Creative approaches to landscape research: Using multisensory and multispecies research perspectives with marginalised groups

Abstract

The research project discussed here used artist-led workshops to enable people from marginalised groups to explore and communicate their relationships with nature and landscapes. Aligning with multisensory and multispecies methodologies, five workshops took place in England’s north-west, in which participants from marginalised and excluded communities co-produced creative works representing their sensorial responses to those environments. Drawing on participants’ experiences of these workshops, and the resulting creative works, the affordances of location-specific creative activities as a means of facilitating connection with local landscapes are examined, as are the opportunities that creative methodologies offer in enabling marginalised and disadvantaged groups to engage in debates about nature and landscape use. Participants benefitted greatly from the project, which enabled small steps towards involving marginalised groups in debates about nature and landscape use. However, challenges remain for decision-making and a more equal distribution of power amongst humans and other species whose interests may be overlooked.