An Audio Journey Along Regent's Canal A new audio journey by There Project, with sound design by Deborah Ridley Commissioned by National Park City Foundation for the London Design Festival 2020
What, When, How and Where
Available from Friday 18 September Accessible 24/7 with own phone and headset via https://www.thereproject.org Recommended starting point: Islington Tunnel, London N1 8AP
We encourage listeners to experience the audio journey outside or on location, but it can be tuned into from anywhere in the world. This is an experience designed for individuals to enjoy using their own phone and headset. Nevertheless, please observe current social distancing guidelines.
What if cities were designed as spaces for both people and wildlife to thrive? What if we thought like coots or peregrines? This London Design Festival, There Project takes you on an audio journey through one of London's iconic landscapes - the 200-year-old Regent's Canal. Taking a bird's eye view, it questions whether design can help us become more ecocentric.
Starting at the Islington Tunnel, listeners will follow 15-year-old conservationist and wildlife writer Kabir Kaul, as he guides us on a walk East towards the Kingsland Basin Nature Reserve. Along the way, we hear from designers, thinkers, activists, and residents who are transforming our place in nature, and nature’s place in our National Park City. Catch this audio journey on your walk between London Design Festival destinations (Regent's Canal is a great green and blue link between King's Cross Design District and Shoreditch Design Triangle), or tune in from anywhere else in the world for an opportunity to take a deep breath, transport yourself to the canal, and think about your own relationship with wildlife in the city.
Although this is not strictly a guided walk, we encourage everyone who can to go out and enjoy this audio journey outside, and if they can, on the Canal - recommended starting point is at Islington Tunnel (Colebrook Row, N1 8AP), walking East towards Kingsland Basin Nature Reserve (a leisurely 40mn walk). Please make sure to follow government guidelines on social distancing and outdoors gatherings to keep yourself and others safe. Own smartphone and headphones are needed to access the content via thereproject.org
Highlights
Conservationist and London National Park City Ranger Kabir Kaul’s shares observations on the wildlife encountered along the canal
Award-winning design practice Studio Ossidiana discuss the importance of making space for wildlife in cities, and how designers should be more like gardeners
Author Richard Smyth helps us take a bird's eye view on human activity and shares excerpts from his book An Indifference of Birds
"Goatman" designer Thomas Thwaites and Climate Museum UK co-founder Bridget McKenzie share their views on the role design can play in shifting mindsets and influencing ecocentric, regenerative cultures
Sabina Mohideen, Programme Manager at Design Council, highlights the urgency to adopt an ecocentric mindset when designing urban spaces, learning from indigenous cultures
Learn how the Wildlife Gardeners of Haggerston have restored biodiversity in their section of the Regent's Canal, turning the formerly industrial, undermaintained Kingsland Basin into a Nature Reserve - and their current fight for the needs of wildlife to be recognised in the planning process.
Gareth George, mooring ranger for the Canal & River Trust and a boater himself, shares insights into how life has changed on Regent's Canal in the last decade
Themes explored
Designing a more ecocentric city: For most of our history, we've mainly been designing for humans' benefit, and this has created a profound imbalance. To truly start regenerating, we need to learn to see the world from perspectives other than our own. Ecocentrism encourages us to see humans as part of a wider ecosystem, and invites us to challenge our inherited worldviews. Can we design for the benefit of other species too?
London Design Festival meets London National Park City: How can the London design community respond to London National Park City's call to make the city greener, wilder and healthier? Who will join in to take on this ambitious collective design brief? This project aims to bring closer together two creative visions for London, and the communities behind them, starting with a conversation and a walk, and building up to a network.
Looking forward to the next 200 years of the Regent's Canal: Turning 200 this year, Regent's Canal has served multiple purposes in its history, from its industrial past to its recreational and residential present. It is also a place of ecological diversity in the city. Originally constructed to serve industry, and therefore to serve human needs, what if we designed the next 200 years for multiple species? Could it be more inclusive, more complex, more integrated, more creative and more beautiful? This audio journey brings together a diversity of voices to build and share long term visions for the future, and a call to action to transform them into reality.
For our first anniversary, we held a special online event to showcase 100 voices making London greener, healthier and wilder.
A series of quick fire talks from inspirational people taking positive action to inspire us all to re-imagine London as a greener, healthier, wilder city.
The amazing range of speakers we had across all three evenings are listed below. Check them out, follow their links, connect with them on social media. We love a good conversation to create connections and new ideas!
Watch and Listen Now!
Watch many of our speakers now on our YouTube Channel. We've created a Playlist of them all.
