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.
Overall Reflection 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.