Our ‘Cardigan Commons’ Wild Nights Interactive Nature event series has wrapped!

 

Wild Nights were an experimental event format devised to connect people with the extraordinary nature we live alongside right here in Melbourne’s city. We paired expert talks with hands-on experiences focused on urban species and ecosystems and invited the community along!

Over three Thursday nights we hosted a wildlife experience with real-life animals, a botanical drawing class focused on eucalypts, and a watercolour workshop where we painted microbats. We met a cheeky sugar glider, sketched some beautiful gum leaves, and learned many bat facts!

This event series was part of ‘Cardigan Commons’ – our research project exploring the potential of Cardigan Street, Carlton to transform into a pedestrianised and nature-filled public space. As part of this imagining, we thought it would make sense to explore the importance of our urban nature.

PlaceLab-er Cherese Sonkkila introducing the Wild Nights Event Series. Photo by Emily Brigid Short.

Why get to know urban nature?

We know that spending time in nature is good for your wellbeing, but people in the city have fewer opportunities to do so. This is coined the “extinction of experience”. This phenomenon means that city-dwellers tend to miss out on the benefits of nature interactions.

The extent to which we feel a part of the natural world, “nature connectedness”, has been linked to happiness. So, we wanted to foster a greater connection to nature through our events.

Additionally, the Victorian’s Value Nature survey shows that generally, and especially for city dwellers, Victorians don’t always view urban areas as an important place for plants and animals to live. However, many important species live and thrive within the city – including endangered species.

Why hands-on activities?

We know that not *everybody* is interested in nature. A 2023 study by Selinske and colleagues found that people in Melbourne who were less connected to nature were not interested in nature events.  So how to increase connection to nature and bring them those benefits?

What we did was create a series of events that would have an appeal outside just nature enthusiasts. By having a series of meet-and-greet and art events, we hoped to interest people who were curious and looking for something fun to do.

In doing so, we were particularly inspired by a study called, “Exploring integrated ArtScience experiences to foster nature connectedness through head, heart and hand”. Renowden and colleagues ran a similar series of events that engaged participants heads (mind), hearts (emotions) and hands (through physical artistic activities) to nurture a greater connection to the more than human world.

Click here to read all about the workshops, outlining what we got up to as part of each of our Wild Nights Interactive Nature events.

Participants learning about microbats at the Watercolour Microbat Workshop. Photo by Emily Brigid Short.