Over the past week I have developed an online sharing group. This group aims to target customers of hospitality spaces and provide a space where they can post applications of nature that they like or dislike accompanied by short comments as to why they hold this opinion. This data can then be utilised to develop upon what people are liking, to create the most effective applications of nature to attract customers and get them engaged in nature.
Further advancements of the group, include developing a community whereby the group can be utilised to direct people to events which bring nature to people that I am developing as well as being a space to share other events and venues that are promoting natural design; so that people are able to get the knowledge of where to visit to build their connection to nature.
Facebook
The group has been created on Facebook, as this platform allows for members of the group to share their own images and add captions to it. This group also allows people to comment on the posts, which should help to spark conversation between members and begin the formation of a community.
I am the admin of the group and so I can approve people wanting to join. This process helps to ensure that everyone in the group is there for the right reasons.
I will attract people to the Facebook group by posting about in on the multitude of Facebook groups around natural design and also hospitality that I am a part of already (see below). I will also share about the group in the LinkedIn groups around these subject areas, that I am a member of to promote it further and get people engaged in it. Finally, I will share the group amongst my stakeholders that I have been in contact with the get them involved in the group. Once, people have joined the group they can share the link to their friends to join, I will just need to approve them and then they can get posting!
An example of a post can be seen in my first post below for inspiration for members.
Instagram
I am going to utilise the @nature.i.n instagram page to upload curated images from the Facebook group to showcase the best examples of natural design and events. I will also upload images of spaces and events that I come across so that it provides a specific and intriguing feed into the best places and events to go to experience nature (alongside those that I will be hosting myself).
I will also share this instagram page via the Facebook group and I will gain extra followers of similar such content by following accounts looking at nature, natural design or connecting with nature; as well as those accounts looking at hospitality and interacting with these accounts. I aim to grow a steady following on this account, so that in the future I can utilise this platform to promote the natural events and experiences I am running over the coming months. I will also post about these events in the Facebook groups and the community I nurture in this space will hopefully aid the success of my other ventures in the natural experiences and events, as the other part of my project.
Reflection
I am excited to see how this group can grow and evolve as it gathers members to create real change in how nature can be brought into spaces through utilising the direct feedback from customers of hospitality spaces. I am also intrigued to see how the group can form a space that directs people to applications of nature in spaces and encourages them to visit these spaces and absorb nature in anyway they can. This can also help to gain traction for attending natural events and experiences in hospitality spaces that can aid the entirety of my goal to re-connect people to nature in hospitality spaces. Even if people aren’t attending specifically just the natural events, experiences and designs that I am trialling, the group can help people to visit others promoting nature, which still aids their connection to nature.
Over the coming weeks I will continue to attract members to this group. I will also start to post some images in it myself to set an example of the types of things members might post. Additionally, I will begin too curate and add to the @nature.i.n instagram feed and direct people in the Facebook group to there.
I will unpack the following results gained from the 1st google forms which has collated data across both the Tuesday and the Wednesday of the event.
The data for rating connections to nature after interacting with herbs was only collated on the Wednesday and this is why there are only 22 respondents to those questions rather than 40. This was due to on the Tuesday I deemed the interactions with the herbs from people only passing through the cafe for a quick coffee etc to be too short to impact their connection to nature. So, I was relying on people completing the questions on the second google form once they were home to achieve an ‘after herbs’ result. This is because passersby of this sort were the main people I interacted with through the event, as they were the predominate customers of the cafe. However, after getting home on the Tuesday evening and reviewing the answers submitted in the 2nd google forms from the 19 people I had spoken to that day, only 1 had completed the form. Therefore, I realised on the Wednesday it was necessary to ask everyone the before and after questions then and there, in the hope of achieving some form of comparable data between before and after the herb interactions. Even up to this day only 3 people have given any answers on the 2nd google form, but only 1 has completed the majority of questions, the other two have only answered the first three questions!
The 1st Google Forms
The vast majority of participants in my event were females, although tis was predominately over the first day, with the Wednesday being more balanced between males and females. Across the 2 day event I managed to reached the majority of age ranges in some proportion, which I was happy with in gaining a sample of the public in relation to customers of hospitality spaces, as under 18s are less likely to visit hospitality spaces of their own accord.
Inclusion of Nature in Self Scale
Here we observe the top 3 most connected options (E, F, G) to hold 47.5% of the responses when asked at the start of the event. This almost being half of the participants, in this sample, means that the customers were already feeling fairly strongly connected to nature on the whole. The least connected option of A and B held the least amount of responses with only 7.5% of the vote.
When the question was asked again after taking part and engaging in the herb event, 50% of responses were the top 3 most connected options. This slight change (2.5%) in reported connectedness to nature suggests that there is strength in the event to impact connection to nature, which is very promising as it also had high engagement with 40 participants. To increase the rate of the change in connectedness, options such as lengthening the interaction with nature, creating more immersive interactions and transferring knowledge through the interaction may be beneficial. Consequently, these ideas will be interwoven into future iterations of the event.
However, I must be aware that the change in connection observed here between the two sections may partly reflect bias in answers from participants that think I want their answers to go up between asking the question before and after. Therefore, they may have reported a higher score after the event, even though I did assure participants I wanted truly honest answering throughout and there was no judgment in any answers given.
Rating Connection to Nature 1-10
Overall, the responses to the rankings of connectedness mimic that of the answers given to the inclusion of nature in self scale. The majority of answers are 7-10 on the scale and there is a slight increase in the scores given after the event. Subsequently, I feel that asking participants to rank their connection 1-10 may not be necessary next time, when also using the inclusion of nature in self scale. I only included this answer to gain greater detail into peoples connection by giving it a numerical value, but I realise the answers are rather similar to that of the scale and I feel that the scale is more accurate in targeting the relationship to nature I am trying to assess.
Rating Concern for Nature 1-10
The results for this question are skewed very much towards the higher end of the scale, with no responses for 1-4 on either the before or after questioning. This suggests concern for nature to be something rooted very highly amongst customers of this space. Therefore, concern for nature itself could be something worked into further interventions. For instance, creating sustainable events, or providing people with information of easy ways that they can assist nature; even helping them to assist nature through taking part in an intervention, however that may be achieved. This is something I will look into developing into future interventions.
With all of these answers scoring so highly, I am aware that there could be social biases taking rule here whereby there is so much coverage in modern news around the worries for the planet and nature and how much we should all care for it, that this may have been reflected in the answers of participants. People may feel that they should be concerned for nature even if they aren’t, which may have created some dishonest answering.