We'll be uploading more videos of the talks, walks, conversations over the next week or so. Please do keep checking back for more.
We would like to continue to add Voices from our National Park City, so if you are interested in contributing a 3 minute video, please drop us a line at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tuesday 21st June 2020
On the first day of our 100 Voices from London National Park City we heard from people across the city on subjects including fruit trails and community gardens, sustainable schools and greener choices, street art, cycling, litter, rivers, nature reserves, gardening and much more!
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Name
Title
Organisation (if relevant)
Twitter
Instagram
Website
Ben Smith
National Park City Foundation trustee introduction
On the second day of our 100 Voices from London National Park City we heard from people across the city on subjects including wildlife photography and gardening networks, personal experiences of our wild city, solar schools, wild swimming, orienteering, digital technologies, fungi, food and forest bathing!
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Name
Title
Organisation (if relevant)
Twitter
Instagram
Website
Eilish Kavanagh
National Park City Foundation trustee introduction
Aude Vuilliomenet
GardensofThings - Digital Technologies to help greening London
On the third day of our 100 Voices from London National Park City we heard from people across the city on subjects including cycling, wildflowers, inclusion and communities, blue sky and night sky, edible cities, photography, parkour, litter, art and experiences during lockdown.
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Name
Title
Organisation (if relevant)
Twitter
Instagram
Website
Emily Hamilton
National Park City Foundation trustee introduction
London is full of millions of people who have ideas and projects to make life better in our city. What if we shared those ideas more and inspired other people to do them too?
To celebrate the first anniversary of London becoming the world’s first National Park City next month, we are going to hold a special online event to showcase 100 people who are doing things to make our National Park City greener, healthier or wilder.
We will showcase 100 diverse voices, speaking on a wide range of topics and from every corner of our beautiful city. The stories will cover gardening, nature photography, walking, cycling, trees, climate change, parks and green spaces, green recovery, local volunteering, storytelling, arts and crafts, fungi, fitness, campaigning, parkour, skateboarding, community action....and many other creative ideas.
Join us for this online celebration filled with positivity to re-imagine what London can be. The event will be hosted by the National Park City Foundation and will include stories, videos, songs, poems and plenty of time to connect and continue the conversation.
Looking Back to Our Autumn Gathering* - 19 Oct 2019
Lots of people joined us to discover ways and things to make life better. They left inspired and ready to help bring the London National Park City to life in their own lives and in their neighbourhoods.
We all met Londoners, Do-ers, Makers, Champions & Rangers - The people making London National Park City a reality. We listened to challenging and inspiring speakers, connected, met and discusssed, and most importantly had fun!
We were proud to host a wide range of exciting and inspiring speakers
Elliot Newton - Conservationist. Naturalist. Campaigner. Elliot started his conservation career after founding the Kingston Biodiversity Network in his home town, then becoming a director within the Kingston Environment Centre and the Nature Conservation Manager for the Environment Trust. Elliot is involved with multiple conservation organisations: Elliot is a non- executive director for Citizen Zoo, which hopes to encourage the general public to proactively engage with conservation. Elliott is also Creative Director at AFON (A Focus on Nature) whose mission is to connect, support and inspire young people across the UK with an interest in nature and conservation, and provide a voice for the youth conservation movement.
Dami Solebo of VOYAGEYouth – Voice Of Youth And Genuine Empowerment is a social justice charity that aims to EMPOWER marginalised black young people and provide them with the self-awareness and motivation to TRANSFORM themselves and their communities. The mission of VOYAGE is to encourage and assist young people bridge the gap between their schools, communities and criminal justice system whilst supporting young people to SUSTAIN successful partnerships and meaningful relationships.
Leif Bersweden - author of The Orchid Hunter and Winter Trees and has had a lifelong interest in nature, focusing on plants from the age of seven. He grew up in rural Wiltshire where he taught himself how to identify the local flora and now regularly leads plant identification training courses for The Species Recovery Trust. Leif is a Fellow of the Linnean Society and is currently doing a PhD at Kew Gardens, where his research focuses on orchid genetics. In a world where an interest in botany is becoming increasingly rare, he wants to help put plants back on the map and is endeavouring to do this through his teaching, research and publications.
Brenda Puech - Brenda Puech is recognised for transforming a parking space outside her home into a mini park - or ‘parklet’ - creating a game-changing innovative use of street space which was immensely popular and eventually led to parklet permits being made legal in her borough. As a result, the council has now launched a trial that allows Hackney residents to turn kerbside parking spaces into parklets, with other London boroughs looking at their own schemes.
