Re-Storying Landscapes for Social Inclusion - Guidance
Two fabric tactile maps, of about half a metre in length, laid out on a wooden table in the Great Oak Hall at Westonbirt Arboretum, with the hands of the map creator, guide Pauline Thomas, nearby. Using brown, orange, red, white, blue and green colour contrasts, along with different fabric textures, the maps depict the main routes and landmarks of the Arboretum, providing an overview of the site and how different areas relate to each other. Credit: Dr Clare Hickman.
Alongside the Unlocking Landscapes Network, we have been leading an exciting project, called ‘Re-Storying Landscapes for Social Inclusion’, funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration Account.
The overall aim of the project was to inform landscape decision-making that reflects and respects the diverse ways in which landscapes are sensed, valued and experienced over time.
It involved a brilliant collaboration between the University of Exeter, Newcastle University, Art Shape, Zoe Partington, Andy Shipley of Natural Inclusion, Westonbirt – The National Arboretum, Access Lizard Adventure and the Sensory Projects.
Through the project, we explored creative, collaborative opportunities to explore and develop new landscape stories, making unseen or rarely felt landscape qualities more compelling across varied backgrounds, histories and life circumstances.
We’re excited to share new guidance informed by the project that brings together a series of resources to support disability-inclusive, multisensory landscape experiences. It is designed for anyone involved in the design, management and/or interpretation of a nature setting.
The guidance, available to download below, shares varied understandings of disability, before discussing opportunities to enable and co-create physical, sensory, intellectual, social and institutional qualities of nature access and experience. It draws on examples from within and beyond the Re-Storying Landscapes project and the Unlocking Landscapes Network, as well as signposting wider resources of relevance.
Download the illustrated guidance
You can find alternative formats of the document online here too: https://sensing-nature.com/news/restorying-landscapes-guidance
If you find the guidance useful or would like to feedback on the content, do get in touch with Sarah Bell at Sarah.Bell@exeter.ac.uk – we’d love to hear from you!