Articles by Ursula Billington

About Ursula Billington

Ursula Billington has a background in environmentalism, wellbeing and the arts. She studied Practical Sustainability in Bristol, gaining experience of agroecology, permaculture and sustainable living projects across the UK. She has since put her knowledge and enthusiasm into practice with roles at Oxfam, Netplants (EU Erasmus project) and the Sustainable Soils Alliance, an organisation focused on placing soil health at the centre of new UK agricultural policy. She is currently Climate & Sustainability editor at independent magazine and online newspaper, Bristol 24/7. She spends the rest of her time on the fiddle.

UK | Pond Life Revives Hope for On-Farm Wildlife

May 27, 2021 Ursula Billington

Pond restoration yields dramatic results for nature. Seedbanks, dormant for 150 years, spring back to life; rare indigenous plants return within months. Invertebrate populations explode, significant for severely declining freshwater biodiversity. Insect chimneys attract huge numbers of birdlife and twice the species normally seen in the area. Ursula Billington reports on a farmer-inspired project to restore pondlife in Norfolk, UK. […]

UK | Who Grew Your Clothes? Soil to Soil Textiles – Part 2

May 10, 2021 Ursula Billington

In this second installment of a two-part special on the soil-to-soil textiles movement, we hear from more women spearheading new ways with wool, as Ursula Billington zooms in on an innovative textile community in Bristol. […]

UK | Who Grew Your Clothes? Soil to Soil Textiles – Part 1

May 5, 2021 Ursula Billington

In the first of a two-part special on the soil-to-soil textiles movement, Ursula Billington unravels the disconnect with where our clothes come from, and spotlights some of the women working to pull the wool from our eyes. […]

UK | How Nature Brought A Family Farm Back To Life

April 23, 2021 Ursula Billington

As the English countryside is gobbled up by monoculture, one family farm is making space for nature. Carymarsh nature reserve is a patchwork of habitats – wetlands, woodlands and feeding grounds for overwintering birds – where people are welcome too. Story by Ursula Billington. […]

“It’s More A Call To ‘Armies’ Than Arms” – Interview with Pat Mooney, Lead Author of ‘A Long Food Movement’

April 19, 2021 Ursula Billington

In this exclusive interview, Ursula Billington speaks to Pat Mooney, co-founder and executive director of the ETC Group, expert with IPES-Food, and lead author of the new report ‘A Long Food Movement: Transforming Food Systems by 2045’. Adamant that we can find opportunity in crisis, Pat shares his insights on Grey Swan events, grassroots versus global strategies, and building muscle to fight for change together. […]

A Long Food Movement: Transforming Food Systems by 2045

April 17, 2021 Ursula Billington

The battle for the future of food: a new report by IPES-Food and the ETC Group sets corporate power against the irresistible force of social energy. Laying out a vision of civil society-centred food systems founded on agroecology, diversity and human rights, this is a call to rapid action, reports Ursula Billington. […]

UK | How City Farms Are Opening Their Gates To Equity

April 8, 2021 Ursula Billington

In the UK, where the Black Lives Matter movement coalesced with a pandemic-provoked appreciation for green space and local food for all, questions of unequal land access and ownership are becoming impossible to ignore. Ursula Billington reports on a couple of urban farms that are opening their gates to inclusion. […]

UK | Waking Up To The Power Of Mushrooms

February 25, 2021 Ursula Billington

Interest is mushrooming in the power of fungi to feed and heal people and the planet. On one urban farm in Bristol, England, mushrooms upcycled from wood chip are building topsoil as well as feeding the local eaters. Meanwhile another nearby mushroom growing initiative is giving wealthy landowners an incentive to preserve their woodland. Ursula Billington reports. […]

UK | Urban Food Revolution Gaining Ground In Bristol

January 25, 2021 Ursula Billington

Small-scale urban farming is a key piece of the food resilience puzzle. In the face of crisis, local growing has proved a reliable ally. For the city of Bristol, a turning point in the local food revolution has been a community growing project called Grow Wilder that is rooted in respect for the soil and a collaborative ecosystem. Ursula Billington reports. […]

UK | Sustainable Wine’s Reign of Terroir

December 18, 2020 Ursula Billington

Undaunted by the challenge of growing grapes in rainy England, the family-run Aldwick Estate turned to wine production as a way to improve soil health. Ursula Billington spoke to the wine growers about fungicides, inspiration from France, and the future of wine-making in the UK. […]

UK | Old and New: Somerset’s Regenerative Renaissance

November 19, 2020 Ursula Billington

Livestock farmers Jen and Andy of Fernhill Farm in Somerset, England have been practicing regenerative agriculture since before they had a name for it. Twenty years ago their “extensive nomadic ways” were dismissed as too traditional; now it’s clear these pioneers of sustainable agroecology were ahead of their time. Ursula Billington tells us more. […]

Street Goat: A Blueprint for Urban Agroecology

October 29, 2020 Ursula Billington

Street Goat is a new urban farming project that grazes goats on disused land around the city of Bristol, UK. Run by a 20-member community cooperative, it provides local people with sustainable, healthy milk and meat, while helping to recover overgrown land for horticultural use. Ursula Billington reports. […]