Rating Motivations to Help Nature 1-10
There is slightly more variation in answering here than with the concern question, suggesting that although people are worried for nature, they may not feel they can or want to act in its best interests. This could be interesting to try and create interventions that do actively aid nature, but that are also very easy for customers to get involved in, for instance having herbs as table decorations or edible flowers, which people can pick, eat and learn about . This could then make people want to grow, use and interact with these parts of nature once again; thus aiding nature. However, the answers were again predominately high scoring, suggesting that the majority of customers do feel strongly to act for nature and so this can be a clear way to attract people to events and experiences, that are in the interest of nature.
Just as with the concern answers, motivation also scored highly across everyone, suggesting again people may have answered this way because they feel they should. Of Course, there is the other side of the argument that suggests maybe everyone is very concerned for nature with the effects of climate change becoming evermore present on the planet and so it could be their honest answering.
The majority of interactions over the entirety of the event were rather short, as hardly anyone actually sat and ate at the cafe, most just passed through for a quick coffee. Therefore, it was hard to make a big impact on people’s connection to nature. So, in the next iterations of the event I aim to make the interaction with nature more impactful through being slightly longer where possible.
The 2nd Google Forms
Sadly, there is very little knowledge to be gained from the 2nd google forms, which asked additional questions for feedback about the event, as well as repeating the 4 questions above but asking them about after having taken cuttings of the herbs home, if there had been any impact to connection to nature. Only 3 out of the 40 participants who were all given the QR code to the forms have completed any answering, but no one has fully completed it and so there is little to evaluate from this forms. The only clear take away is this people are very unlikely to complete forms in their own time through this methodology, and so gaining responses then and there is vastly a better option.
If anymore responses are posted on the 2nd google forms over the coming days I will be sure to do an analysis of the findings.
Take Aways:
Having studied the results from the google forms and the feedback I recorded during the event, I have established the following parameters need to be incorporated into future iterations. There was a strong uptake in the event and a small change in connection (2.5%) despite interaction with the event begging short for most participants, which shows promise in the event and means that it can definitely be built upon to create even greater change in strength of connection to nature, see below ways for how to consider doing this:
The interaction with the natural elements needs to be longer to evoke a change in people’s connection to nature. Making events more immersive, or transferring knowledge may also be tested out to achieve this goal.
85% of 40 people asked said that they would be attracted to a venue specifically if it was offering an experience with nature. The others would said that they wouldn’t be strictly attracted to visit the space, but many said they would still enjoy the natural elements once there but it wouldn’t draw them to the venue on their own. Suggesting there is a big market for natural events, experiences and designs.
Needs to collate guaranteed before and after answers to the questions surrounding connection, as people rarely fill in forms after the event.
Utilise inclusion of Nature in Self Scale as predominate measure, ask to rate concern and motivations to act for nature 1-10 if possible, but not as essential.
The questions asked around connection need to be kept short to ensure engagement remains high.
The event needs to bring nature to the people, as they feel far removed from it in the city.
Create events to aid people’s concern for nature, which will also attract these people to the events. For instance, sustainable events, or providing people with information of easy ways that they can assist nature, or assisting nature through taking part in the event itself
To get people motivated to act in the interest of nature create interventions that do actively aid nature, but that are also very easy for customers to get involved in. These events can then also attract those already motivated to help nature, as they will be aiding it even further.
The biggest breakthrough here is demonstrating that events like this can improve people’s connection to nature, even in a small way.
Before my meeting with the executive chef at the Marylebone Hotel (Simon Conboy) I drafted up some answers to the 6 key pitch points set out by Sasha in his past talk. I didn’t learn these answers but utilised having the prepared answers to weave the points into the conversation to ensure my aims for the meeting and my project were clearly laid out.
The Pitch
What Is It?Â
Venture aiming to connect people to nature in hospitality spaces through natural events, experiences, and design schemes.
Looks to target the senses to evoke meaningful experiences with nature; this could be through physical applications of nature or technological applications.Â
Biophilic design – aims to target human’s innate connection to nature, typically seen as interior design aiming to bring in natural planting, colour schemes, lighting to recreate the experience of interacting with nature
What’s Special About It? – The Hook?
Biophilic design is rarely implemented in hospitality spaces, and if it is it generally involves comprehensive refurbishments of the space that require venues to shut whilst they are being constructed and then require modernising after 5-8 years.
Such natural experiences can help to attract greater and new customers, consequently boosting profits especially relevant after venue closures throughout the pandemic.
Nature.In is on trend with the sustainability movement and the newfound appreciation for nature and the outdoors following the lockdowns.
I am aiming to recreate the experience of nature through more 1-1, personal interactions, which isn’t currently being done in hospitality venues; rather than larger, more interior design focused schemes.
What Proof Do I Have That It Will Work?
People spend 90% of their time indoors in Britain and so this work tires to bring the outdoors inside and bridge the gap between the two.Â
The health benefits of biophilic design are backed up by numerous academic studies.
There is vast interest in these types of 1-1 event having engaged with 40 people over the past 2 days through a herb event which I ran at the Chelsea Collage of Arts.
Many people enjoyed the herb event but felt it was too short, as they were just passing through and so only briefly interacted with the herbs. Many wanted longer events and so utilising herbs or similar plants throughout a meal for example may be very beneficial to building this connection with nature.
85% of 40 people asked said that they would be attracted to a venue specifically if it was offering an experience with nature. The others would said that they wouldn’t be strictly attracted to visit the space, but many said they would still enjoy the natural elements once there but it wouldn’t draw them to the venue on their own.
What Have I Got So Far?
Panel discussion with biophilic design experts from across the world
Herb Event at Chelsea Collage of Arts, ran over 2 days
Developing online sharing group – to build a community of customers of hospitality spaces to share images of applications of nature that they like and dislike stating why they hold this opinion and forms a space directing people to spaces that are trying to encompass nature.
Future immersive technobiophilic event at Chelsea Collage of Arts Canteen
What Do I Want?
To secure spaces to test in and hold larger scale interventions.
Ideas to explore in Simon’s spaces:
Pairing Herb Plants With Meals
For instance, if someone ordered a tomato burrata salad, it could be advertised as a special dish, whereby the basil plant is brought to the table along with the dish, so people can pick and add their own herbs to their meal.Â
A short question could be asked when ordering the dish to assess their connection to nature and then it could be asked again when they pay the bill to assess any change in that connection.
Immersive Natural ExperiencesÂ
Projectors, speakers, and diffusers offering an engaging and dynamic experience of natural scenery
May be partnered with physical applications of nature such as herbs of plants specific to the chosen scenery.
This may work well in a supper club type event.
Dishes Names After Parts of Nature (Accompanied by complimentary plants, scents, and sounds)
For instance, different types of certain species such as butterflies or even trees?
