On Saturday 27 June 2026, we’re holding a festival celebrating nature, community, creativity, and discovery, right in the heart of Oxford. Events will take place at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, and outside in nearby green spaces.
Across the University, and throughout Oxfordshire more widely, there is so much inspiring work happening to protect and restore nature. Much of this work doesn’t always reach wider audiences, and we felt it was time to create a welcoming, public festival to highlight these efforts, share Oxford University’s nature research with a wider audience, celebrate successes, and inspire more people to get involved. The festival is about connection: between research and lived experience, creativity and conservation, and people and the natural world.
“We’re holding this festival to celebrate our shared relationship with nature, to bring communities, creativity, and research together, spark curiosity in all ages, and share hopeful stories of how nature can thrive when we care for it together”
We’re looking for inspiring, hands-on, imaginative ideas that will help people connect with nature, understand what is being done to preserve it, and learn how we can all help it thrive. You might be a conservation volunteer, a local organisation or NGO, an artist, a researcher, a student, a teacher, or someone with a great idea – if you care about nature, we encourage you to apply.
We’d like to hear from you, whether your activity is playful or creative, based on research, rooted in lived experience or in local nature projects, if it is interactive, outdoors, or is a simple activity that sparks curiosity. It could be storytelling, craft, or performance. We’ll help you shape your ideas into engaging activities for all ages and share tips to make your event accessible and welcoming for everyone. We’re especially looking forward to receiving submissions that share positive stories of nature recovery, highlight collaborations connecting local knowledge with nature research, and those that offer fresh and inclusive ways to involve people who might not usually attend university events.
We don’t currently have funding for individual activities, but we’re happy to support you in other ways — and can help connect you with partners if you’d like to collaborate.
