Birmingham is the first University in the UK to install Earthshot-nominated LivingPillar® system on its campus.
Two vertical biodiversity planting called LivingPillars® have been installed at the University of Birmingham following a vote from staff and students to select their favourite sustainability project.
The LivingPillar® project is an innovative approach to urban greening, designed by Scotscape. It uses existing street furniture, such as lighting and CCTV columns, to support long-term shrub and perennial planting. It enhances biodiversity and helps to clean the air in cities. Designed and built in the UK by Scotscape, the LivingPillar® has a European patent pending and has been nominated for The Earthshot Prize in both 2023 and 2024.
LivingPillar was selected by staff and students as the winning project of the ‘2023 Shaping Sustainability at University of Birmingham: Community Project’ competition.
Members of the university community voted for their favourite sustainability project among a list of projects nominated. The LivingPillar® initiative won the competition, and two pillars have now been installed outside the Murray Learning Centre and Collaborative Teaching Laboratory.
Julia Myatt, Director of Sustainability Education, commented: “We are delighted to see our students and staff engaged with our sustainability goals. It is important that sustainability is embedded into everything we do at the University and that our community has a chance to shape our journey. Therefore, we are excited to relaunch the Shaping Sustainability at the University of Birmingham Community Project competition this year.”
We are delighted to see our students and staff engaged with our sustainability goals. It is important that sustainability is embedded into everything we do at the University and that our community has a chance to shape our journey.
Laura Graham, Associate Professor in Ecological Modelling, added: “At the University, we are dedicated to enhancing biodiversity and look forward to seeing the positive impact that the LivingPillar® initiative has on our campus. As part of our biodiversity plan, we are committed to the protection and conservation of nature and wildlife. With limited space for horizontal planting, the demand for vertical planting solutions is increasing and the LivingPillar® is a logical next step in meeting this demand”.
LivingPillar® is designed to aid pollinators by creating new biodiverse environments, high up and out of harm’s way, and improve air quality. The system uses recirculating irrigation powered by solar energy and intelligent software to deliver water in the correct quantity and at the right time, offering a truly sustainable solution to the challenges of introducing biodiversity and removing particulate matter.
Angus Cunningham, Founder of Scotscape, commented: “We are delighted to be working with the University of Birmingham in trialling our LivingPillar® on their campus and look forward to sharing our knowledge and monitoring the use of the bird and insect boxes over the coming year.”
We are also pleased to announce that you can now vote in this years’ Shaping Sustainability at the University of Birmingham community project competition for 2024-25. By taking part, you can choose the sustainability project that you would like the Sustainability Team to explore over the next 12 months. To find out more about the projects and vote, please complete this form. Voting will close at the end of January.
The University of Birmingham has a commitment to achieve operational net zero carbon by 2045. It is seeking to change society and the environment positively, and use its research and education to make a major global contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Find out at www.birmingham.ac.uk/sustainability
Professor in Collaborative Education
Professor Julia Myatt's research interests include morphology-behaviour-habitat interfaces in non-human great apes and the collective behaviour of group-living animals
Birmingham Fellow / IIASA-NERC Research Fellow
Laura Graham is a computational & spatial ecologist interested in understanding how anthropogenic changes such as climate and land-use change affect global ecosystems, and how this in turn affects human well-being.
