Tilery Park: Curatorial and creative methodologies for communities’ engagement in local green space and nature recovery

Professor Sarah Perks and Dr Paul Alexander Stewart (Teesside University) and their research team, in partnership with Stockton-On-Tees Borough Council and Natural England (as part of the Tees Estuary Nature Recovery Partnership) have undertaken a research project focused on the green and blue space (or urban green and blue
infrastructure, often shortened to ‘green space’) in and around Tilery Park and Lustrum Beck area.

This research project aimed to explore community perceptions, assess current usage, and identify barriers to access with a view to understand community needs and aspirations for green space. The Tilery Park project has foregrounded new curatorial and creative methodologies and interventions that begin to capture the barriers to access, make visible community aspirations and consider inclusion for those who would benefit from ecosystems services linked to health and wellbeing that green
spaces provide.