Encouraging care for biodiversity through curated landscapes: community art and citizen science

University of Sheffield

Enhancing biodiversity in cities is critical to future-proofing green spaces but how many city-dwellers actually take notice of the variety of species around them? Not many according to recent research.

With our partner Green Estate, we will work with Sheffield communities to co-design green spaces with meadow turfs. Together, we aim to measure the effectiveness of the turfs in supporting pollinators, comparing a mix of UK native plants with a mix of native and non-native species. Through art activities and citizen science, we also aim to increase the engagement of the communities with biodiversity, developing a sense of care for urban nature.

Project team


Academic Supervisor: Elisa Olivares Esquivel

Research Associate: Simone Farris

Non-Academic Partner: The Green Estate

Elisa Olivares

Elisa Olivares is a lecturer in Planting Design at the University of Sheffield. Interested in designing climate-resilient plant communities for urban areas, her research has focused on testing
 

Simone Farris

Simone is an early-career researcher with a broad multidisciplinary background in both natural and social sciences. He is a PhD candidate in Landscape Architecture at the University of Sheffield. His
 

Dan Cornwell

Dan Cornwell is the Director of Commercial Landscape at the Green Estate. Green Estates is a team of passionate professionals who have spent the last 20 years developing socio-environmental