The Wonder of Treescapes

Featuring a new commissioned poem by Vanessa Bell

Award winning poet, performer, artist and literary activist from Quebec City

We are pleased to commission a new poem by award-winning Québec poet, author, artist, and performer Vanessa Bell, inspired by the research project Branching Out. This collaboration is with the Nottingham Poetry Festival, Nottingham City of Literature, and The Storytelling Academy at Loughborough University.

Vanessa Bell will read the new poem alongside other from her collection. The Branching Out team Alma Solarte-Tobon (Loughborough University) and Janice Ansine (The Open University) will talk about the project and outcomes. They will also be joined by Andy Barret from Excavate, as he embarks on the new National Lottery Heritage funded project to create an audio guide for Colwick Woods in Nottingham. Finally we will concluded with a film created by the Future of UK Treescapes that highlights the contributions from all the projects funders by UKRI, to understand the importance of trees in the UK.

About Branching Out

‘Branching Out’, a project under UKRI’s Future Treescapes Programme, sought to combine the social and cultural values of our urban treescapes with the biophysical data. It used storytelling and citizen science to bring new voices into the public discourse around trees and to co-produce knowledge to support robust planning and policy for a sustainable future. The project partners include Loughborough University, The Open University, York University, Forest Research, Stockholm Enviroment Institude and Ecologos

About The Future of UK Treescapes

The programme was about understanding the environmental, social, economic and cultural roles of the UK’s trees, woodlands and forests. The research will help guide decisions on expanding and protecting these areas for the benefit of the climate, nature and people. By creating and linking environmental, social and economic datasets to cultural and behavioural knowledge, the programme transformed our understanding of how treescapes work and how we can manage them.