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Land, Water, Nature, Food: Our Relationship with Nature
Land, Water, Nature, Food: Our Relationship with Nature
Have your say on how we can rethink our relationship with our natural world.
Introduction
Our activities as humans have changed our climate and environment causing harm to humans and other species. We know that we need to reduce emissions, protect and restore wildlife habitats and prepare for the now unavoidable impacts of climate change, while addressing the many inequalities in our society.
But change isn’t simple. We tend to focus on the potential problems associated with change, rather than the opportunities, and our histories and heritage are often deeply connected to our sense of cultural identity. We must find ways to evolve our relationship with our environment and recognise the benefits of new, more balanced ways of life.
Below you will find a draft paper, bringing together the themes, thoughts and existing research and informed by our Delivering Impact session on this topic, setting out actions we can take in the region to rethink and rebalance our relationship with our natural world.
Please read the paper and give us your views in the short survey below.
Read the draft paper on rethinking our relationship with nature, then answer our short survey below.
The draft paper brings in ideas and expertise from our Commissioners, research, and experts who are tackling the problem across the country, in the region, and on the ground. You can watch the expert speaker session on this topic in the video at the foot of this page.
At this stage, the paper might not give the full picture so we would really value your feedback. The ideas we are discussing affect everyone - we want to know what you think.
Please give your responses in the survey below.
The paper outlines a number of ways we can evolve our relationship with nature:
- Create and scale up projects that help to reconnect people with nature
- Increase access to education about ecology, biology and natural systems
- Increase opportunities for people to feed into decision-making about how our land and seas are managed
- Engage with youth organisations to ensure younger generations can shape decisions that affect their lives
- Facilitate peer-to-peer knowledge sharing about regenerative approaches to land stewardship
- Co-create with land owners a land use and water management strategic framework for the region
- Create time and space for people to engage with and talk about environmental issues
- Create visuals of how landscapes could change to help people understand the impacts
- Publicly praise and celebrate positive change and innovative thinking that progresses restoration of our environment
We would like your input to challenge and shape the ideas set out in this first draft.
We are keen to hear from experts on different aspects of the relationship between people and our environment to ensure rigour in our interpretation of the science and social factors underpinning this paper.
We are equally keen to hear the views of people who live and work in Yorkshire and the Humber to ensure our final position paper and actions address the needs of people and communities across the region.
Watch this video if you are interested in the full recording of the expert panel presentations titled 'cultural adaptation' that explore our relationship with nature. Watching this video is optional and if you do not want to watch, simply click 'next' to submit your survey.
We heard from five expert speakers in our Delivering Impact Session on 9th May 2023, each presenting their perspectives on people's attitudes, behaviours and perspectives when it comes to our natural environment. The speakers, panel and other attendees then discussed the opportunities and the actions we could take as a region.
- Positive Tipping Points: social change and land use
Peter Lefort, Green Futures Network, University of Exeter - Assessing Public Attitudes to Landscape Change in the UK
Carys Swanwick, Emeritus Professor and former head of Landscape Design at University of Sheffield - A Permaculture Overview
Andy Goldring, CEO Permaculture Association - A Case Study on Bradford District's Doorstep
Katherine Bates, Executive Development Director, South Pennines Park - Time and Space
Pamela Candea, Managing Director, The Surefoot Effect
This engagement phase has finished
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