Over recent months I have had the pleasure of collaborating with the wonderful team at Dadima’s CIC and Coventry University on an illustrated eBook for the Horizon Europe–funded PLANET4B project. Although I joined the project in its later stages, I was entrusted with something incredibly special: a collection of personal stories, reflections, and lived experiences exploring how people from racially minoritised backgrounds connect with nature and biodiversity in the UK.
Working together, we designed a series of posters for conferences and events; visual pieces that captured the voices and perspectives of both the project team and the learning community participants. These posters grew into this illustrated eBook, a space where those experiences and insights can be seen, held, and celebrated.
This project taught me so much, and I hope it offers you something meaningful as well. Here’s to imagining – and creating – green spaces that feel welcoming, inclusive, and alive for everyone. 🌿✨
Read the eBook here and continue the journey with the PLANET4B Care-Full Courses series.
Transcript
About This eBook
This eBook is a creative reflection of our journey as part of the EU-funded PLANET4B project. In collaboration with Dadima’s CIC and visual artist Dr Vicky Bowskill, it brings together doodles, environmental stories, and insights that document key moments of our research journey: relationships, creativity, community and collective learning.
Who We Are
This work was led by researchers at Coventry University, working in partnership with Dadima’s CIC, a community-led organisation using walking, storytelling and intergenerational wisdom to connect people through nature. Our contribution is part of PLANET4B, a Horizon Europe collaboration involving 16 partners from universities, NGOs, and civil society organisations, exploring how decisions about biodiversity are made – and how they can be made more just, inclusive, and effective.
What This eBook is About
Our UK case study, “Opening Nature and the Outdoors to Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities”, explores how people from racially minoritised backgrounds experience nature, biodiversity, and a sense of belonging in outdoor spaces.
Over 16 months, we:
- Walked, talked, and learned with a community of walkers from Dadima’s CIC.
- Used creative and deliberative methods to reflect on emotions, challenges, and breakthroughs.
- Considered how creativity and care can support more inclusive decision-making for biodiversity.
- Asked what it means to “see ourselves” in nature – individually, culturally, and systemically.
Why This eBook Matters
Biodiversity loss is not only an ecological issue – it is a social one. Whose knowledge and expertise counts? Who feels welcome in nature? What does meaningful engagement look like? Who gets to shape decisions about land, environment, and future generations?
This eBook does not offer answers – rather, it shares moments, voices, and visual traces through a collective journey that sought to challenge, listen, and reimagine how equity underpins strategies for protecting and connecting with nature.
Thank you for opening these pages and walking this path with us.
Over to you…
- What does the term ‘biodiversity’ mean to you?
- How do you see biodiversity being important or relevant to your everyday life?
- What are the potential challenges to learning about biodiversity for yourself, or the people in your life?
- If you could learn more about biodiversity, what form would that learning take?
- To what extent can creative interventions like art workshops or nature walks influence knowledge about biodiversity?
- How might the above influence the values and behaviours of individuals and communities in relation to biodiversity?
- How do you think you can contribute to the local, national and global agendas to safeguard biodiversity?
Acknowledgements
We extend our heartfelt thanks to the PLANET4B UK Learning Community for generously sharing their expertise, energy, reflexivity, and time. Their voluntary contributions were instrumental in shaping the research process and enriching its outcomes through honest insights and personal stories. Special thanks to Vicky Bowskill, whose creative talents brought this research to life through her evocative doodles and graphic design, capturing its richness with imagination and care.
Project team: Dr Geeta Ludhra, Subash Ludhra, Dr Geraldine Brown, Professor Alex Franklin, Dr Barbara Smith, Lindy Binder
Continue your journey…
Resources
- PLANET4B website: https://planet4b.eu/about/
- Opening nature and the outdoors to Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities: https://planet4b.eu/case-studies/opening-nature-and-the-outdoors-to-black-asian-and-ethnic-minority-communities/
- PLANET4B Care-Full Courses: https://www.care-full-courses.com/
Inklusive Nature CIC 