Kuumba kids, Project Yogi & Nicstars - Mindful Arts Family Fun Day was created by Creative Director and Workshop Facilitator Biancha Samuel-Reid of Kuumba kids, an African Centered Arts organisation; Amani Eke, Founder of Project Yogi, a non-profit mindfulness and yoga community organisations; and Nicola Harvey, Published Author or "Mindful Little Yogis" and founder of Mindful Nicstars. Collaboratively, these experienced practitioners use Mindfulness, mindful movement, holistic education and the creative arts and crafts to encourage Young Londoners to spend more time in nature.
Kabir Kaul - 14 year old birder, wildlife enthusiast, conservationist, National Park City Champion and WeBS counter. Ambassador for @cameron_b_trust. Obsessed with London and its wild side. Londoner.
Neal Underwood from The SharksCanoe Club - Helping young and old get onto the water and looking back to the land with different eyes. A 10 year old major participation canoe club with sites in Harefield, Harleseden, Southall and Osterley. Mass participation is key: As well as getting people active, we have a serious competitive side: Marathon, Sprint Slalom, Wild Water Racing and Canoe Polo.
Ella Fleetwood - A dance artist exploring our relationship to the environment and climate change through outdoor dance. Ella creates work that is relevant and reflective of the societies in which we live. A socially engaged practice that connects people.
Alexandra Petropoulos - Alexandra is a journalist, comedian, editor and musician. Originally from midwest America she moved to the UK ten years ago. She has recently completed the Creative Writing MA at Birkbeck, a degree she’ll proudly add to the growing pile of impractical qualifications that already includes a BM in flute performance and an MA in ethnomusicology. When she’s not writing weird stories about trees falling in love, Alexandra is the deputy editor at the music magazine Songlines. Her journalism has appeared in Songlines, the Guardian and Wanderlust, among others.
Wildlife Gardeners of Haggerston (Gideon Corby)- We are a dozen like-minded local residents who are planting up the Kingsland Basin and Regents Canal to create a haven for nature between the Kingsland Road and Whitmore Road bridges. This stretch of the Regents Canal is a pilot scheme for the Canal and River Trust to show what is possible to achieve in just a few years. Eventually the entire Regents Canal can connect the various parks and green spaces along its route and act as a green corridor for our wildlife. We already have herons, swans and an occasional kingfisher but there is the potential for water vole and otter too!
We Enjoyed...
Rapid talks and longer debates
Joining in our Q&A
An Ideas Fair - Help develop ideas for the next year of the London National Park City
Entertainment
A unique exploratory National Park City Walk
Networking and making new friends.
Meet the speakers
Help us promote the Gathering*
Please print off and put up these posters in your office, cafe, school, university, gym, shop, library. You will find a A4 version and a version with 2 A5 posters per page.
We are inviting friends groups, nature groups, schools and other organisations to create their own #NationalParkCity Local Gathering during a week in late Spring.
A Local Gathering is a local version of our regular Gathering which your group organise:
It is an event to which your community are invited
It may be an event you already had planned
It can be really small - really!
It has 2 or more speakers speaking about local groups and local actions, or about wider topics. Those speakers may be local or perhaps from further afield.
It promotes and shares the good things people are doing
It shares ideas from beyond your community
It is free to attend (but donations are ok)
Not already a member of a group? Why not set up a National Park City Group at work, in school, with colleagues or friends. A NationalParkCity Local Gathering is a great way to get a new group together.
So how about it?
Would you be interested in organising one ?
What would you do?
When would work best for you?
How could London National Park City help you make them a success?
Organise an Event during the #NationalParkCity Festival in July
To celebrate the one year anniversary of the #NationalParkCity Launch we will be running a #NationalParkCity Festival throughout July.
We are inviting you to organise an event during this time. It can be anything that helps people to enjoy London’s great outdoors or helps make the city greener, healthier and wilder. It may be a Local Gathering as above.
We will help you reach as wide an audience as possible, especially people who do not know or feel that green spaces and outdoor places are for them.
Let’s promote and share the good things people are doing locally!
Would you be interested in running an event for the Festival?
What would you do?
How could London National Park City help you make it a success?
London National Park City Gathering - Sat 29 Feb 2019
The London National Park City Gathering including the Greener, Healthier & Wilder London - The London Mayoral Hustings was held on Saturday 29 February 2019 at the UCL Christopher Ingold Theatre, 20 Gordon Street, Bloomsbury, WC1H 0AJ
Photos and Videos of the Day
You can see lots of photos from the event over on our FLICKR page and we've been uploading videos of our speakers from the day on our YouTube channel for those unable to be there in person. We will keep adding on there over the next few weeks, so do check back!
