural planting. The area is also designed for raising awareness of sustainability and why it is critically important to have a respect for nature and our environment.
We now have a 4-year plan for The Eco Project to ensure sustained interest. The plan includes aspirations for more community engagement, using the space for wellbeing and to upskill the school and local community with new skills such as woodworking.
We have already introduced A-Level Environmental Science to our school curriculum and address environmental concerns across Individual Character Education and Geography. Students will be able to benefit from the space during their studies. We continue our collaborative approach with Dartford Healthy Living Centre and have benefitted from their advice and guidance, especially with installing a water supply to the site.
Our Eco Project team meet each week for an hour to maintain and develop the space. This includes a wide range of activities, such as planting, watering, trimming, woodworking and studying.
We have overcome some significant challenges creating our Eco Project. For example, in order to get water to the site from a new mains supply, the cost was over £10,000. Due to the collaborative approach to our project, we were able to seek advice from an engineer who works with the Dartford Healthy Living Centre. He gave us advice and guidance on irrigation systems that worked very well. We ended up spending a fraction of the cost and now have a water supply for the plants and growing community.
Sustaining the project relies on the kindness of donations and people giving up their time. It is a significant challenge to maintain interest in projects and ensure they are kept relevant. We have worked very hard to build relationships with key members of our community, including tree surgeons who donated bark chippings and a local wood expert, 'Roots Timber Reuse' who has donated fencing and timber supplies. We are very fortunate to have staff and students who are fully invested in the project and continue to ensure its success. We have even had a donation of a digger to use for one weekend.
We are incredibly proud of our achievements and efforts so far. In October 2024 The Dartford Eco Project and DSTC won the SEK 'Green Schools Award' as overall winner.
As we grow the project, we want to involve more members of the local community and eventually open it to public groups. In our 4 year development plan, we have planned to involve class groups of students to explore the area and learn about sustainability. We also plan to use the growing community side of our project to create a legacy product that we can sell and raise funds, such as a chutney or jam made with the fruit and vegetables we grow. At every stage, we will evaluate against our action plan and make changes based on what is best for the school and local community.