People may learn the names of certain parts of nature which they can identify when they next come across it, thus strengthening their connection to nature not only in the event but also afterwards through the transference of knowledge
What Does The Marylebone Hotel/ Simon Get?
A cutting edge, innovative link into the sustainability movement that brings nature closer to people that may not be able to access it so readily in big cities such as London but have a newfound appreciation for the outdoors after lockdown. Subsequently, these customers will be attracted to the space which boosts profits of the venue and improves satisfaction of their customers due to them feeling the benefits of interacting with nature.
The Meeting
During the meeting I addressed the areas of the pitch with Simon by linking them into conversation as and where I could. We discussed the hotel space itself and their usual offering so that I could gain more awareness for the space and its aims.
Simon also discussed the sustainability goals of the hotel and their push to keep things local, which I found a very interesting side of the hotel to explore and link into the aims of my project. Subsequently, since the meeting I have been trying to brainstorm ways to seamlessly connect my work with their green initiatives. For instance, the hotel has a big push on healthy foods offering dishes such as ‘superfoods salads’, as well as catering for greener modes of travel by making space for electric bike and cars. In regard to keeping things local, the hotel has beehives on the roof, they also get any extra honey from the London Honey Company. Additionally, their cheeses come from Roth and Co which is diagonally opposite the hotel and has been there since the 1800s serving all locally sourced produce. The hotel has also run seasonal events such as highlighting the strawberry for ‘keeping things British’.
The hotel resides in Marylebone village, which has a strong community aspect, despite being in Central London. This made me think of ways I could try and address this idea of inclusiveness and bringing the local community together to experience nature with my event.
Sadly, Simon informed me that it wouldn’t really be possible to host technological immersive natural events in their spaces, as they only rooms really suitable are sectioned out as events spaces and so I would have to privately hire the space and run the event there, which would be incredibly costly.
One idea Simon and I brainstormed whilst in the meeting was to do a pop up event on their terrace, which has a lot of footfall being on Marylebone Lane. The pop up could involve handing out take away salad taster boxes which people could add herbs to from the selection I have on my stand and then they could answer some quick questions about their connection to nature and take these away with them. Simon said they would be able to absorb the cost of that type of smaller event as well. I then later thought that this could also entice the customers to visit other nature events which could be run later on in the hotel space, almost as a part of a ‘Nature. In collaboration/ event series’.
After the meeting Simon asked if I could email over my ideas to host in their space after our discussion (as they had altered) so that he can pitch them to the rest of the team and they can look at getting PR going around the event to promote the event’s link to their sustainability motives through connecting people to nature. I have since compiled this email and sent it over to get things in motion (see below).
Over the course of Tuesday the 20th and Wednesday the 21st July I ran a Herb Event at the Chelsea Collage of Arts cafe and courtyard area, which is opposite the Tate Britain. The event aimed to connect customers of the cafe to nature by offering the opportunity to interact with the herbs, add them to their food and take cuttings of the herbs home with them. I asked the customers a series of 4 questions including the Inclusion of Nature in Self scale and 3 other questions based around the scale. The questions were asked before interacting with the herbs and again afterwards, with bookmark cards given out to everyone including a QR code on it to complete further questions about the event at home or reflect on whether taking herbs home impacted their connection to nature. Further details on the event can be found in my previous blog posts.
I will now unpack the outcomes of the event and a blog post of detailed analysis of the results from the google forms will follow in the coming days.
Overall
The small and open nature of the outdoor cafe courtyard area at Chelsea worked very well in being able to manage who had interacted with the herbs, who to go to to ask greater qs for feedback. This meant that I was able to ensure that almost everyone who utilised the cafe or passed by, was asked about whether they wished to participate in the event, which the vast majority did. It was also a good venue to talk to lots of people, as many people walk past; which was much better than a small cafe with limited customers.
Often I approached people who were sat, but I didn’t disturb people who were obviously busy eg: on the phone or typing. I did this to ensure I didn’t reply on people just coming up to me and being interested in what I was doing, as that rarely happened, maybe 5/6 times over the whole 2 days. I often said hi to people walking past and then got them talking to spark conversation and then often they would get involved.
Attracting people to the event
In hindsight it may have been beneficial to attract people to the event through advertising through social media postings, rather than just relying alone on the normal customers of the cafe to take part. However, the event already attracted a large amount of attention, with 40 participants over the two days and as I was running it myself without assistance if there was a lot more customers I may not have been able to talk and interact with all participants as I did.
Additionally, not bringing in outsider customers did provide for accurate testimony of typical customers to the cafe to see if they, as a representative of customers of hospitality spaces, were interesting in interacting with nature through the herb event. Whereas, if people had come to the event through social media postings they would already be interesting in connecting to nature through the event as that would have been what brought them to the space.
However, a medium between these two ways of attracting customers could have been putting posters of some sort around the local areas so that people nearby knew it was happening and to see whether this effected who attended the event and they engagement in it.
Set Up
I set up a table with a cloth I brought to make it stand out from the others, accompanied by my tray of herbs, some string to tie up cuttings of the herbs, scissors, some pre-made bundles of rosemary that I made in the morning of the Tuesday as well as the bookmark cards I had printed with my design featuring the QR code for the second google forms which include questions about taking the herbs home and extra detailed questions; as well as tips for how to utilise the herbs on the other side. I also brought a notebook to take notes of conversations I had and people I interacted with throughout the day.
Outcomes of Tuesday 19th July
Observation:
At the start of the event, I observed after talking to the first few participants that it was difficult to record before and after responses to the 4 connection to nature questions on the spot, as many people were only walking past the cafe or grabbing a to-go coffee. Therefore, these participants were mainly responding to the 4 initial ‘before herb interaction’ questions and then taking home some of the herbs; thus, gaining an ‘after interacting with herbs’ response to the connection to nature qs relied on people completing the 2nd google forms at home via the bookmark card handed to them. This is risky in relying on the participants completing the questions in their own time, but with peoples interactions with there herbs in this take away nature being so brief, it initially seemed one of the only ways to hopefully gain accurate information on whether their had been a change in their connection to nature.
Reflection:
For tomorrow’s event, I will try to get people to cut some of the herbs themselves and then ask the after qs straight away regardless of if the interaction has been short. I will just add that it was a short interaction in the added information box at the bottom of the first google forms, so that I know for future reference when analysing the results. This way at least then I will definitely get some guide of whether the event has changed their connection to nature even in the slightest way, as relying on people to complete questions at home on their own time is slightly worrying as it is unlikely to occur.
Observation:
I also observed that giving participants the QR code to complete the second half of the questioning at home initially meant that I didn’t know which participant gave which answers to the 1st and then the 2nd google forms, as there wasn’t a way to link the two.