It incorporated a hustings event with London Mayoral candidates where you’ll be able to ask them questions about how they’ll make London greener, healthier and wilder.
Our Gatherings bring people together from every borough across London: Across interests, skills, experiences, problems solved and "What Ifs?" made a reality.
We celebrate the whole of London's great outdoors: from big projects transforming places alongside tiny, quiet, local successes by hard-working, imaginative, caring people
All these drive London as a National Park City.
Welcome 11am
Welcome - Paul de Zylva, chair, National Park City Foundation
Every Person is Capable - Savan Shah, EPIC
The importance of a vision for future flourishing - Jerome Lewis, UCL Centre for the Anthropology of Sustainability (CAoS)
Greener, Healthier & Wilder London - The London Mayoral Hustings 1130 - 1pm
11.30am to 1pm Hosted by London National Park City and presented by Ebs Akintade.
Mayoral candidates:
Shaun Bailey, Conservative - confirmed
Siobhan Benita, Liberal Democrat - confirmed
Sian Berry, Green - confirmed
Sadiq Khan, Labour - invited
Rosalind Readhead, Independent - confirmed.
Mandu Reid, Women's Equality Party - confirmed
Rory Stewart, Independent - confirmed.
Gathering in the Afternoon 130pm - 430pm
Throughout the day, watch and listen to a variety of speakers and performers who will explore ideas and topics from the point of view of those making a difference in their local community. Arrive thinking "What If?" and leave thinking "Why Not?!"
Network with new and existing contacts on bringing London National Park City alive in 2020
Give your feedback on London National Park City plans for 2020 beyond, including our brand new National Park City Rangers programme and share your ideas on how we can make London a better National Park City
On Stage
Our three main sessions are as follows (time approximate and subject to change - Gatherings are intentionally a very relaxed event!)
130pm - Kabir Kaul's Rewilding London Together
Designed and introduced by Kabir, hear young people’s perspectives on how we can make London wilder together. Kabir Kaul is a 14 year old conservationist and wildlife writer, passionate about protecting London's biodiversity. He has created an interactive map, 'Nature Reserves of London', and has been featured in several publications, including the Big Issue, Evening Standard and the Guardian. He is an ambassador for the Cameron Bespolka Trust, and an RSPB Youth Council member. Hear from young people from:
Action for Conservation
Cameron Bespolka Trust
and more to be confirmed...
230pm - Outdoor Culture – Using hip hop, creative arts, fashion, food in urban spaces for social change
Flourishing Diversity - By creating a platform for wisdom traditions, the Flourishing Diversity Series seeks to inspire appreciation and support amongst Western leaders and the public for the vital role Indigenous people play in resisting ecological collapse. We can all be Flourishers.
EPIC (Every Person is Capable) - People from different cultures, backgrounds and ages come together to engage in positive urban arts. Expect some surprises.
Time and Talents - More than a Party – celebrating community outdoors. For 133 years, T&T has been working to make sure that nobody is left out. This presentation will feature outdoor fashion and creativity.
May Project Gardens - Hip Hop Garden - an award-winning CIC, working across South London to address poverty, disempowerment, access to resources and influence. Working with marginalised groups, mostly young people, people of colour and refugees, using what we consider universally connecting tools - nature, food and creative arts - for social change.
330pm - Lightning Talks Fast paced introductions to people helping Make Life in London Better
CycleSisters - Cycle Sisters is a thriving Muslim women’s cycling group based in Waltham Forest. Formed in October 2016, it now has over 50 members and volunteer ride leaders.
Plogolution - How plogging can transform communities - Once upon a time, not so long ago, two friends sat down and moaned about the state of the world and the barrage of plastic and rubbish blighting our rivers and oceans. But what could two people do?
Forest & Family - Walking The [nature] Talk. Forest & Family run outdoor nature connection experiences for urban families in London.
Greg Packman - Life and work amongst the trees of London
5 National Park City Commitments and 99 ideas for the next Mayor of London
We asked our network for ideas to put to the mayoral candidates and we have produced 5 top asks and 99 What If ideas on how the next Mayor can make life in London better. You can read and download them all over on our IDEAS page.
Looking Back to Our Autumn Gathering* - 19 Oct 2019
Lots of people joined us to discover ways and things to make life better. They left inspired and ready to help bring the London National Park City to life in their own lives and in their neighbourhoods.
We all met Londoners, Do-ers, Makers, Champions & Rangers - The people making London National Park City a reality. We listened to challenging and inspiring speakers, connected, met and discusssed, and most importantly had fun!
