What: Guided forest walk and storytelling workshop with place-based creative prompts

For whom: A maximum of 25 participants. No prior experience or specific expertise is necessary. As the event will take place in an urban forest with steep hills and partially unpaved areas, this event is unsuitable for those relying heavily on mobility aids. The event will have verbal English instruction, but the creative prompts can be executed in any preferred (creative) language.

Where: Gateshead Riverside Park: meet at Pipewellgate Car Park, at the base of the Rolling Moon sculpture, Newcastle upon Tyne NE8 2EU

Description: Places mean different things to different people. Forested places, especially, have a long history of capturing people's imaginations. For most urban dwellers, urban forests are nature close to home. They offer countless benefits for the environment and human wellbeing and function as green networks. Quantitative data shows how urban forest places are used and who enjoys access to them, indicating that engagement with and access to urban forests and their benefits is unequal. But what we don't know is how to mitigate this unequal access. Allowances for a sense of belonging and psychological ownership are important factors in contributing to equitable access. So, what does it mean to belong in an urban forest place? How could a sense of belonging help make urban forest qualities accessible to different people? How can intersectional belonging contribute to equitable access to urban forest qualities across communities?

This special event is part of ongoing PhD research by creative practice on exploring how a sense of belonging contributes to equitable access to urban forest places across communities. The intersectional approach moves beyond binary thinking: we are more than just our gender, age, health status, or other typical markers used in research. Place-based narratives are unearthed through storytelling workshops with diverse communities, drawing on the idea that we all have stories to tell. Everyone is the expert of their own lived experience, and such qualitative and creative contributions can expand our understanding of how equitable access to urban forest places can be achieved. The resulting insights aim to contribute to the debate on environmental justice and urban forestry.

This special event would be such a place-based storytelling workshop. In two hours, participants will be taken on a guided forest walk through Gateshead Riverside Park, immersing themselves in the place. After a short introduction and initial exploration of the place, the majority of the time will be used to create urban forest stories, individually and collaboratively, through a series of creative prompts. Participants will be invited to use collected input and materials from the forest to record their stories in words, art and audiovisual representations. The event finishes with sharing the collected stories in the group, comparing experiences and taking note of emerging themes.

Keywords: Urban forestry, sense of belonging, human health and wellbeing, nature connectedness, ecosystem services, green equity, environmental justice, psychological ownership

Places are limited to 20 participants and pre-booking is required. 

Book your place by selecting a (free) ticket for the workshop on our registration page: https://msa2023newcastle.dryfta.com/attendee-registration-tickets