Sustainability You Can Feel: Learning from the South Downs

During reading week in the autumn term, fellow students of the MSc Business and Sustainability cohort and I left the city behind and headed to the Sustainability Centre in Hampshire. Set in 55 acres of woodland and chalk downland, the centre describes itself as a working example of sustainability. But what really stood out was how hands-on and grounded the experience felt. It wasn’t just about learning; it was about getting involved in a way that felt real and immediate.

We started with a Business Transformation Workshop led by Christine Seaward, the centre's CEO. Alongside presentations on sustainable business, including one from Lyndsey Carr at Aspire Pharma, we explored how sustainability can be seen not as a limitation, but as an opportunity. The conversations were interesting and thoughtful, but what really shifted things for me came afterwards.

We went on a walking tour of the grounds, seeing first-hand how the buildings had been retrofitted to reduce environmental impact. Each small detail—from insulation to water systems—reflected decisions made with care. It was a reminder that sustainability doesn’t just live in frameworks or strategies; it lives in the physical choices we make every day.

Over the next two days, we fully engaged in the practical side of things. We built clay ovens and chalk walls, shaped bricks, cooked over fires, and boiled water in Kelly Kettles. We chopped and whittled native wood, and in small teams, built Earthbag structures using packed earth and teamwork (and a bit of trial and error). It was cold, muddy, terribly fun, and so different from our usual way of learning.

This wasn’t sustainability as branding or strategy. It was sustainability as a relationship: to land, to materials, to each other. Everything we did emphasised tapping into the massive potential of utilising the existing surrounding environment and reintroducing traditional methods into daily life, instead of defaulting to modern systems that often come with hidden environmental costs. We all walked away from the workshops with a deepened awareness of how our daily choices can contribute to a more sustainable future and a healthier planet.

It made me think about the research Dr Kris De Meyer has done in the communication of climate science and attitude formation. His research at King’s College London focuses on how people form beliefs around climate change and what actually motivates behaviour change. His research has shown that the most effective way to move people toward climate action isn't through perfect messaging but through experience. People don’t change because they’re told to. They change when they experience different ways of being.

That’s what this trip offered us. Not a pitch or a campaign, but a glimpse of what a different way of living might feel like. We weren’t told to care; we were part of something that showed us why caring might be worth it.

Equally as impactful as the workshops themselves was the collaborative nature of the trip. More than just getting to know each other's general interests and thoughts on business or sustainability, we were able to spend quality time together in the evenings. Here, we discovered fun facts about each other, found common interests, laughed about funny moments, and all in all, got to develop a deeper understanding of each member of our cohort, both professionally and personally. These small things made the experience feel more human and reminded me that sustainability isn’t just about carbon or resources. It’s about relationships. If we want change, we need spaces where people can trust each other enough to make it happen.

This trip didn’t change the world or even the way I cook (I unfortunately cannot cook over a fire for every meal). But it changed how I think about what gets people to care. It showed me that climate communication doesn’t have to be about telling; it can be about inviting, about letting people try something different and see for themselves what it feels like to live more sustainably.

If you ever get the chance, I’d genuinely recommend visiting the Sustainability Centre yourself, whether for a workshop, a walk, or just to see what sustainability looks like when it’s embedded in place, not just policy.

Huge thanks to my programme team at UCL and everyone at the Sustainability Centre for creating the space for this kind of learning to happen.