We were proud to host a wide range of exciting and inspiring speakers
Elliot Newton - Conservationist. Naturalist. Campaigner. Elliot started his conservation career after founding the Kingston Biodiversity Network in his home town, then becoming a director within the Kingston Environment Centre and the Nature Conservation Manager for the Environment Trust. Elliot is involved with multiple conservation organisations: Elliot is a non- executive director for Citizen Zoo, which hopes to encourage the general public to proactively engage with conservation. Elliott is also Creative Director at AFON (A Focus on Nature) whose mission is to connect, support and inspire young people across the UK with an interest in nature and conservation, and provide a voice for the youth conservation movement.
Dami Solebo of VOYAGEYouth – Voice Of Youth And Genuine Empowerment is a social justice charity that aims to EMPOWER marginalised black young people and provide them with the self-awareness and motivation to TRANSFORM themselves and their communities. The mission of VOYAGE is to encourage and assist young people bridge the gap between their schools, communities and criminal justice system whilst supporting young people to SUSTAIN successful partnerships and meaningful relationships.
Leif Bersweden - author of The Orchid Hunter and Winter Trees and has had a lifelong interest in nature, focusing on plants from the age of seven. He grew up in rural Wiltshire where he taught himself how to identify the local flora and now regularly leads plant identification training courses for The Species Recovery Trust. Leif is a Fellow of the Linnean Society and is currently doing a PhD at Kew Gardens, where his research focuses on orchid genetics. In a world where an interest in botany is becoming increasingly rare, he wants to help put plants back on the map and is endeavouring to do this through his teaching, research and publications.
Brenda Puech - Brenda Puech is recognised for transforming a parking space outside her home into a mini park - or ‘parklet’ - creating a game-changing innovative use of street space which was immensely popular and eventually led to parklet permits being made legal in her borough. As a result, the council has now launched a trial that allows Hackney residents to turn kerbside parking spaces into parklets, with other London boroughs looking at their own schemes.
Kuumba kids, Project Yogi & Nicstars - Mindful Arts Family Fun Day was created by Creative Director and Workshop Facilitator Biancha Samuel-Reid of Kuumba kids, an African Centered Arts organisation; Amani Eke, Founder of Project Yogi, a non-profit mindfulness and yoga community organisations; and Nicola Harvey, Published Author or "Mindful Little Yogis" and founder of Mindful Nicstars. Collaboratively, these experienced practitioners use Mindfulness, mindful movement, holistic education and the creative arts and crafts to encourage Young Londoners to spend more time in nature.
Kabir Kaul - 14 year old birder, wildlife enthusiast, conservationist, National Park City Champion and WeBS counter. Ambassador for @cameron_b_trust. Obsessed with London and its wild side. Londoner.
Neal Underwood from The SharksCanoe Club - Helping young and old get onto the water and looking back to the land with different eyes. A 10 year old major participation canoe club with sites in Harefield, Harleseden, Southall and Osterley. Mass participation is key: As well as getting people active, we have a serious competitive side: Marathon, Sprint Slalom, Wild Water Racing and Canoe Polo.
Ella Fleetwood - A dance artist exploring our relationship to the environment and climate change through outdoor dance. Ella creates work that is relevant and reflective of the societies in which we live. A socially engaged practice that connects people.
Alexandra Petropoulos - Alexandra is a journalist, comedian, editor and musician. Originally from midwest America she moved to the UK ten years ago. She has recently completed the Creative Writing MA at Birkbeck, a degree she’ll proudly add to the growing pile of impractical qualifications that already includes a BM in flute performance and an MA in ethnomusicology. When she’s not writing weird stories about trees falling in love, Alexandra is the deputy editor at the music magazine Songlines. Her journalism has appeared in Songlines, the Guardian and Wanderlust, among others.
Wildlife Gardeners of Haggerston (Gideon Corby)- We are a dozen like-minded local residents who are planting up the Kingsland Basin and Regents Canal to create a haven for nature between the Kingsland Road and Whitmore Road bridges. This stretch of the Regents Canal is a pilot scheme for the Canal and River Trust to show what is possible to achieve in just a few years. Eventually the entire Regents Canal can connect the various parks and green spaces along its route and act as a green corridor for our wildlife. We already have herons, swans and an occasional kingfisher but there is the potential for water vole and otter too!
We Enjoyed...
Rapid talks and longer debates
Joining in our Q&A
An Ideas Fair - Help develop ideas for the next year of the London National Park City
Entertainment
A unique exploratory National Park City Walk
Networking and making new friends.
Meet the speakers
Help us promote the Gathering*
Please print off and put up these posters in your office, cafe, school, university, gym, shop, library. You will find a A4 version and a version with 2 A5 posters per page.
