An introduction to Eden Project Dundee
[Music] welcome to Dundee a city on the east coast of Scotland with a rich history and an exciting future I'm an environmental campaigner and activist and I fell in love with the environment studying at the University of Dundee I've seen firsthand the transition this city's been on from past Industries And Trades to being the Forefront of the Green Revolution one big part of that is Eden Project Dundee a regeneration project of the Dundee Gas Works by the team behind the original Eden Project Cornwall the Gas Works in Dundee sits on the bank of the river tee gas produced here let the street lights and mount people could cook and Heat their homes for 140 years the site is now disused and closed to the public with the largest remaining building being the enormous gas holder instead of removing it Eden plans to incorporate this striking structure into the designs for Eden Project Dundee I've been given special access to visit this fascinating site and find out more about its past with Dundee historian Ian Flett it goes back to being a country house called Pizza day house over there because this was where the dawn came up and then they sold land here to a soup Works in 1790 which would be stenchy and very smelly and then the first Dandy gas company moved in in 1824 to provide lights um they were supplied by coal by sea the new gas company was in competition with them and it was chaos at the Town Council took them over in 1870. and you had a coal gas production site here which by that time was fed by Railway as technology progressed they realized they didn't need gas holders and now this is small square building does all the work of Gas Distribution that this area did beforehand what would it have been like to work at the Gas Works it was noisy it was smelly but dandonians loved it they called it the gassy and there was not a civic pride because Danby Corporation Dundee Town Council ran it for 120 years very well and it was one of the most modern advanced gas facilities in Scotland and now that remains is the gas holder why has that been left behind when everything else has been removed because that was Modern and it's what the spiral gas holder it sort of swivels like a corkscrew that was in use right up until about 2000 and they thought they might use that for Reserve holding whereas modern technology means you can pressurize it in pipes and you don't need things like big gas holders anymore thank you have a pleasure it's so exciting especially to think that this is going to transform the site and turn post industrial Eden that's wonderful and I strongly suggest you go and speak to Dr Aaron Farley in local history and Central Library because she's got some fantastic plans that show the development of the site and some wonderful photographs I took Ian's recommendation and went along to meet Dr Erin Farley here we've got some historic maps of Dundee which show the gas roach site and the context of the rest of the city over the years this is the oldest one it was done in 1793 and as you can see the city is much much smaller then and instead of the guessworks what we've got here is a house and grounds called people day we're going to move on to the next map we've got one from 1834 here just next to paper day here and you've got the the Gas Works buildings um starting to appear there and then moving on to this one which dates from 1847. you can see here we've got a much more extensive guesswork site this is the plan of the newer guessworks the layout of the gas holders has changed quite a lot interestingly enough this one has also included space for Gardens we've got a flower garden planned out down here which is a really interesting thing to include in a guessworks plan this book is one of the volumes of the Dundee photographic survey it was published in 1916. this this image of course this shows a part of the building that we can still see on the site today [Applause] [Music] [Music] learning more about the history of the gas work site was fascinating but how does the Eden Project's history inform the work happening in Dundee I've traveled here to the Eden project in Cornwall to hear the story of this remarkable place and how its transformation of a former China Clay Pit sets a template for regeneration projects around the world [Music] spending time at the Eden project in Cornwall got me really excited about the potential for Eden Project Dundee but what will a day out there actually be like I'm at Blair Parkin who is the Eden Project's head of XP median's development to find out I probably have the best job in the world so I I get to take this idea and work with communities all over the world and my team and local Partners to create an Eden project for a place we've been working for a couple of years with the people of Dundee with our partners the University of Dundee the Northwood charitable trust and Dundee City Council to create the opportunity to build and even in the city center of Dundee when you come to Cornwall you step out and you see the biomes and you plans what is it going to win project Dundee the site at the moment has 230 years of being at the center of the carbon-based energy industry so we are going to stick with the heritage of the site and use the site to talk about what has happened in the past and then what could happen in the future our regenerative future there's a 62 meter diameter gas holder on site this enormous tank that used to rise to nearly 70 meters high when it was full of gas we're going to turn that gas holder in to an indoor Forest a living exhibit you enter in a dark space you learn about the formation of fossil fuels and then you enter through the dark space the base of a forest the living forest and in that amazing Botanical exhibit we will discuss our future using technology and using nature and using human activity to fix some of the issues we've got with all the carbon that have been released and what are our futures we don't want to go back to the Stone Age we don't want to stop driving to to work so how can we do that differently so that we don't damage the planet and so the