Three Words for Forest: Exploring Uncertainty in a Time of Climate Crisis

This project emerges from newLEAF, part of The Future of UK Treescapes Programme. Working with partners and supporting organisations we will co-create inclusive, open access resources, significantly expanding upon the dissemination of the primary research output - a verbatim play - to reach new and diverse audiences. Our woodlands, forests and trees are critical for our environment, health, well-being and ability to move to a zero-carbon society. However, due to increasing risks from climate change, pests and diseases, and human behaviour, the future is uncertain for our treescapes and how we manage them. For newLEAF, Heddon (PI) and Clive (RA) produced a new play, Three Words for Forest, drawing on 30 interviews with a range of forestry specialists. Using interviewees' words, the play powerfully makes visible complex uncertainties, including climate change, geopolitical pressures, financial markets, government agendas, global mobilities, and human influence. It sensitively portrays the challenges faced by those working with forests, explores a range of practices and polarised positions across the forestry sector and identifies a general lack of public knowledge about forestry. The play was performed in Glasgow (UK Treescapes Conference 2024) and a filmed recording of it shared in two pilot workshops in England with stakeholders and their wider communities. Positive feedback from scientists, foresters, teachers and members of the public confirmed it as an innovative way to engage people in the complex issues attached to forestry, while also serving to remind wider publics that forests connect with and impact on all of us. Climate crisis and net-zero targets make future treescapes an urgent, collective issue. This project addresses three key challenges identified in the research which risk future forests' resilience: lack of public knowledge about forestry, inequitable access to information and action, and the impacts of polarisation across the forestry sector. Aims We will extend the impact of the research through three interconnected activities: i) collaborations with partners and community organisations to reach diverse publics through screenings of the film supported by workshops. ii) collaborations with disability and community specialists to create a suite of accessible versions of the recording and script of the play. iii) pilot workshops situating the play as a discussion tool for debates within the forestry sector. These activities will contribute to open-access, tailored resources for use in various contexts. Objectives and Benefits i) Engage meaningfully with diverse publics, including those currently marginalised from environmental debates, about different choices of forest management; increase understanding of risks facing trees and how to mitigate on a personal level. (Conceptual benefits: changes to knowledge, awareness, attitudes, emotions. Instrumental benefits: changes to behaviours, practices, actions.) ii) Inspire more people to visit, understand better, develop connections with and care for local forested environments. (Capacity-building benefits: changes to skills and expertise. Instrumental benefits: changes to behaviours and actions. Environmental impact: contribution to net-zero.) iii) Facilitate open dialogue in place of polarisation (Instrumental benefits: changes to practices, actions, policies.) iv) Evidence to partners the value of creative research methods. (Capacity-building benefits: changes to skills and expertise.)