Events/Nature Connections 2025

Miles Richardson is a Professor of Human Factors and Nature Connectedness at the University of Derby. He founded the Nature Connectedness Research Group and advises nationally and internationally. Miles is also the creator of the ‘biodiversity stripes’. His Spectator Book of the Year, Reconnection: Fixing our Broken Relationship with Nature was published in 2023 and a follow-up, The Blackbird’s Song, in October 2024.

David is Director for People and Nature at Natural England, responsible for setting the strategic direction for Natural England's work to enable more people to connect with nature and for delivering key strategic programmes to do so.

David's work includes:

• understanding and removing barriers to access
• reaching new audiences (e.g. by linking to health and education)
• creating new opportunities for access (e.g. by enabling the creation of green infrastructure)
• supporting community outreach programmes.

All underpinned by a strong evidence base demonstrating the wider benefits of nature connection.

Jess is Head of the National Education Nature Park at the Natural History Museum, a project commissioned by the Department for Education as part of its Sustainability and Climate Strategy.

In 2020, Jess founded the UK Schools Sustainability Network (UKSSN) as Head of Youth Networks at Global Action Plan alongside teaching secondary modern languages. With UKSSN, she led a delegation of students to the COP26 global climate summit and instigated the annual online Youth Climate Summit.

Previously, Jess worked as a policy adviser at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and has researched Russia and international climate policy.

With performance artist Dr Gemma Collard-Stokes, dancer and poet Professor Scott Thurston, and visual artist Dr Sabine Kussmaul.

The workshop aims to deepen participants’ kinaesthetic attunement with self, others, place, and the more-than-human world, between the combination and filtration of the five pathways to nature connection: senses, emotion, meaning, beauty, and compassion.

Gemma, Scott, and Sabine have been collaboratively exploring the intersections of their respective artistic practices since 2020, integrating poetry, dance, and sculptural form in outdoor environments. Their work has evolved new strategies for attuning to place and community through embodied, multisensory engagement. This workshop offers participants an opportunity to enter into this eco-artistic inquiry, where poetic movement, relational presence, and environmental awareness converge through active participation in performative practice.

Together, we will explore kinaesthetic dimensions of experience as situated within a living, interdependent world. These dimensions are shaped not only by our bodily interactions with others but by how we sense, feel, care for, and find meaning in the landscapes we move through. Across shared creative exploration, we will attune to the textures, stories, and atmospheres of place, inviting awe, appreciation, and response-ability for nature into our collaborative process.

What you can expect:

• Working individually and in small groups
• Exploring qualities of movement with a range of equipment and resources
• Problem-solving, collaboration, and improvisation
• Typical weather and temperatures for the time of year
• Time for reflection and process-oriented feedback

You will need:

• Appropriate all-weather clothing (layers) and footwear
• A journal and something to write/draw with (your preference)
• Water to drink
• Energy and enthusiasm!

What we'll be doing

We will take a steady walk along the river Derwent through to Darley Park, a large, picturesque park which is home to a wide variety of trees and shrubs from all over the world. Darley Park is located at the gateway to the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site and also currently houses the national hydrangea collection (see https://hydrangeaderby.co.uk/)

The walk will consist of made paths and grassy terrain with gentle hills and undulations. During the walk, there will be an opportunity to consider the pathways to nature connectedness by focusing on individual pathways and what they mean to us.

What to bring

Comfortable clothing and waterproof trainers/walking shoes are recommended. Please bring drinking water, sunscreen, waterproofs, layers, and hats as required.

For more information about Darley Park and to download a copy of the tree trail, which highlights a wide variety of trees at the park, visit the Darley Park website and the Tree Trail.

With over 40 years' experience (collectively) in evaluation techniques, Fiona and Caroline will introduce you to some of the key things to consider when evaluating nature-based interventions. 

The workshop will draw on their extensive experience of working with organisations such as the Wildlife Trusts, the Outward-Bound Trust, St Ann’s Allotments, the RSPB and many more.

During the workshop, you will learn about some of the key considerations when designing an evaluation using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. You will also develop an understanding of some of the practicalities of conducting evaluations. We will highlight pitfalls to avoid and share tips for success.  The workshop will also introduce you to some considerations for including evaluation when developing bids for funding.

Climate change is one of the most urgent challenges of our time. But beyond sustainability and activism, how do we sustain emotional resilience and cultivate meaningful, lasting connections with the natural world? This poetry and movement workshop invites participants to explore personal and collective responses to ecological change through embodied and creative practice. Set within the Electric Daisy garden - an urban sanctuary in Derby city centre - this site-sensitive enquiry offers a unique space to deepen our sense of nature connectedness.

As emerging research continues to demonstrate, experiential and sensory engagement - touching, listening, moving, writing - offers a more effective and holistic route to fostering ecological awareness and responsibility. In this session, we share a developing practice that nurtures emotional affinity, imaginative responsiveness, and good physical, mental, and even spiritual health.

Led by artist-academics Gemma Collard-Stokes and Scott Thurston, the workshop blends eco-conscious poetry and bodily expression. Together, we will experiment with ways of sensing, moving, and writing that honour interdependence, invite empathy, and support a deeper, more vital relationship with our environment.

Conference Tickets: 16 - 17 June 2025

Early Bird Ticket - £220 VAT exempt

Standard Ticket - £250 VAT exempt

Postgraduate Ticket (only 28 available) - £150 VAT exempt

Museum of Making- On the site of what is widely regarded as the world’s first factory, Derby’s iconic Silk Mill offers a stunning industrial backdrop on the banks of the River Derwent. 

Electric Daisy- An urban oasis, garden and event space growing in the heart of Derby.

Off-site parking is available at:

• Bold Lane
• Chapel Street 

Parking cards can be validated at the Museum of Making to apply a discounted rate of £2.70 for the day. There are four accessible parking bays on Silk Mill Lane, which are for use by Blue Badge holders only.

Visit our public transport webpage for more information including details about local buses and trains.

Take a look at the latest hotel deals or explore some of our suggestions.  

We currently have a 15% reduction code set up at Leonardo Hotel Derby for bookings associated with this event.

To gain access to this code, contact our team at conference@derby.ac.uk 

If you require any adjustments for your participation at the conference, please inform our team beforehand by contacting conference@derby.ac.uk.