gas holder is going to be this giant example of the circular economy and then we're going to do other things on site as yet still To Be Imagined the gas holder is certainly going to be one of the main attractions but the site is not very pretty it looks quite challenging what made you choose such a difficult site to begin with that's a that that's a question that I it keeps me awake at night um across the city of Dundee we looked at 16 locations and 15 of those locations were in good shape uh environmentally in a nice condition my team rejected all of them because what what is it we could improve there was nothing we could improve the gas work site which is what is referred to as a Brownfield industrial site so it's disused and it's unloved and it's also in the city center became the obvious place to create an Eden by giving it some love we can literally bring it to life and that's what we intend to do a project like Eden does not just pop up overnight what can we expect to see in the city of Dundee while we wait for this to be completed we have this amazing Wildflower program with the Alexander monka trust and nature Scott where we are transforming unloved verges grass areas Brownfield areas and so far about nine hectares are planned in in the center of Dundee uh Community come out and help us plant those and then in the in the in the spring to summer months they are beautiful so you can go and see them you can visit them there really is so much going on in Dundee and also we have Partnerships with other existing institutions like the VNA the Discovery Center the McManus all of these places it's an amazing thing to go and spend a day or a night in Dundee and as we grow our programs there'll be so much more to see and hopefully in the next two to three years we'll also be able to come to physical Eden in Dundee definitely go and check some of that out back to you Laura and Dundee yes thank you we are back in Dundee so we know Eden is working on programs across the city which embody the mission of this project but what are they actually doing I'm here at Morgan Academy a school in Dundee to find out more about the meanwhile project where they turned alone into a beautiful Wildflower Meadow it's great to meet you all and be at the school and hear a little bit about this Wildflower medal you have partnered with Eden what were some of the bits that you most enjoyed of the projects that you did um I really liked the creative aspect of just you know our teachers saying get out there and just take any photos of any flowers and it really made me appreciate all our school was but also the added benefits of having the medal there and it's good to know you enjoyed it but how does it fit in with your learning and the curriculum when we were doing the planting and harvesting I had biology and in biology we were learning about biodiversity AKA how the different species come together and with more dive Varsity it's better for the environment so that's really intertwined with the subject I was in would you like to see projects like the one you've got happen across the city yeah I think that would be a really good idea because um other places in Dundee would have beautiful flower plantations and they would really brighten up the city I also just think it can bring like a lot of like different types of people together so like some people might use this for like science purposes but some also people might use it for the art purposes that's really brought our school together but also the community having something the community can be proud of experiencing how great Wildlife can be and how great nature can be so good to talk to the kids who are getting involved in the Eden project before it's even been built but what do the teachers think and what effect can having an eating project right here have on the education of kids in Dundee it's provided a real stimulus for um our learning around nature our learning around sustainability and the importance of that and it's also ensured that other curriculum areas have had this beautiful stimulus to think about their learning whether that be creative writing or creative arts photography the response been really overwhelming not just within the school community and we're situated in the heart Dundee our community is very beautiful has a lot of natural assets but it's also an inner city area with quite a lot of problems and um the feedback we got from the entire Community was how wonderful having this Wildfire Meadow and the center of community was what do you think Eden Project Dundee will do for the education of kids across the city well I think we've demonstrated in this project that um when you get young people to think about and engage with nature and their environment they've become really stimulated that they become alive so to have the opportunity to connect with an organization like Eden is a privilege it's a real gift how would you like the work from the meanwhile projects to influence the beaten project Dundee that's coming soon well I think Eden have got a terrific opportunity through this engagement to listen to Young people and listen to what it is that they see as the vision for Eden Dundee it's a once in a lifetime opportunity creates something that the the city feels real ownership of [Music] the Eden Project has always said it's crucial to work with local partners for Eden Project Dundee but who are these partners and why did they get involved I've come down to the University of Dundee to meet principal Professor Ian Gillespie to find out more so what we're trying to do is bring the Eden Project to the old Gas Works Gas Works opposite of docks it's a dirty old sites hundreds of years of hydrocarbon production in the Eden Project will sit on that site and transform the site but also transform a story we are interested in how does the Eden Project take us on that transformation Journey that just transitioned to a future sustainable economy where no one's Left Behind what are some of the local experiences and knowledge that you can bring into this project Dundee is a city which has built itself over centuries on