Urban Wilderness

Information

Created By: Gareth Clay

Currently Used By: Gareth Clay

Location: Keswick town centre (for students; Staff in Brysons)

Instructions

Aims To explore ideas of wilderness and whether we can find the 'wild' in urban landscapes.

Structure

• Coach transfer to Keswick
• Briefing at Theatre by the Lake (if good weather, do the briefing in the field opposite the Theatre - good views to stimulate ideas of nature, wilderness, etc.)
• Fieldwork in Keswick, observing and documenting information on the maps
• Debrief at Theatre by the Lake (again, stay outside if the weather is good!)

Briefing - topics to discuss

In previous years I have let the conversation develop organically, but usually cover the following topics:

• What do we think of when we hear the word 'wilderness' or 'wild'? Get the students to think about the factors that make a place a wilderness. Typical answers include: wide open spaces; lack of humans or human activity; remote; rare species, high biodiversity, apex predators or other iconic animals (e.g. elephants, tigers, polar bears); scary or intimidating; bleak; etc. Explore the emotional responses as well as physical attributes.
• Get each student to give example of a global wilderness. Examples usually include: Arctic/Antarctic; big deserts (e.g. Sahara); mountain areas (e.g. Himalayas, Andes); Australian outback; boreal forests (e.g. Canada); Siberia; American great plains or prairies; etc. It gets more challenging as you go around the group and the easy pickings disappear (e.g. Arctic, Sahara)! You could ask students if they have visited any of these landscapes on holiday or previous fieldwork.
• Pivot the conversation to urban landscapes. Note that all the previous examples given by students are likely to be in remote rural areas.
• Discuss nature in urban areas - where do we find nature in cities? Students may suggest parks, playing fields, domestic gardens, rivers/canals, cycle paths or footpaths, etc. You could include discussion about the work in Geography department on the multi-benefits of green spaces in urban areas across multiple research groups!
• Get the students to think about what many of these preceding examples have in common? Often they are formalised or managed spaces in some way.
• Then move discussion to ideas around non-formal spaces in urban areas that have an element of the wild about them. Ask them about places near them that are wilder than the rest of their home town. These may include: brownfield sites; car parks; alleyways; derelict buildings; canal towpaths; underpasses; etc.
• Explore the factors that make these areas wilder (link to first bullet point): 'rough round the edges'; litter; overgrown vegetation; crime or antisocial behaviour (e.g. graffiti); abandonment; etc. Likely to have negative connotations.
• Then start to think about the benefits these spaces may have (e.g. biodiversity, amenity value e.g. though dog walking)

Task In small groups (3 - 4), explore the centre of Keswick and surrounding streets to identify areas of the town that are wild(er). Make observations, notes, photos, and annotate on to the maps. In their groups, come up with a set of criteria to define 'wild' in Keswick. (One year, a group developing a full ranking system with multiple criteria and weightings!).

Important note to give students

• Stick to public spaces - no trespassing onto private property

Debrief Get the students to feedback their maps and criteria. Explore whether there were disagreements within the groups about how to 'rank' the wild spaces. You'll probably find that students don't think Keswick is very wild (not entirely unexpected!), so note that this exercise would work differently in other more urban spaces (i.e. Manchester!).

• In 2019 we had some really interesting discussion about how spaces change their feeling at different times of the day. The underpass in Keswick during the day is welcoming (mural on wall, usually a busker playing) but at night the mood may change. Also discussed how rough ground during the day may be used as a cut-through or dog walking space, but at night people actively avoid it due to fear of crime/anti-social behaviour. This led onto discussions about gendered perceptions of space.

Opportunity to discuss ideas about working at the human-physical interface and where this crops up in the 1st year programme (and into Years 2 & 3).

Equipment

Each student should have:

• Clipboard
• Pen/pencils
• Map of Keswick Town centre (A4 for each student, plus an A3 map for the group)

Staff require:

• Copy of the map

Related reading

• Johnson, N. (2016) Unseen City: The Majesty of Pigeons, the Discreet Charm of Snails & Other Wonders of the Urban Wilderness. Rodale Books
• Jorgensen, A., Keenan, R. (2011) Urban Wildscapes. Routledge.