Idea/ Reflection:
However, after my 5th participant I thought to start handing out participant numbers and added this section into both google forms, so I would be able to correlate the participant numbers between the two forms and so I can compare the answers. I quickly cut out squares of paper and wrote up to 26 participant numbers on them so I could hand them out to people with the herbs and bookmark cards. Hopefully this meant that everyone was able to remember their number and then they can add this information to the top of the 2nd google form when they come to fill it in, allowing for the comparison of their answers before and after herb events.
I felt this idea worked well and all the participants seemed to take to it and take their paper with the number on it with the same care as their bookmark and herbs. I was happy I was able to think and implement a solution to the issue on the spot and test it out whilst the event was on going.
Extra Observations:
Lots of people taking herbs home
Reflection: positive of the event meaning people like the herbs and that there is a want for people to take them into their lives and build a connection to nature.
Some people asking to take whole plants or if I was selling them.
Reflection: Maybe on a bigger budget events taking this concept could allow people to take whole herb plants home at the end.
People saying no to taking part as they were ‘too busy’, some said they ‘have enough plants already’, without actually realising what the event was about; also some people thinking I’m selling herbs and then them being disappointed.
Reflection: People who said they already have enough plants generally felt they already have a reasonable connection to nature and so maybe in future ways to connect people to nature without just physical plants may appeal more to these people.
Conversations with Participants:
Lady and Baby
This participant was conscious of nature, as she was a veggie with no car and rarely flies, however she said she felt disconnected from nature due t o being in the city(3/10 or B on Inclusion of Nature in Self scale), but she was trying her best to get involved in nature so her kids felt the benefits.
Very Keen Gardening Lady
Stated that she felt interacting with real plants and nature, such as herbs in the event is better than other natural design techniques she had witness due to the touch, relationship and interaction you get from real plants.
She also stated that she struggles with how connected to nature she feels in London as she is lucky to have a garden but it is only small.
Ex Geography Teacher lady
Very keen gardener, loves herbs especially the smell and would be very keen to visit other places hosting similar events maybe on a larger scale.
Lovely Old Couple
She is a keen gardener, they took basil home to have with a tomato salad they were making that evening.
Reflection on Tuesday’s Event:
I noted the vast majority of participants in the event happened to be female today. I wonder if this is because women are more attracted to the way I was showcasing nature in the event or whether it was simply chance of who was walking by at the time of the event? Perhaps it was what was being shown at the Tate at the time attracting a more female crowd? These are all only speculations as I don’t have the answers to this questions, we will have to see if the results are similar on the Wednesday event to attempt to draw any type of conclusion on this matter.
Additionally, lots of participants were middle aged, this could be due to it being mid week and mid day. Other iterations of this intervention and events may look to be held at different point throughout the week to attract different crowds of participants.
Notes Taken During Tuesday Event:
Outcomes Wednesday 20th July
Today I made all participants answer the before and after questions, no matter the length of their interaction. But, I recorded the length of the interaction at the bottom of the form so this can be factored in when analysing the data. This allows for comparison of before and after connections to nature, rather than relying on people to complete this information on their own at home, which is unlikely to occur as at the end of Tuesday evening only 1 participant had completed the further questions out o the 19 I had spoken to that day.
I took notes through the day once again, from which the following observations and notes from conversations are resultant.
I also set up in a slightly different spot to hopefully reach more people walking past both around the collage and to the Tate, as my position yesterday was slightly more towards the Tate. This spot also help to give myself slightly more shade from the extreme sun as Tuesday was overwhelmingly hot.
Observations:
Observations:
Received lots of comments on how fresh the herbs were and how they looked.
Reflection: I think this is important to maintain throughout other events utilising plants/ herbs.
People really liked the idea of the event, but felt it was a little short to impact their connection to nature, as they were only passing through. They wanted to spend a longer time with the herbs.
Reflection: Maybe this greater connection could be achieved if the herb plants were enjoyed over a meal – I may suggest this at my meeting with Simon at The Marylebone Hotel to integrate physical herb plants with the enjoyment of meal, to elongate the interacting with nature.
Lots of people interested in future events and especially in adding their own herbs to meals.
Reflection: I could make a website adding a page showing events that I am running which I could send out to people. The webpage could include: my blog, what’s on/ events, online sharing group, about us, contact us. For now though, I could add an events section to my blog in the meantime.
Problem in going back to people’s answers once they had completed the ‘before herbs’ questions and then utilised the herbs on their food and I tried to return to the same form to finish the ‘after herbs’ questions but it refreshed and initial answers were lost.
Reflection: I then started to write down the initial answers to the before questions if I knew the participant was going to utilise the herbs on their food and then revisit the questions later on, so that their answers weren’t lost again.
Problem in some herb cuttings beginning to wilt in the sun for those who took them then stayed a while due to the extreme heat out today.
Reflection: This shows it might be best to utilise cuttings straight from the plant to add to food, as in a restaurant setting to also ensure maximum freshness; rather than any ideas of giving out her bubbles at the end of meal for people to take home with them.
Conservations with Participants:
Lady in Finance
Really liked the event, wants to see other events like it in the future and get involved.
Man from Gloucestershire
He spoke how he felt connected to nature due to living in the countryside. He said he would visit an event involving herbs on the table of restaurants or immersive natural experiences.
Man
Took basil home, felt reasonably connected to nature already and so he said that he wouldn’t be attracted to natural events as he already feels close to nature; but said he would enjoy the event if it happened to be in a space he was in.
Girl Londoner
Said she hasn’t been programmed to be with nature having grown up in London, but as the environmental awareness movement grows, so does her interest in nature and events like this she really likes to help do that.
2 Girls Eating at the Cafe
Very few people ate at the acfe today, but 2 girls did and took part in the event adding the herbs to their food. One added parsley and chives to her beef tacos and the other chives to her salad (see below). They said they really enjoyed the experience of picking and eating the herbs and that it was a very unique event.
Man With No Garden
Said he likes nature but doesn’t often get to spend time in it, said the event made him want to go for a walk and spend time in nature. He took home some rosemary for his potatoes later.
Basil Girl
Took home basil to utilise for her salad, really liked the idea.
Lady With All The Herbs Already
She said she felt fully connected to nature, she lives in Richmond by the park and so spends lots of time by nature, so she felt the event had little impact as she was already at one with the natural world.
3 Girls, all friends
1 felt rather unconnected and they didn’t want to take any herbs with them as they were ‘a bad cook’ and the ‘ plants would die’. However, the other two took herbs home, one basil for her pasta and the other rosemary for her dinner. They also said that the short length of the event meant there was little impact to their connection.
