Students on Study and Work Away activities are taking action at home and abroad. SWAY students join Active Lives and Estates team In November, a hardy team of current and former Study and Work Away students rolled up their sleeves, braved the winter weather, and joined forces with the University's Active Lives and Estates teams to plant 1200 daffodils in the grounds of the University's George Square Gardens.This event was designed not only to help the biodiversity in the city but also to offer a wellbeing opportunity for students to step away from their studies, get out in the fresh air, connect with others and be active:Connecting: With others and nature. Being active: Digging and WalkingTaking notice: Of the wonderful environment we live in. Keep learning: How to plant the bulbs and how long it will take the flower to bloomGive: Giving back to nature and the University community. We look forward to seeing the fruits of their labours in spring! We'll also be offering another opportunity to get involved in The Big Dig next spring - watch this space.Find out more about The Big DigYou can find out more about Active Lives activities here: Keep Active | Sport and Exercise Sustainable activities abroad Iona, a Landscape Architecture student is currently on exchange in France. She won an Interrail pass through a SWAY competition at the beginning of her exchange year and agreed to share her sustainability experiences while abroad. I am in Versailles, France, studying Landscape Architecture! Having a lovely time, the campus is gorgeous, we are situated on the ‘Potager du Roi’ (Kings Vegetable Gardens) so as you can imagine the sustainability involvement is plentiful! As I am in a busy time of my studies, I don’t have time to get involved in all the opportunities but something I have been consistently enjoying since my time here was getting involved in a society called ‘Picorama’. The society manages a chicken coup on site in one of the less used part of the garden, it is around 100 by 50m and houses around 15 chickens with a few young ones as well! The coupe also has an on-site compost site, the idea is that one or more people from the society sign up to go once a day and make sure the chickens are fed (locally sourced grain), watered (on site collected rainwater) and especially inside the coupe as they do tend to be crafty escape artists! In return for this you are allowed to take home any eggs that you might find on your visit. You are also invited to put your compost either into the chickens personal stockpile, or - depending on the contents of your compost (ie. No chicken bones!!) - add it to the gardens general compost that is used by the on-site gardeners to enrich the soil. The system works super well and everyone on campus is very supportive of the activity! The society does help this enthusiasm by organising crepe, waffle or general bake sales at various points throughout the year, all made with the chicken eggs!! Iona with the chickens in the King's Vegetable Gardens in Versailles This article was published on 2025-01-15