Forest of Imagination’s Biodiversity Ring Celebrates A Million Small Acts
The eleventh Forest of Imagination took over Bath’s Holburne Museum during the summer of 2024, with a focus on inspiring little steps to be taken to address the climate and ecological emergencies.
This year’s theme highlighted a vibrant ‘Ring of Biodiversity’ through stories and creative interventions. Taking advantage of the diverse landscapes and habitats, Forest of Imagination’s physical presence reinforced the green setting of the Museum Gardens leading into Sydney Gardens and the wider city landscapes.
Video credit: Alan Gardner Productions
Bath’s award-winning, actively inclusive and contemporary free arts event Forest of Imagination has been celebrating art, nature and Bath’s thriving creative scene for over a decade and 2024’s festival served as an opportunity for visitors to connect with nature. The Biodiversity Ring provided a host of experiential moments and sensory experiences for explorers of all ages.
A special Climate Spa workshop allowed children the chance to come along and think about and actively questions what ideas adults should be adopting to save the planet, while an immersive soundscape — a three-dimensional Soundcloud beneath a beautiful yew tree — provided deeper connection to the landscape. Spanish touring puppet theatre AN-KI also delighted young visitors with an immersive theatrical experience that explored humans connection with the earth.
Forest of Imagination is a creative partnership between Grant Associates, Bath Spa University, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and House of Imagination, alongside the wider creative, cultural and educational community of Bath. Each year a familiar space within the city is reimagined to highlight the importance of nature and imagination in all of our daily lives.
The festival has inspired many since its inception in 2014, and the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) has now announced the launch of a landmark Playful Green Planet programme, being run in partnership with the Eden Project and Bath Spa University, which has taken inspiration from Forest of Imagination’s creation of nature-based play spaces.
The Playful Green Planet project is the first of its kind in the UK. It will identify areas of land in urban and economically disadvantaged areas, drawing on the expertise and talents of local individuals, coalitions and communities to transform those spaces into ecologically thriving outdoor playrooms and classrooms that grow children’s capabilities and social activism.
The Playful Green Planet initiative provides an exciting new framework for implementing ‘Forest of Imagination’ type projects across the UK. I am delighted to see that one of the first to be trialed will be in my original home city of Hull. Connecting children with nature through inspiring experiences is at the heart of any ‘Forest of Imagination’ and I look forward to seeing how each new project builds on the work we have developed here in Bath with Bath Spa University, House of Imagination and all of our sponsors, partners and collaborators.