Lady
Took basil home and loved the idea of being able to cook with it.
Technical Man at Chelsea
He had a severe allergic reaction to a plant recently which he surprisingly said made him feel more connected to nature than ever, as it was to him like nature was fighting back. He said he also got rid of his car recently for environmental reasons and that he would be interested in attending future natural events to help grow his connection even further.
Man Lecturer at Chelsea
Really liked the event and the idea of herbs being implemented alongside certain dishes in restaurants, to give that more personal connection.
Reflection on Wednesday’s Event:
Great day today, so happy to have reached out to 40 participants over the 2 days! It was a quicker start today and got slightly slower towards the end. I really enjoyed talking to all the participants and getting their take on and experiences with nature.
Some people of course didn’t want to get involved, but out of those I directly asked I only received 3 ‘no’ s today and everyone else I asked took part. I was careful to ensure my questions were short and easy to answer which I feel was a big key to my success in gaining so many participants.
I also noticed a more balanced uptake in the event between women and men today, as well as more younger participants; suggesting yesterdays result may have bene a slight fluke.
OverallReflection on Events:
The event did very well to attract people in and get them to take the herbs home. Therefore, the vent was successful in getting people to interact and think about nature. But, it was less effective in impacting their connection to nature due to the short time spent at the event by most participants. This also meant there was limited impact upon participants hospitality experience, as most people were passers-by as the cafe wasn’t overly busy, especially on the Tuesday it was quite quiet. Most of the cafes customers were to-go coffee and snacks, so it was hard to get talking to anyone who was staying in the area longer for food and get them to add herbs into that food. The small impact on hospitality experiences however, clarified that the aim of this project is to connect people to nature, with hospitality venues being the setting rather than impacting the hospitality experience being the focus pf the project.
In trying to get people involved in the event and wanting to connect with nature I think it may be beneficial to promote the benefits of interacting with nature. This may especially help to attract those that are less connected to nature to begin with as they may be unaware of the impacts nature could have on them, something many people have discovered over the lockdowns. This promotion of benefits may be done through internet promotion or signage, which needs greater attention to be paid to it in the next iterations of this event.
I am hoping to get feedback from the 2nd google forms over the coming days as participants have had time to reflect on the event, as at present only 3 out of the 40 people involved in the event have responded via the QR code to the 2nd google forms for added feedback and reflections on taking herbs home. Hopefully people feel slightly obliged to take part after talking to me at the event as well as taking herbs and my bookmarks home with them.
The use of the QR codes on the bookmark cards was reasonably well received, I think this is especially due to the mass implementation of QR codes for ordering at hospitality venues over covid times.
Overall, I’m very proud of how the event went over the past few days having put lots of work into the set up for it and running it all myself. I felt it produced a great start for the future testing of interventions in hospitality spaces as part of my project and provided lots of insights to work on to develop stronger iterations of such events into the future.
Evaluation of Self Report Method:
The majority of people reported that they felt reasonably connected to nature, but this could be due to the feedback being self report. Therefore, participants may be answering in a way that they feel I want them to answer, or that they should answer which may result in inaccurate testimony. Or, maybe it was just that people attracted to the event are those that already have a relationship with nature, and so they already felt reasonably connected making them want to grow this connection as they enjoy this natural relationship and want it to flourish.
Talking to 2 girls that participated demonstrated the limitations of utilising this type of self report measure, as the second girl to participate tried to ‘one up’ the answers of the first participant as so to appear better by being better connected to nature.
This could potentially be rectified through anonymous feedback forms. For instance, at another event a form could be given out at the start and filled in and then redistributed before then end (if everyone was to take part at the same time). Or, if the event was to occur at the same time as a meal an anonymous feedback form could be given out with the menus and then another with the bill to ensure there isn’t pressure on the answers given. However, there is always the risk here that people may not actually complete the forms. So, there is the trade off, possibly slightly bias results from self report or possibly no results from incomplete feedback forms.
Themes Taken From Feedback of Event:
People liking nature, but being in London feeling disconnected from it. Many people very keen to grow their relationships wit nature, just don’t know how they can do so in the city. Therefore, future events should try to reach people in this space through bringing nature to spaces they already occupy eg: hospitality spaces in accessible and meaningful ways.
Short nature of just talking then taking herbs home, for the passerby meant there could be little impact on they overall connection to nature.
People were very receptive to seeing plants and herbs and wanting to get involved with them, especially in hospitality setting like this as people commented it was unique and unusual, which always grabs people’s attention.
Participants are very keen to attend future natural events and experiences that help them to connect to nature and many wanted to know how they could be updated as to when they would be.
Below outlines my plans with the Chelsea Collage of Arts for my Herb Event running next Tuesday and Wednesday, as agreed to by Dashnor the head of catering.
On Tuesday and Wednesday next week (20th and 21st July) between the hours of 11am- 4pm I will be running a Herb Event. This will involve me bringing an array of herbs to the site and setting up a stand in the middle of the outdoor cafe seating area with these herbs.
I will be present during all of this time and will ask customers if they would like to come and pick some of the herbs to add to their food or to take home with them. This will be done to measure whether this interaction with nature in the hospitality setting improves their connection to nature. Consequently, I will ask customers to complete a very short series of 4 questions utilising the academic measure of the inclusion of nature in self (Schultz, 2002: Kleespies et al., 2021) to rank their connection to nature on a scale of 1-10 initially, before providing them with the herbs. Then, before they leave I will re-ask the questions and see if their answers have changed at all, to determine if there has been a change in their connection to nature.
I will also provide customers who wish to take some of the herbs home with a card that explains different ways to utilise the herbs, as well as a link to an online survey form where they can provide added information as to whether taking this herb home and utilising it has aided their connection to nature. Throughout the event I will also talk with customers to discover more about their views of nature and how they feel their connection to nature could be best improved.
Acquiring the Herbs
I secured a basket from my neighbours who I spotted were throwing it out, which was highly convenient as it made the perfect herb carrier.
I visited 6 florists that were selling herbs, after the meeting at Chelsea on Tuesday, I tried to visit places close to the campus so there could be a shorter journey to transport the herbs. I asked if they would be able to secure a selection of herbs at wholesale cost from the flower market. I sadly discovered it has been very hard to get herbs recently as there is a shortage in Holland, but I left my phone number with them all to get in contact if they were able to secure any. However, after a few days I hadn’t heard anything back from the florists and so I took to the only other place I knew I could find potted herbs, the supermarket. So, on Thursday I went to my local supermarket and bought pretty much all of the potted herbs they had. I also got some smaller pots and compost from my local hardware store and took my new purchases home. I then repotted all of the herbs to make more smaller plants so they could grow and settle into their new pots in time for my first herb event on Tuesday. You can see the finished herb basket with my repotted herbs below.
