Gardening Club: Taking on the challenges of sustainability for Climate Action Week 2026
Giulia Carabelli is a Senior Lecturer in Social Theory and is a founding member of Queen Mary Gardening Club. For Climate Action Week 2026 the club organised an event that got participants rediscovering their connection with land and plant-life.
We decided to run the Gardening Club event for #CAW2026 to tackle the UN Sustainable Development Goal Number 15: Life on Land.
Life on Land asks us to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and biodiversity loss.
Whether we live in cities or in rural areas, we can all do something to protect the land that gives us home on this planet.
The UN’s sustainability goals were created in response to the acceleration of climate change and the need to devise plans to ensure that life can continue in the face of massive ecological transformations produced by human mismanagement of earthly resources.
Our take on this goal is that to protect life on land, we need to build new relationships with it and all the creatures living with us on this planet. This means to think about nonhumans as companions with whom to plot to promote collective flourishing.
We know that gardening can be problematic in how it takes control over “nature” and organises it in ways that prioritises aesthetics. But I believe gardening is the activity of discovering nonhuman life through curiosity. We are moved by the desire to learn about plants, critters and soil because they create the world with us.
During the event, we discovered the calming properties of lavender, roses and oats. We packed them into small bags to keep them with us when life gets stressful. We sowed sunflowers and learnt how to grow from seeds. We planted more established plants into the beds on Mile End Road with the expectation to continue caring for them.
More than 40 people attended the event. They all left with good intentions, which were written on a shared wall.
For example, taking notice of plants on our way to campus, learn their names and properties is one small step we can all take towards a renewed relationship with the Earth.
Approaching plants to check if they are doing ok is the first step towards learning how to talk to plants and share their wisdom. Learning how to grow plants from seeds to sow them in abandoned plots close to where we live, on balconies and windowsills, is an act of resistance against the desertification of cities.
Taking breaks and spending time with plants, sitting on the soil, is an act of reconnection to the land. Life on land requires people to understand that we are nature and our wellbeing depends on that of all our earthly companions.