Dover Green Heart

STORIES UWCSEA

Dover Green Heart Outdoor biodiversity classroom and research lab

In July 2019, UWCSEA celebrated a hallmark commitment to sustainability education and the bio-diversity of Singapore, by breaking ground on our first green classroom, the Dover Green Heart.

Five years in-the-making, the Dover Green Heart was borne out of the recognition that in our increasingly urban and technology-focused world, students are more separated from the natural world than ever before. Decreased exposure to the natural environment not only reduces children’s knowledge about their surroundings, but also undermines their ability to comprehend the scale and urgency of some of the most concerning issues of our time, including climate change and biodiversity loss.

In 2014, a team of eco-visionaries began quietly dreaming and laying the foundation for the Green Heart project. Led by Nathan Hunt, UWCSEA’s former Director of Sustainability, the team’s vision was exciting and expansive. The team wanted the Green Heart to encompass functional spaces for student environmental groups working to propagate indigenous plants, including a beautiful natural balcony for gatherings, shaded outdoor classrooms and, most importantly, for it to be a natural playground where students could explore, wonder and engage with nature.

Co-funded by the College and the community, the Green Heart has three phases of development: infrastructure, landscaping and staffing. In the 2018/2019 school year, after receiving the final government approvals, initial infrastructure work was completed, including the demolition of the existing space, installation of waterproof flooring and signage, and the erection of superstructures. In 2019/2020 as the final funding is secured, the project will move into the landscaping phase, which includes building planter boxes and ponds, installing irrigation, drainage and electricity systems and an accessibility ramp.

As the Green Heart becomes integrated into daily life at Dover Campus, students will have multiple opportunities to use the space. Teachers will be encouraged to use the Green Heart for Unit of Study lessons and after-school gardening. In addition, rainforest nursery activities will have a permanent home and local gardening and ecology groups in the Dover neighbourhood will be welcomed. The space will foster collaboration throughout the College as community members work together, with common goals from differing resources and experiences, thus growing in their learning and furthering the work of the UWC mission.

At UWCSEA, environmental stewardship is a major part of every child’s education and by supporting students to become eco-literate and helping them to develop the essential knowledge, skills and commitment to care, we hope to turn an ecological crisis into an exciting transformation of our economies and societies. With the expected completion of the Green Heart in the next two years, we can confidently say the future is bright—and it is green!

Green Heart Construction developments • a main pathway from the bus bay to the High School Block was laid out and installed • tiles were picked and installed in the Ecology Centre area • the repurposed container was relocated onto the site • trellis structures were installed • tree planters were strategically located at structural grid intersections to accommodate their weight • mechanical equipment was relocated so that a ramp could be installed • the circular stairs up to the top of the container, along with decking and railing for future events, were completed

Robin McAdoo, UWCSEA parent and landscape architect, designed the creative concept for the space, which has evolved and grown over time:

“Over the last year, it was so reassuring to meet with a few of the many individuals from Primary School to High School who will take the intentions and ideas of the Green Heart and nurture and cultivate them into a meaningful reality. I am grateful beyond words to be a part of something that can provide so much in the way of exposure to the natural environment to the entire Dover community.”