being outward looking on trading on connectivity on being a bit of a gritty City but nevertheless trying to take ideas of social justice out Dundee is the place to do it in the center of Dundee's the place to put that kind of transformative action education is a huge part of this why is that so important to you in your role so the Eden Project it is about helping us see and transform ourselves as a society to that Equitable sustainable future an education both for our students but also for a broader Society is going to be key to delivering in that goal thank you so much for your time and of course for sharing how the University of Dundee is partnering with this amazing Eden Project Dundee the University of Dundee is one of the top universities in the UK and attracts students from all over the world so what did they think of Eden Project Dundee I cannot believe that here last week that's so cool I just recently heard about it but I think it's fantastic it's going to be very interesting for us as a community here I'm really excited about it actually and these uh is a uni City to be honest and the Green Space here for example is really used by a lot of students so having like a separate Green Space is also something I think would be reused I'm so excited about it what are you most excited about seeing when it comes I think I'm most excited to see the like Riverside turn into even more of a like cool environmentally friendly especially getting rid of the Gas Works I heard about like removing like the toxic land for like a much nicer like more green space I hope it brings like more people visiting Dundee to be honest and I really hope it like brings better like um kind of education like doing more stuff outside having like Greenery and like plants is going to be so cool I love plants there is definitely a buzz growing around the project I went to meet John Alexander the leader of Dundee City Council another key partner in Eden Project Dundee I met him at the VNA Dundee the iconic new Museum on the waterfront of the River Tea the first meeting that took place to discuss the relationship with Eden it took place in my office a number of years ago now and brought together the University of Dundee Dundee City Council and Eden itself and it wasn't actually to discuss the Eden Project itself as we now know it but I wanted to talk about kind of collaboration on education sustainability all of us came away with a sense that there's actually a really unique kind of bringing together of Partners here who all have a shared ambition what benefit will Eden Project Dundee bring to dundorians here on the ground there are so many benefits that can be derived from a project to this nature it's so multifaceted and it's such an incredible opportunity such an incredible project in so many ways and you know we're sitting in the v a today and I think this is a demonstration of our commitment to Regeneration looking at culture looking at education and looking at the links to both the heritage of the city and also the future of the city the city has changed so much over the last years even the last 10 years what change do you see coming over the next five years I've more recently become known for my my catchphrase which is be bold be ambitious be in Dundee and I think that epitomizes the approach that we've been taken over the last 10 years there's a real excitement and a buzz in the city about the prospect of Eden coming on the back of everything that we've seen over the last 10 years and you know I've seen the physical transformation of the city over that period of time I'm born and raised and educated in the city here in Dundee now bringing up my own family in the city and I couldn't think of anywhere better to do so and I'm really excited about what this can potentially Help The Wider City achieving the longer term someone who lives in Dundee I'm really excited for this project to be live and to be able to go and see it do you think it's going to attract more tourists to the city absolutely I mean it's going to be a huge attraction for those within Dundee those in the surrounding region but I think it's going to be a project of you know National significance it's going to from across the UK and hopefully wider a field and it's not just about it being a kind of cultural venue once and done you come and visit and then you go home and you're happy the impact of what you will hopefully hear and learn and read and interact with where you're visiting Eden Project will will stay with people and resonate if anyone hasn't been to Dundee before what would you want to say to them if they're thinking about taking a visit um but why not first of all why why haven't you been a Dundee I think it is an incredible City and I often describe it as the Goldilocks City it's not too big it's not too small it's it's just perfect it's just right the city is in transition it's it's changing and we've seen through the cultural Investments that we've made such as the VNA but not just the v a that there is a real um kind of dynamic exciting vibrant uh environment being created [Music] wow what a journey I've been on it's been great to find out more about Eden Project Dundee talk to the people who are getting involved and get to visit the site it's amazing to think that the old Gas Works which are sat on the riverbank for so many years will be transformed into an Eden representing the journey that this city has been on transitioning from old fossil fuel Industries into something that will spread hope and be a catalyst for environmental regeneration plus it sounds like a great day out I'm passionate about climate reducing waste and environmental justice issues that's why I'm so excited for an organization like Eden who share these values to become part of the rich fabric of this city it's clear that there is still a lot of work to do to make this project a reality but in making this film I've seen firsthand the passion enthusiasm and support behind it I I'm really looking forward to seeing how Eden Project Dundee develops and I hope you are too [Music] [Applause] away [Music] [Music] foreign
2023-08-01 21:49
