Coatham Marsh SSRI: Creative Research into Protected Sites, Communities and Nature Recovery

Coatham Marsh: Creative Research into Protected Sites, Communities and Nature Recovery is a commissioned research project funded by Natural England and developed in collaboration with The Wildlife Trust and Forms of Circulation (Sarah Perks and Paul Stewart). Situated within the context of Protected Sites Strategy research and Coatham Marsh Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the project investigates relationships between communities, access, ecology and perceptions of protected landscapes. Using curatorial and creative methodologies alongside socially engaged research approaches, the project explores how people understand, experience and value protected environments, with particular attention to tensions between environmental stewardship, access, safety and everyday use. Through participatory workshops, creative mapping, dialogue and moving image practice, the project develops experimental approaches to community consultation and environmental research. The project contributes to wider debates around nature recovery, environmental participation and the role of creative practice in generating new forms of evidence and public engagement. Outputs include a published report, workshops and the forthcoming 16mm film Framing Nature, extending wider research into ecological curating and “wild curating” methodologies.

This project explores how people experience and use Coatham Marsh and how creative methods can help us better understand relationships between communities and protected natural spaces. Working with local people, researchers and environmental organisations, the project uses workshops, conversations, mapping and film to explore questions around nature, access, care and belonging. The research aims to support future thinking around how protected sites can work for both people and wildlife.

Emerging findings indicate that protected landscapes are experienced through complex and often overlapping concerns including care, safety, accessibility, leisure, ecology and local identity. Early research suggests that creative and participatory methods can reveal forms of lived experience and environmental knowledge often overlooked by conventional consultation approaches. The project highlights the value of combining artistic and curatorial methodologies with environmental research to generate richer understandings of relationships between communities and protected sites.