Creating a Report Method for Measuring Connection to Nature
To record the impacts of the herb event I am going to utilise google forms. And there will be two separate google forms utilised in the event.
1st Google Forms
I will be the only one with access to this google forms, as I am going to utilise it as a quick and efficient method to record customers responses to my initial questions regarding their connection to nature, and then again once they have interacted with the herbs. I can then easily view all the inputted answers digitally, after the event and analyse whether interacting with the herbs during the event impacted their connection to nature at all.
The three questions asked in this form are related to the academic scale of the inclusion of nature in self, which was originally developed by Schultz in 2002. The inclusion of nature in self scale has 3 key components, these being:
Cognitive Component – nature as part of self?
Behavioural Component – motivation to act in the interest of nature?
Affective Component – concern for nature?
Schultz’s (2002) original inclusion of nature in self scale kept it very simple in asking 1 question which asks what diagram fits the person’s relationship with nature best (see below).
Scultz’s measure has been developed upon through an extension of the inclusion of nature in self scale by Kleespies et al. (2021). This extended scale looks to create a version of the scale for people with lowered abstraction and imagination, such as younger people or those in need of support. Additionally, there is another extended scale developed by Martin and Czellar (2016). This scale proposes a 4 item development of the inclusion of nature in self to explore spatial metaphors in relation to self assessment of connection to nature. However, Martin and Czellar’s (2016) scale although may provide a greater validity of results, it is rather complicated and so I think this may put off the general public responding accurately in my event.
Subsequently, due to my unknown customer range at the Herb Event, as it is at a cafe open to the public, I am going to employ the extended inclusion of nature in self scale developed by Kleespies et al. (2021) (see below). This is because the scale includes younger people as well as those that may require assistance in imagination or abstraction, while still catering for the original target audience of the inclusion of nature in self scale. This is an academically rigorous scale which is still simple enough for the public too quickly and accurately respond too.
To create added depth in my feedback, I will also ask three questions before and after interacting with the herbs, each addressing one of the three components outlined in the inclusion of nature in self; to assess the customers connection to nature.
Questions to be asked before and after interaction with herb event (1st google forms):
Which picture best describes you relationship with the natural environment? How interconnected are you with nature?
How do you rate your current connection to nature? On a scale 1-10 (1 being little connection)
How do you rate the strength of your motivations to act in the interest of nature? On a scale 1-10 (1 being little motivation)
How concerned are you for nature? On a scale 1-10 (1 being little concern)
link to 1st google forms: https://forms.gle/bkRc8U7kJDf8PZgs5
2nd Google Forms
The QR code which links to this forms is included in the cards I will be giving out at the event alongside the herbs. The first 3 questions are aimed at people who take herbs home with them from the event and aim to address the inclusion of nature in self scale by again targeting the 3 components. This google forms can also be completed by people during the event if they are willing to provided added details in their feedback and reflections on their personal connection to nature, as the later questions are more general about the event and their relationship with nature.
The questions include (2nd google forms):
(If herbs were taken home) How has the continuation of the event through taking the herbs into your daily lives, influenced you connection to nature? eg: are you inspired to grow your own herbs or plants or spend more time in spaces incorporating nature? Please also give your connection to nature a rating out of 1-10 (1 being little connection).
(If herbs were taken home) How has interacting with the herbs in your daily life impacted your concern for nature? Please also give your concern for nature a rating out of 1-10 (1 being little concern).
(If herbs were taken home) How has utilising the herbs at home effected your motivations to act in the interest of nature? Please also give your motivations a rating out of 1-10 (1 being little motivation).
How has interacting with the herbs during the herb event impacted you connection to nature?
Was it the physical presence of the herbs at the event that you enjoyed or specifically your interaction with them? and why?
Would you be attracted to visit a hospitality space if they were hosting events to incorporate nature and why?
What would you like to see from hospitality spaces to bring you closer to nature whilst visiting them?
Do you feel hospitality spaces make a conscious effort to bring nature to their customers? what examples do you like or dislike of this?
What attracts you to nature or spaces including nature and why? eg: planting for their health benefits, or natural colours as they are exhilarating
Which senses are most important to you to emulate an experience with nature, eg: smells, sounds, visuals, touch or tastes? Please give examples
Are you keen to strengthen your relationship to nature? and why?
How do you attempt to connect with nature in your daily life?
link to 2nd google forms: https://forms.gle/9tBK7NudHZtTWm3V6
Hand Out Cards
I have designed and then found a printer to create physical copies of these cards to compliment the Herb Event (see below). The cards are designed to accompany taking some of there herbs home whether this be a small plant or a bunch of picked herbs. The cards feature some tips of how to utilise the herbs as well as the QR code to the 2nd google forms.
I am aware that once customers take the cards and herbs home they are possibly less likely to complete the google forms, as there will be no physical presence asking them to do so. However, I hope after interacting with them at the event and also in giving them something for nothing, in letting them take herbs home, that they will provide some useful feedback.
Once the event is completed I will review all feedback gained and look as to how I can build from this in future iterations of the intervention.
Bibliography
Kleespies, M.W., Braun, T., Dierkes, P.W. and Wenzel, V., 2021. “Measuring connection to nature—a illustrated extension of the inclusion of nature in self scale.” Sustainability, 13(4), p.1761.
Martin, C. and Czellar, S. (2016) “The extended inclusion of nature in self scale.” Journal of Environmental Psychology, 47, pp.181-194.
Schultz, P.W., (2002). “Inclusion with nature: The psychology of human-nature relations.” In Psychology of sustainable development (pp. 61-78). Springer, Boston, MA.
Looking to develop a way to utilise personal technology or technology that venues already host to connect people to nature in a meaningful way.
Interventions in other hospitality venues – such as possibly the Marylebone Hotel, finding ways to connect people to nature that fits the ethos of the space but creates meaningful interacts and connection with nature.
Panel Discussions
Panel discussions, such as that which I hosted in June will be utilised to review the progress and findings of my interventions with experts. The discussion will also host a live audience where possible and will allow for meaningful discussion as to how to progress the interventions past the points of predictable and to fully meet the needs of the stakeholders in bringing nature into their lives. I am still in contact with the original members of the panel discussion and so I will ask if they are available to take part again. However, I will also reach out to new biophilic and hospitality experts to see if they wish to take part and add a new angle to the discussion.
Future Work with Chelsea Collage of Arts
The below email outlines my future ideas for interventions to work with the Chelsea Collage of Arts, all of which have now been agreed to by Dashnor (the head of catering). The first being the Herb Event running next week, followed by an intervention in the cafe area around the end of august and then a technobiophilic intervention in the canteen area in September once it is re-opened.
