Art and Nature in The Leys
A free, drop-in family-friendly event led by researchers Martha Crockatt and Mattia Troiano, developed in collaboration with Natasha Summer, a local community champion, and in partnership with the Oxfordshire African Caribbean Multicultural Society. It was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council’s Festival of Social Science.
The aim of the event was to engage one of the communities in Oxford that had participated in Mattia’s research, and also to provide a venue for community members interested in local greenspace and nature to get together and consider their neighbourhood, celebrating its strengths and opening a conversation on what people perceived as its downsides.
Attendees were invited to create collages of nature spaces; annotate maps of the local areas with what they liked about nature and view artworks created in walked interviews with local community members as part of Mattia’s research.
The collage-making portrayed green spaces that had a balance between people and nature, included treed areas, open spaces and water, and included recreation equipment for small children and benches, indicating the types of spaces that participants visualise. The participatory mapping, intended to allow people to share their favourite local nature spaces, resulted in a mixed picture of positive nature experiences, concern about losing greenspace to development and a feeling that the local community lack agency in how their greenspaces are managed. Connection, knowledge and passion for the local area and the greenspace and nature within it were apparent throughout activities. Summaries of themes emerging
from the activities are presented below, as well as images of the collages created by attendees and the maps
to which they contributed.
Community engagement
There were 26 attendees, including some families, representing diverse demographics. Event feedback was collected through an engaging traffic light colour system and was generally positive. All people who left feedback indicated that the event allowed them to learn something new, making them glad that they had participated. Constructive points for improvement included wider advertisement of the event locally, and the ability to clarify the intent of the day to participants and possible outputs or scope given the diversity of attendees and their roles in the community.
Relevant local organisations were invited to attend, including Community Action Groups Oxfordshire, the Oxfordshire Local Nature Partnership, Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment and Only One Oxford. The event was realised from the support of the locally based Oxfordshire African Caribbean Multicultural Association. The event hosted the recently reformed group of Friends of Spindleberry Park with the intent to support the group’s advertisement and recruitment of volunteers among locals.
Learn more about the overall project here
