RHS's 'North West' garden - what's in it for students?
Wednesday 5 July 2017
A HOST of new research and practice experiences for students will emerge from the University of Salford’s new ‘industrial partnership’ with the Royal Horticultural Society’s ‘north west’ garden.
The planned £30m RHS national garden, in Worsley, is set to
become a top tourist attraction and a leading centre for research, community engagement,
education and training.
The University has been invited by the RHS to lend its
expertise, creating opportunities in archaeology, design, health, technology,
and a range of environmental practice. And that means unique new learning and ‘real
world’ experiences for students, undergraduate, postgraduate and research.
The masterplan by world-acclaimed landscape architect Tom
Stuart-Smith will revive the fascinating ‘lost’ past of a former stately home,
popular with Royals and replete with extraordinary features, such as the walled
garden and a Cold War bunker.
Virtual reality
Called ‘RHS Bridgewater’ after the Dukes who held the estate
and built the famous Lancashire canal, the plan, will create 140 jobs and add
millions to the local economy. It will also act as a hands-on teaching facility
looking at areas like virtual reality, ecology and wildlife, volunteering and
green spaces.
Professor Philip Brown, Director of the Centre for Applied
Research in Health, Welfare and Policy (CARe), said the garden which opens in
2019, will be “a central opportunity for the University and one which is
causing a great deal of excitement.
“Academics are very keen to get involved on behalf of their
students with particular work streams within CARe linked up on the theme of
health and wellbeing.”
Among these is an evaluation of the therapeutic garden – a
specialism of mental health specialist Dr Michelle Howarth and the benefits of
growing and eating your own food by geographer Dr Mike Hardman.
PhD studies
Philip James, Professor of Ecology, agreed there were
“exciting times ahead” for staff from the Ecosystem and Environment Research
Centre “to join forces with leading researchers and practitioners from the RHS”.
Philip’s research student Katie Scaletta, whose PhD is supported by the RHS, is studying ‘edgespaces’
(gardens, and small areas of community land) which could help inform the RHS’s outreach
activities, and also feed into Defra's Urban Pioneer project.
Dr Mike Nevell, Head of Archaeology and co-editor of the
Industrial Archaeology Review, whose team have already excavated parts of the
site, said: “It is a fantastic set-piece Victorian estate centre.
“I’m looking at using the history and archaeology of the
site to provide some background and context to the new garden through student
projects for our new Archaeology & Geography UG degree, and to involve our
volunteers further in uncovering the gardens’ past. We also have an idea to produce
a popular publication on the archaeology of the site in our Greater Manchester
Past revealed series using the research we have already done.”
Tourism and events
Dr Nick Davies, a tourism and events management expert, in
the School of Built Environment, said: “A RHS garden will be a significant
tourist attraction for the North West. In order to understand its impact
there are several dimensions of sustainability, with health and wellbeing the
obvious one. Environmental impact is also key – RHS scientists do a lot
of engagement work on how the properties of plants and gardens can counteract
climate change, and flooding, and increase biodiversity. They also foster
environmental awareness in the public.
“A tourist attraction of this magnitude will have
significant effects on local economic multipliers, and bring in jobs to the
Salford /GM area. Obviously all of these areas are congruent with
research at Salford and the ICZ strategy, and the great thing is that it is on
our doorstep.”
Mike Taylor, Head of Industry Partnerships, who is driving
the relationship, said: “It is our aim
to support the RHS with world leading academic expertise, and to give them
access to the creative minds of the future – our students.”
Historic
RHS Bridgewater, on Leigh Road, Worsley, was chosen form 20
potential sites for the Firth RHS Gardens. The existing four are in Surrey,
Devon, Essex and Yorkshire.
Programme director Anna da Silva, who is an Honorary
Associate of the University as part of the ICZ strategy, said: “It’s the first
time in more than 100 years that the RHS has taken on a garden project of this
size. It will be an amazing resource for generations to come.”
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