My Journey
Beginning …
Australia and United Kingdom, Waldorf Education, travelling. Primary, Middle and High School, Northumberland. Youth Green Committee & Conservation Volunteering (Millennium Volunteers & BTCV). Hospitality and retail employments. Youth Theatre, Choir, Arts, Peer Support & Peer-Counselling.
University of Plymouth Undergraduate Degree 2003 - 2006: Social Justice and Human Rights with Criminal Justice Studies
Youth Worker, Youth Offending Service - Appropriate Adult Volunteering, Hospitality Supervisor employment. Environmental Conservation Volunteering, Community Writers Group Events Coordinator.
Plymouth City College Certificate: Introduction to Counselling Level 1
NLP Diploma and Practitioner Certification
Administrative support at Plymouth City Council’s Workforce Development Team for Schools. Environmental Volunteering, Community Arts Groups.
Developing …
University of Plymouth PGCE 2009 - 2010 - Secondary Citizenship Education
Eggbuckland Community College 2010 - 2013: Citizenship Specialist and taught across curriculums for Religious Education, Careers Education, Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education, as well as Vocational ASDAN/CoPE in the Preparation for Life (P4C) Department. Member of the ‘Go Greener’ College group for environmental and sustainable development.
England representative for the ‘Five Nations Network’ .
Sustainable Schools Pilot Project - Using the 8 Doorways Sustainable Schools model I worked with the leadership team, business manager, staff, students and external providers to establish a:
College Paper Recycling Scheme
Energy Reduction Scheme
Water Conservation Scheme
Reduced food waste and supporting the canteen in promoting their reduced food miles for fresh produce and nutritional meals
Gardening Project
Pond Restoration Project
Outdoor Classroom Area
Woodland Learning Area
Collaborative Arts Projects - Theatre Productions, Garden Installations
Year 8 ‘Social Enterprise’ Day creating eco and social benefit businesses.
During the Pilot Project I also began collaborating with Nature Plymouth and Plymouth University - Natural Connections Demonstration Project.
Plymouth Transition: Education Group member
Earth Education Training: Introduction to the principles of Earth Education
diversifying…
Growing Sustainable Futures CIC (GSFCIC) 2012 - 2017: Founder and Managing Director of GSFCIC in November 2012, where I began offering and developing the ‘Sustainable Schools Programme’ to primary and secondary schools across Plymouth.
GSFCIC Member of Plymouth Social Enterprise Network
GSFCIC Member of SEEd (Sustainability and Environmental Education)
UnLtd Award winner: As a new social entrepreneur I received the ‘Do It Award’ and was a speaker at the UnLtd Hay on Wye Festival Stage 2013 to promote the Sustainable Schools Programme and Social Enterprise start-ups.
By 2015 the CIC offered:
Green Works: Sustainable Schools Advisory Support - supporting the embedding of outdoor education, waste education, energy education, citizenship education, eco-literacy and global-literacy based practical projects and workshops.
Sowing Seeds: Outdoor Classroom Development led by myself and Andy Blackwell - funding sourcing, collaborative design development with students and staff, building outdoor areas and implementation of design plans
Future Leaders Training led by Michelle Virgo - community funded sustainable development training to support collaborative and individual agential change at a grassroots level.
Consultation Projects, which included editing and coordinating the Plymouth Outdoor Education Directory with Plymouth City Council; contributing to local events, networks and University of Plymouth conferences.
The CLASP Network - Communities Learning About Sustainability in Plymouth. The eclectic network functioned as a catalysing virtual and ‘real’ space for sharing project news, new ideas through ‘Creative Conversations’ and as a learning exchange across different organisations, groups and businesses.
Through CLASP I liaised with a wide range of other transformational projects, including REconomy Totnes, Transition Town Totnes, Land Trusts, Cooperatives Movement, Permaculture - Community Gardens, Devon Convergence, Food Plymouth, Skills-Share and Time-banking Projects, as well as, collaborating across a growing network of social enterprises and innovative sustainability projects in Plymouth.
