Time in Nature: Earth Week Story Walks  

Connecting to the green spaces in our environment, these walking workshops invited participants to attune to natural systems and more-than-human characters, collectively crafting narratives along the way.  Scheduled as part of UAL’s Earth Week activities in 2025 and starting from each UAL college in synchrony, this networked storytelling experience co-created stories in a variety of forms. 

Image: © Yu-Chen Wang

Muddy riverbank with scattered rocks and debris, seen through green leaves.

Key information

  • Duration: Each walk lasted 2 hours 
  • Location: from UAL colleges, utilising local green spaces. Check out the green space maps here: https://timeinnature.myblog.arts.ac.uk/green-spaces-near-your-campus/ 
  • Access: Information was shared in advance about the distance to be covered, elevation and types of paths underfoot. Participants were also informed about what to bring in terms of weather protection (sun or rain), what to wear, or materials needed. 

Walk One:
Small Worlds – Figments of More-than-Human Ethics
(CSM) 

Together, we journeyed into Small Worlds as we questioned what care, control, and containment can mean with our more-than-human neighbours. Beginning in Camley Street Natural Park, minutes away from the college, Time in Nature with mosses, mallards, and rare fungi set co-creating stories in motion. Shifting contexts, we then headed to hidden laboratory spaces inside CSM teaming with life. Together, we filled “leaky buckets” with slippery questions that we collected along the way—figments of a speculative ethics framework.  The Small Worlds Zine is a photo story created to document and share our encounters across the three sites. 

The walk was facilitated by Sara Vanore Rewkiewicz & Lucy Jane MacAllister Dukes, hosted by the More-than-human PG Interest Group in collaboration with the UAL Doctoral School.  

Image: © Tika Sufyan

View into a bucket containing handwritten cards collected during the walk.
Lush woodland clearing filled with green foliage and purple wildflowers.
Person bending to observe plants next to a row of wheelbarrows along a garden path.
Metal bucket labeled “Bucket of Ethics” taped with red corners, carried outdoors.
Bee perched on a cluster of white blossoms.
Close-up of a prompt card reading: “Touch insert more-than-human here for 15 seconds - what has been exchanged?” with handwritten reflections.
Hand painting on fabric beside handwritten notes and small soil samples.
Group kneeling around notes, jars of soil, and tape during collaborative activity.
Small Worlds ZineDownload

Walk Two:
Material Empathy 
(Camberwell College of Arts) 

The Minerals Collective (CCW Climate and Repair Advocates) ran a sensory workshop that took place in Ruskin Park. Participants were invited to bring an object to engage with through playful inquiry and sensitive investigation by applying 4 stages of Goethean Ways of Seeing (contemplative methods) to examine the object, resulting in creative outcomes using writing, drawing and performance. The aim was to develop a deeper understanding of material complexity and perception of what goes into the making of the objects.  

The walk was facilitated by Sam Jarman and the CCW Repair and Climate Advocates (The Minerals Collective). 

Close-up of hands arranging natural objects and drawings on paper, with a small felt rabbit placed on top.
Three people in a sunny park, standing apart and performing during a sensory workshop.

‘Knowing that something I made could outlive me by millions of years, possibly sitting unused in a landfill, was a sobering and uncomfortable realisation. Yet, I am truly grateful for the experience, because it has prompted a profound shift in how I think about making. Moving forward, I know I will approach my practice with much greater care and responsibility.’
-Winifred Ahupa, Climate Advocate

Walk Three: 
A Folklore Data Walk
(LCC)

Discover the plants and stories of Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park on this interactive Earth Week data walk. Use our unique Plant ID guides to embark on a quest, finding specific flora and mapping your journey creatively. Together, we’ll explore our sensory and emotional responses to nature and discuss the connection between plants, data, and the folklore we need today. This is an easy, step-free walk (1-2 miles) and will go ahead in all-weather, so remember to bring a jacket and umbrella. 

The walk was facilitated by Sophie Sparkes & Linda Aloysius.

A clipboard holding a plant ID guide open to a page on Mediterranean Spurge, with bright green shrubs in the background.
A Folklore Data WalkDownload

Walk Four:
Underground, overground
(Wimbledon College of Arts)

This walk took a sensory journey through Wimbledon Common, inviting participants to observe and react with light, sound, textures, and human interaction. Along the walk, tasks were set to encourage engagement with the elements and nature, documenting experiences along the way. The outcome is a co-created zine.

The walk was facilitated by Matthew Stock & Geraldine O’Reilly.

Side-by-side images: on the left, a charcoal-style rubbing of a fallen tree trunk; on the right, a photograph of a large tree with branches forming a den-like structure from leaning sticks in a woodland clearing.
Underground OvergroundDownload

Walk Five:
Elements of Fashion
(London College of Fashion)

Walk, look, and gather; on a route in the Olympic Park along waterways that contrast with buildings where nature creeps in. Using the power of fashion to conceal our bodies, we crafted a mask from the elements and folkloric stories gathered along the waterway and took time to breathe… 

The walk was facilitated by Deborah Britz & Ellie Martin.

Podcast: Time in Nature – Elements of Fashion

White mask decorated with leaves and flowers placed among greenery, with the word “LISTEN” above and below.
Stylised map of the Olympic Park layered with plant textures, titled “Elements of Fashion, London College of Fashion.”
Collage of mirrored reflections showing masked participants looking up, with the word “BREATHE” at the bottom.
Time in Nature Walk: East Bank (25 April 2025)Download

Walk Six:
Riverside Walk
(Chelsea College of Art)

A short walk exploring the green spaces around Chelsea College of Art, immersed in the winding pathways and the flowing lines of the river and mudbank, overlooking the water and skyscapes. We explored walking and drawing—practices that connect with, and possibly synchronise with, water, light, and nature’s many inhabitants—guided by the interconnectedness of the environment. These creative and collaborative processes, viewed from non-human perspectives culminated in speculative storytelling and served as a navigational tool for teaching and learning in, around, and with nature.

The walk was facilitated by Yu-Chen Wang, Othello De Souza-Hartley, Poppy Hinde & Ece Ozer.

Image: © Ece Ozer

Abstract black-and-white drawing with layered geometric and organic lines, showing different textures.
Close-up of hands making a rubbing with a brown pen on paper pressed against a rough green stone surface.

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