Online Sharing Group
I am looking to develop an online sharing group, where customers can share images of application of nature that they like or dislike accompanied with a short comment as to why they have this opinion. The group will be hosted on Facebook so that people can post their own images into it, but the best posts and ideas of what to post will be curated on Nature.In’s instagram page. I am looking to develop this group over the next week or so, so it can begin gaining traction and the ideas posted can be implemented into my interventions in hospitality spaces.
Interventions in Other Venues
I have a meeting with the head chef at the Marylebone Hotel on Thursday about possibly running some interventions in their space. This could be very exciting an interesting as it offers a more formal hospitality space to test my concepts in rather than then informal nature of the cafe and canteen space at Chelsea. If he is unable to assist in running an intervention at The Marylebone, I will also ask if he has any other contacts that may be interested in working on an intervention with me. So, hopefully further intervention possibilities may result from this meeting.
However, I am continuing in my outreach to hostility venues, pop-ups and events spaces to see if they would be interested in running interventions.
Reflection:
This is my overview plan for the coming months, as my works stands, however it is very susceptible to change as new opportunities arise. I am also still looking to create new interventions that feed off my pervious interventions to create more impactful iterations of them. I’m excited to have the wheels well and truly in motion for my project and I can’t wait to see how far I can take this work.
Quite honesty prior to this past week, work on my project to secure a site to test my interventions in had been rather slow and demoralising for me. It had involved day after day of phone calls and emails trying all manner of ideas I had to try and contact venues in which I could possibly run an intervention, no matter how small it may be. However, all my ideas were coming up dry and after all there is only so much positivity and pushing through the pain you can give a matter before the wall of unread emails and negative replies start to make you question whether you are actually going to be able to succeed in this aspect of the venture. And as much as I don’t want to admit it, I was starting to fall into that downtrodden trap of losing faith in securing a public hospitality venue to test my interventions in.
So, I took a step back and tried to remind my self why I was wanting to do this project in the first place. I took a day to revisit the nature I so keenly want to bring into peoples lives. Consequently, I went to explore new natural spaces and parks through going for walks and taking in the atmosphere of being surrounded by nature. Sometimes a refresher in your goals and motivators with a little step back really is all you need to keep going.
And so the quest continued email after email call after call; even just popping my head into a restaurant or pubs whilst I was walking by asking if they would be interested. But, I was still consistently getting turned away.
However, a few days ago I really had a breakthrough moment. I got a positive reply. The head of catering at the Chelsea Collage of Arts responded to my email and was really interested in my work and wanted to meet with me to discuss the different forms my work could take in their spaces. And there it was I was off, I grabbed the meeting with both hands and prepared mock- ups of what interventions would look like in their main canteen space, I thought of other smaller interventions they may wish to implement, I poured everything into preparing. The meeting went very well and I ended up being able to secure the possibility for multiple interventions in their spaces; which was better than I could have hoped. Subsequently, this was a big breakthrough or me finally being able to get my foot through the door somewhere.
As they say no one will let you build a building until you have built one, so once you get that first opportunity, you can leverage it to gain many more. Therefore, this is exactly what I began to do and contacted a family friend who I knew had a contact with the head chef at the Marylebone Hotel. After talking with her about the up and coming event I was running at the Chelsea Collage of Arts, I was able to get her to pass on my details to the head chef who has consequently agreed to have a meeting with me about any possible ideas and interventions I may be able to host there which is extremely exciting.
So, not to get to ahead of myself, but after a bit of a shaky patch where there wasn’t much to show for the work I had been putting in, finally the results are starting to slowly slot into place. I am very excited to see where these next steps can take my project and push it past its current realms.
After my many emails and calls sent out over the past few weeks, I finally gained a positive and keen response last Friday!! The response was from the head of catering at the Chelsea Collage of Arts, who was very interested in my intervention proposals and wanted to meet at the Chelsea canteen sight.
So, a meeting was set for Tuesday 13th July. I was a mix of excited and admittedly slightly nervous, as this is the first real opportunity I have had where someone was very keen for me to test my proposed ideas and so I really wanted the meeting to go well. I spent the weekend prepping as much as possible. I developed mock ups of the canteen space to demonstrate what could be added where in preliminary interventions; ensuring no irreversible changes would be made to the space and keeping it relatively simple to avoid any severe interference with their day to day practises. The mock up of my initial intervention ideas for the space can be viewed below. I also developed a selection of natural themes that could be applied to the space dependent on their food offering, as I researched the canteen space and discovered that they have done themed food events in the past. Therefore, I thought I could potentially coincide these food events with an intervention to create a natural environment utilising technology that plays off the food. The list of these ideas can also be seen below.
During the pitch to the catering manager of Chelsea I spoke through the changes I wish to make for both the hospitality venues themselves and their customers through creating biophilic environments, which I have summarised below. I also addressed why I wish to test whether technology could aid connection to nature through utilising technobiophilia principles, alongside the importance of targeting the senses through scent and sound to create immersive natural environments that connect people to nature; and evoke the wellbeing benefits of interacting with nature.
Interventions in theCanteen Space
To my delight the pitch went very well. Dashnor, the catering manager was very interested in my proposed ideas to bring nature into their spaces and gave me the go ahead to conduct interventions in the Chelsea hospitality spaces. However, at present the canteen area is shut due to not enough students being on campus to sustain it and so only the cafe and courtyard area are currently open. Therefore, I agreed with Dashnor to move ahead with the technobiophilic intervention in the canteen area in September when more students are back on site and it is expected that the canteen area can reopen. Below I have included more pictures of the canteen space that I took on my visit. You can notice there is already small efforts made to bring nature into the space with their use of plants and natural materials such as wood, but there is plenty more that can be built off of this.
Interventions in the Cafe/ Courtyard Space
In the meantime, I have been granted access to test idea sin the cafe space as well as the large courtyard area that the cafe hosts tables in. This courtyard area is also opposite Tate Britain and the public are welcome to utilise the cafe facilities, making it a prime venue to target customers in.
Dashnor was very keen on my ideas of targeting the senses and also testing physical applications of nature that people could interact with. Consequently, I have developed the idea of a Herb Event that I am going to be hosting at the Chelsea cafe’s and courtyard area on Tuesday and Wednesday next week (20th and 21st July). The event will involve bringing a selection of herbs to the courtyard area which customers are able to come up and cut to add to their food, as the cafe offers a range of foods that change every few days including curry through to salads and sandwiches.
