Climate Action Campus in Ōtautahi was co-founded in 2019 by ex-Christchurch mayor Vicki Buck following the Christchurch earthquakes. The site was established in 4.5 acres of red-zoned land on the banks of the Avon River, close to the city centre in the grounds of what was Avonside Girls’ High School. The old school grounds are now home to gardens, greenhouses, water connections, solar panels, butterfly habitats, street art and all things horticultural.

The campus was initially established, and still is, as a satellite school linked to Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery school in the central city. The goal was to provide a range of opportunities for school-aged learners to explore aspects of climate change. While this is still the focus of Climate Action Campus, Learning Advisor Rachel Cummins says as the facilities have become more established, the campus team has embraced a range of learning opportunities designed for the wider community.

“This year we were lucky enough to receive a sustainability grant from the Christchurch City Council which has allowed us to extend our offering and provide a range of community courses. The grant funds the cost of tutors for our adult courses.”

One of the courses on the agenda is Garden Horticulture, tutored by Sandi Bobkova who is Head Horticulturalist.

“We’ve covered a range of topics including how to successfully grow kūmara in Christchurch, from starting your slips to harvesting and storage. We have also run courses on the secrets of seed saving, developing garden plans, and producing homemade teas to help gardens grow,” Sandi says.

Other campus courses include successful foraging and back yard edibles with Inga the Forager and composting from the Compost Princess, Kaitlyn Lamb. The campus team has also joined with Christchurch City Council park rangers and University of Canterbury entomologists to run a workshop on invertebrates. Future courses include a garden-to-table cooking class with chef Simon Marshall to help people learn how to prepare and cook foraged and home-grown foods.

Rachel, a qualified teacher, says each session has about a dozen attendees with most classes held in the weekends. “Classes are free to attend and last from two to three hours, and we try to schedule at least two adult learning classes each month. At the moment, attendance is largely via word of mouth and we are gradually building a following.”

She says holding classes and learning activities outside in the natural environment takes away some mystery for adult learners. “It’s a non-threatening environment, we’re in the open air and it’s hands on. Many of our adult learners didn’t enjoy or thrive at school and our classes and environment are certainly helping to break down learning barriers. After completing courses, several adult learners have chosen to give back to the campus and contribute their time to help some of the younger learners with alternative skills like woodwork or sewing.”

Tutor Sandi says that the courses have attracted a great range of adult learners from across the city.

“We largely have had two types of learners attend the courses. The first is those people who are starting their gardening journey or starting to grow their own food and wanting to learn more and the second is those people interested in starting horticulture as a career and wanting to gain a bit of confidence before starting out on a more formal course. A couple of our adult learners have gone on to start their Level 3 and 4 certificates in horticulture, which has been great.”

In addition to the community classes, Climate Action Campus runs weekly classes for migrants and refugees from Hagley Community College.

The campus has recently established A-maze-Ink with the Christchurch City Council graffiti team. Street artists have been invited to paint the campus prefabs, and Rachel says this has created an enormous sense of community and has given young artists the opportunity to paint and develop street art, with the older artists providing mentoring and support.

And the most recent project is the establishment of “Pollination Street” with the planting of mānuka and kānuka to attract a range of pollinators.