Today is an exciting day for the Sensing Nature project as we’re bringing together over 70 representatives from across policy, practice, research and the arts in London for our ‘Wellbeing with nature and sight impairment’ event.
With a diverse mix of inspiring speakers, the event aims to share the Sensing Nature study findings, and showcase a range of other great initiatives that are encouraging inclusive multisensory nature experiences.
We’ll also be providing early access to three of Sensing Nature’s main project outputs:
Easing into Nature
The first is a resource for anyone whose lives have been touched or shaped by sight impairment in some way, including people with an eye condition, close friends or family, and anyone keen to facilitate more inclusive nature experiences. Through sharing the experiences of a range of people, this booklet aims to highlight opportunities for engaging with nature in pleasurable and meaningful ways. It can be downloaded here, either as a pdf document or as a plain text word file, and will be uploaded in audio form very soon.
Designing urban green space with sight impairment in mind
The second output, produced in collaboration with the Sensory Trust, is an inclusive design briefing featuring ten top tips for designing community nature settings with sight impairment in mind. Whether your space is a park, garden, reserve or woodland, these tips aim to promote access with dignity and ensure more people feel welcome and supported. This briefing can be downloaded here, either as a pdf document or a screen-reader compatible word document.
Supporting people with sight impairments to participate in group walks
The third output, produced in collaboration with Walking for Health, British Blind Sport and Dr Karis Petty at the University of Sussex, is a set of guidelines designed to help walking groups cater for the varied needs and priorities of walkers with sight impairment. Recognising the importance of tailored support in both specialist and mainstream walking groups, the guidance provides tips for facilitating and sharing walking experiences in a meaningful way with sight impaired walkers, alongside opportunities for setting up new walks. This can be downloaded here, again either as a pdf document or a screen-reader compatible word document.
If you would like hard copies of any of these outputs or would like to feedback on the content, please do get in touch via: Sarah.Bell@exeter.ac.uk.