I will be present at the duration of the events to interact with the customers and to ask them about their relationships with nature, involving starting a conversation about how interacting with the herbs has impacted them, or not. I will ask customers a series of 3 short questions assessing their connection to nature before providing them with the herbs; I will then re-ask the questions before they leave to measure if there has been any change in their connection to nature. I will also provide customers with a QR code on cards I am having made to promote the event, which customers can scan to answer extra questions around their connection to nature and the impacts of the event; so that I can gain added feedback from the willing customers.
Additionally, there will be an opportunity for people to take some smaller herb plants home with them from the event or some picked herbs. This is to assess if taking the herbs into their daily lives impacts their connection to nature more greatly than just interacting with them during the event. Customers who take the herbs home will also be provided with a card featuring tips of how to utilise the herbs with certain foods, and will also feature the QR code to a google forms of additional questions reflecting on their experience in taking the herbs home.
Feedback from customers throughout the events will also be recorded to gain an understand of what customers are looking for to improve their connection to nature in these spaces and whether an offering like this would attract them to visit a hospitality space. This intervention will also help to establish the value of physical interactions with nature, which can be later compared to that of interactions to nature through technology. Pictures of the cafe site and courtyard are included below. Greater details on preparing for this intervention will be included in a later blog post.
Reflection:
I am so happy to have finally secured a venue in which I can being some physical testing of my concepts through interventions, especially that I can get stuck into testing so quickly as next week! It has been a long journey, but the struggle of continuing on in this line of enquiry to conduct testing in public hospitality venues has eventually been worthwhile. Although, I will still continue my pursuit of securing other differing hospitality venues to run interventions in, on the back burner, to ensure my project has the greatest outreach possible.
I was due to visit Tate Britain to primarily see the Heather Philipson Rupture No1 exhibit on the 2nd July. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances I was unable to visit on that date. Subsequently, I instead visited the exhibition last Friday (9th July) and found the experience both intriguing and inspiring.
Heather Philipson – Rupture No1
Experiencing Philipson’s work was incredibly insightful as to how immersive events can be run. I will now unpack which aspects of the exhibit resonated with me the most and how they made be reflect upon how my own interventions may be run.
Reflection:
I found the use of the speakers becoming part of the exhibit itself rather than hiding them in a corner very intelligent; and something I may look to do when utilising a number of speakers in one space. I also loved the striking use of colour in the exhibit which made me consider the angle of changing the colour of light bulbs in spaces to create a more immersive experience, rather than simply projecting natural images onto the available wall space. The combination of static elements alongside sounds, colours and projections made me consider that I should certainty try to encompass static elements into my technology intervention such as plants or design features, where possible. All of these elements were really working in unison to create the experience and so I will look to developing a similar feeling in my work, not simply through utilising either technology with visuals sound and smells or physical deign features, I will also ensure to try and test both together.
Philipson also utilises projection onto walls and canvases as I am envisaging to do so in my intervention to utilise technology to create an immersive natural experience. The final two images display these moving projections utilised in the exhibit. It was interesting to see physically how it worked in the space, but also how people interacted with it. I observed individuals stood watching the changing projecting for a few moments rather than simply walking through some of the more static elements of the exhibit. This showed promise of the success of projecting moving natural images into hospitality spaces, as hopefully it will engage customers as the projections in Philipson’s exhibit were doing.
Djanogly Cafe
Whilst at the Tate, I explored their hospitality offering in their cafe. The cafe offers a reasonably large space that was basically empty on my visit. Therefore, there is scope to attract people from the exhibits and into this space by connecting them to nature. Especially considering the equipment being utilised in Philipson’s Rapture No1, there could possibly be an opportunity to utilise some similar technology that the Tate already has, in the cafe spaces, to create an immersive natural experience around their food and drink offering.
I enquired with the staff working about the possibility of running an intervention in the space for my project, but they informed me that the relevant staff member to talk to wasn’t there and they didn’t have their contact details to give out. So, I have since rang and emailed to enquired about interventions in this space and I am still awaiting a response.
Cooking Sections Salmon: A Red Herring
Additionally, whilst at the Tate, I stumbled upon the Cooking Sections Salmon: A Red Herring exhibit. This showcases the impact of human actions upon different animals, for instance people demanding the perfect pink shade in their salmon. This exhibit very cleverly utilised a completely white scene and projected differing lights onto the relevant sections as the narration went on.
Reflection:
I thought the idea of a blank canvas and utilising light to bring it to life and change it could be very useful in my own project. For example, in situations where it may not be suitable to bring in new apparatus of differing colours to a space, I could utilise lights differently to change the emotions and feeling of the space through colour by light.
Reflection:
Overall, my trip to the Tate was very worthwhile in providing inspiration as to the execution of my interventions. The visit excited me to get underway with my testing of such ideas, seeking to see if technology can be utilised to connect people with nature.
I have continued my reach out to secure sites to conduct testing of my interventions in by contacting the following venues and groups.
Venues contacted in this latest round of reach out:
Carousel – Creative Hub with guest chefs, workshops and exhibits
I emailed and called, they are having a staff meeting at the end of the week in which they will discuss the option fo collaboration and get back to me
Camden Art Centre – Gallery and exhibition space featuring a cafe
Tate Britan – Cafe space
After visiting the Tate last Friday I was unable to meet anyone who had influence over whether any testing in the space would be possible. Therefore, I have since emailed and called the venue in attempt to form any type of collaboration.
Cob Gallery – shows the work of emerging artists and offers refreshments
Horse Hospital – exhibition and events space
Proposito Studios – responsible for the immersive pop-up exhibition on the South Bank earlier this year
They are focused on raising awareness to ecology and the role of humans in ecology, thus alining very closely with the ethos of my project.
180 Strand – exhibition space showing immersive works such as that of Ryoji Ikeda
Kitchen Theory – Immersive supper club running monthly dinner events targeting all the senses, they also have a podcast and design studio
As well as reaching out to external venues I have also contacted the cafes and bars of different UAL campuses in the hope that I may be able to run tests of my ideas on immersive natural experiences through technology here. I have contacted Chelsea Collage of Arts and London Collage of Fashion, as I was able to find contact details for them individually. However, I have also contacted the general student union for UAL to ask if they are able to help on this matter, as well as the catering operations for UAL and the events management for UAL. I also plan on going directly to the cafe at CSM and asking if there would be an opportunity to collaborate there.
Reflection
I have heard back from the Chelsea College of Arts and have a meeting arranged to meet with their head of catering on Tuesday, so that will hopefully be a very promising lead. I will also continue to pursue different venues that I see may fit my testing criteria in the on-going search to get my testing underway. After recently contacting a range of exhibition spaces and galleries but net focus of attention will move towards supper clubs and pop-ups bars/ restaurants in the hope of securing more opportunities for interventions.