Our work ended in Nov 2017 after five years of ‘eco knowmadic world-making’ with our colleagues, friends and community co-creators.
UK Parliament Education Outreach (P/T) 2014 - 2018
Over four and a half years as the South West Senior Outreach Officer I had visited 720 primary/secondary schools and worked with 52,482 (approx.) children and young people. To engage, empower and inspire participation in the democracy of the UK through understanding process and procedure of creating legislation and how the UK Parliament holds the government to account. The role also supported learning in how a citizen can effect political change.
Vote 100 - UK Parliament Project 2018: Language, Gender , Politics Event at University of Plymouth - I led youth workshops on the transformations of Women’s Rights 1850 - 2005 in UK legislation, which included exploring the gendered perceptions of women in the public political domain from 1918 onwards. I additionally researched Nancy Astor at the Reading University Archives, as she was the first female MP elected to take her seat in the House of Commons.
SAPERE Certificate: Level 1 - Philosophy for Children Foundation Course
Roz Birch Music
Singer/Songwriter, performer, community supporter, local festivals, local arts, local participatory politics and commons of transformation. My sound emerges from taking influences from grief, relating, journeying, seeking and ‘world-making’ through an eclectic mix of genres and experimentation. Online releases include:
Finally Free EP released 2016
Voices and Keys Acoustic Album released 2017
Precious Gifts released 2018
Let Her Breathe Single released 2019
‘Listen with Monger’ claims “…it’s that voice that gives us hope in the darkest hour as that soul oozes in to every gap like honey on a waffle.” To read more of the review please visit http://listenwithmonger.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/roz-birch-ep-review.html
Plymouth Women’s Network Start-Up Member:
Supporting public events for International Women’s Day and Coffee Chats peer-supporting.
Feminist Fusion 2014 - 2019
Led by Anairda I provided project support and participated as a performer, artist and sound technician for events and workshops. I was also part of the voluntary team of women who performed the Vagina Monologues for V-Day 2019. FF is a community-arts project, showcasing the work of female artists in all disciplines (music, theatre, visual, poetry, etc.) while enabling public conversation (via speeches, discussions and games) to explore patriarchal oppression and feminism.
FF was also featured on the ‘The Guilty Feminist’ tour.
The Alternative UK - Supporting with music and facilitation at the Plymouth Friendly and Inquiry Workshops.
Elaborating…
The University of Plymouth: Institute of Education 2016 - 2019
Associate Lecturer for Education Studies, leading modules on Early Adventures (Early Years Outdoor Learning), Global Futures (Sustainable Development Goals) and Introduction to Global Education (Learning for Sustainability, Global-Literacy, Eco-Literacy, Gender Equity, Alternatives in Education, Hope and Utopias, and Future Education).
I was a member of the ‘Learning Outside Formal Education’ (LOFE) research node and attended the ‘Adventures in Posthumanism’ discussion group.
MA Education: Distinction and received the ‘Nico de Bruin Prize’ for the most imaginative/creative piece of work which has been deemed as making a Difference to Education Practice.
Royal Society of the Arts (RSA) Fellow 2019 + - Member of the Innovative Education Network and Sustainability Network
Integrating…
Self-Directed Learning, writing, Blog, content development, and establishing new local networks, developing ideas and local projects.
Rosamonde Birch - .space - a meeting point for creativity, ideas and perspectives. Becoming entangled in the complexities of relational social and ecological knowledge whilst exploring and exemplifying solutions, potentials and possible ‘world-making’ education practices. This .space will also consider further nuances and ambiguities of ‘HOPE’ extending on my MA dissertation, speculating on possible/impossible future worlds.
The Alternative UK: Action Forums Co-Creator member 2020+ - Taking dialogue lead on researching a proposal for a ‘Youth Alternative UK’ and collaborating on the peer-support for ‘self’ sustainable activism project.
Kyle and Lochalsh Community Trust Volunteering - Covid Community Response
OWL Group Secretary 2020+ establishing a local outdoor learning space as part of the Scottish Forestry initiative to engage more schools, families and communities in going outdoors.