Paths towards Sustainability in Wolfson College

What makes the beauty of our green surroundings? And how can we sustain it? What would you like to save in Wolfson College? What might utopian and dystopian futures of Wolfson College look like? And how might those futures depend on our current and past actions?

To bring our college onto a more sustainable path towards the future, it is important to think creatively about these and related questions, and to gather opinions, dreams, and ideas from as many people as possible. The Wolfson Green Team and Wolfson’s Earth Emergency Research Cluster therefore invite artistic contributions on the topic of Paths towards Sustainability in Wolfson College, and award the best submissions with up to £100.

They welcome all original contributions relating Wolfson College to its past, present, and future with the view of sustainability, in particular texts of up to 4,000 words (be they poems, short stories, academic essays or plays). Non-textual contributions (photographs, recordings, drawings, etc.) are also encouraged. Contributors have to be a members of Wolfson College, common room members or Wolfson College residents; all contributions should in some way connect to the College. Contributions are judged according to their aesthetic quality, their originality and their engagement with the overarching theme. Prizes are awarded to the three best submissions. An additional award is made to the most creative, yet still realistic, suggestion of sustainability in College. Special awards are further given to contributors under 12 years.

We aim to publish the best, if not all, submissions online, with a link available on the college website and promoted by the college social media team. Depending on the number of contributions, we may also print a small booklet which would then be obtainable at the lodge and display these in Wolfson. The submissions furthermore will inform future research activities of the Earth Emergency Research Cluster. As a matter of course, all intellectual property rights remain with the authors.

Contributions outside the competition are welcome and may also be published. Since we do not wish to create undue pressure, all contributors can choose whether or not to partake in the competition.

The submission deadline is January 15th, 11 pm (GMT). Please send your contribution to earthemergencycluster@wolfson.ox.ac.uk. The results will be released in March 2021.

In case of any questions or queries, please get in touch with Theodor Borrmann or Moritz Riede.