NCG
NCGxNENP Students create a digital habitat map of college estates
Finalist, Digital Futures
About
Over the past year students in NCG colleges have worked in partnership with the National Education Nature Park in Carlisle, Newcastle, Lewisham and Southwark Colleges to combine digital skills with being outside; looking for places on campus with high or low habitat value. The National Education Nature Park was originally established as a resource for schools, Funded by the DfE, headquartered in the Natural History Museum and delivered by partners including the RHS. The focus was connecting students to nature, while staff members handled digital aspects.
In adapting the programme for FE, NCG emphasised digital skills alongside environmental awareness. Learners used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to record accurate ecological data on a national database. AI was also used by some students to identify plant species, this use of AI enhanced their understanding and meant they didn’t have to feel awkward eg asking the difference between a buttercup and a daisy.
Top 3 learnings
1. I saw that digital platforms can remove barriers, enabling active student participation in sustainability initiatives.
2. I saw students motivated by their contribution to something bigger; a dataset of national importance.
3. We saw digitisation transform abstract ‘campus improvement’ into measurable ‘nature recovery’ outcomes for NCG colleges.
SDGs
11. Sustainable cities and communities
| 2026 | |
| Digital Futures | |
| Finalist, UK and Ireland |
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