British Science Festival Event Success

 

“The Urbane Forager took a lively crowd through the local common and connected people to their environment and community. There was such a buzz around this event, with people sharing foraging knowledge, apple juice and contact details for future expeditions.”

(Bella, Festival Engagement Manager, British Science Festival)

At the heart of the festival were the talented academics who created and then implemented activities aimed at engaging a diverse audience and showing them the relevance of their work to society.

I led a foraging tour for 30 diverse people through the university campus to Southampton Common, pointing out plants and trees along the way, including hazelnut, blackberry brambles, elder, hawthorn shrubs and apple trees. The group picked some apples and took them back to campus where everyone got involved with chopping and juicing the fruit in my apple press – with delicious results.

The Urbane Forager project aims to explore, engage, inspire, and empower ordinary people to be outdoors more, pay attention to their surroundings, be it city or countryside, observe the seasonal differences in plants and trees, and benefit from harvesting free fruit and nuts. I’m sure we made an impact on the day and hope to hear about the attendees own adventures in the future.

The festival was a great opportunity to reach out, both to those not normally interested and those deeply invested, in science and education, to understand what science really is.

Medlars

One of the young women, a volunteer, said she really enjoyed the whole thing and that she wished her Nan could have joined us because she would have loved the event.

Further reading:

Banned from picking berries on Southampton Common | Daily Echo

The Urbane Forager: Blackberry Ban Battered!