What's the 'story' of my PhD? A concise summary:

Disability and social inclusion in urban nature-

A case study of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England

Background

There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that time spent in and with urban nature can benefit people’s health and well-being. As a society, England is becoming increasingly urbanized. According to 2019 figures an estimated 83% (56.3 million people) of England’s population lived in urban areas, compared to 17% (9.6 million) of the population that lived in rural areas. Urban nature is deemed specifically important as a ‘low-cost and accessible health and social intervention’ for people within their own communities. But can these benefits be fully realised by all members of the community, including disabled people? And do these benefits arise through all forms of urban nature that we encounter, from formal ‘manicured’ parks and gardens to wilder urban nature reserves and ‘disordered’ or ‘feral’ spaces (e.g. abandoned railway sidings, urban wastelands)?

Aims and rationale

This PhD will explore how disabled people perceive and interact with varied forms of urban nature and how this impacts their lives, in potentially positive and negative ways. It will examine how urban areas can be more nature friendly without disadvantaging disabled people, by talking to disabled people and hearing their lived experiences of living alongside nature in the case study area of Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole (BCP).

BCP is a unitary local authority which recently came into being in 2019. Due to its coastal location, BCP consists of both urban blue and green space and took part in the Future Parks Accelerator which was a partnership between local communities and Local Authorities to create “healthy, thriving, climate resilient cities and towns”. The Parks Foundation is an independent charity that works alongside BCP council to enhance the green spaces in the area. Coupled with these innovative approaches to green space management in BCP, there are projects in the area that have been shown to be examples of nationally recognised ‘excellence’ in how disabled people can access green spaces. Conversely, BCP is an area of significant disparity with neighbouring areas amongst the most and least deprived in England, which has important implications for health inequalities within the region.

With space in urban areas often under pressure from competing interests, how nature finds a home in urban environments can be widely contested. How urban nature settings can be designed to benefit human and non-human nature in an inclusive way will therefore be explored in this PhD.

Often outdoor experiences for disabled people are carefully choreographed. Loaded with risk assessments and perceived accessibility needs, the nature experience of a disabled person can become so sanitised that the health and well-being benefits of being in nature are diminished. Where urban nature settings are available in BCP, we will investigate whether they are accessible (recognising varied domains of access) and what makes for an enriching urban nature visit for disabled people.

Disabled people have often been marginalised in the climate crisis debate, with many mitigation measures having a practical, often negative, impact on disabled people. It is imperative that disabled people are not similarly marginalised when society explores and adopts measures in urban environments to tackle the biodiversity crisis. Disabled people are well used to living a life of rapid adaptation and problem-solving, and some of the broader environmental justice literature identifies that if disabled people are involved in the planning and implementation stage of any new intervention, their lived experiences can offer unique insights and perspectives. This PhD will therefore also examine whether and how disabled people are involved in the co-design, planning and implementation of urban nature settings within BCP.

Design and Methods

Through an in-depth qualitative case study of the Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole (BCP) area, the PhD will have two key phases:

Phase 1 will involve semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of key informants in BCP, including decision makers involved in shaping BCP’s urban nature spaces (e.g. the local council and key environmental charities) and disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) working in the local areas.

Phase 2 will involve a combination of semi-structured interviews followed by go-along interviews to hear from a purposive sample of BCP residents who identify as disabled, to explore how they relate to and interact with varied urban nature settings in BCP, and the biographical, embodied, socio-cultural and physical dimensions that shape this.

Outcomes and Impact

This PhD project will be impactful and translational amongst disabled people living alongside urban nature, as well as potentially inform policymaking, particularly in relation to the implications of the planning, implementation, and maintenance of urban nature settings as part of the wider ‘Groundswell Project’ (Funded by UKPRP and MRC). ‘GroundsWell' is a project that aims to involve local communities in Urban Green and Blue Space innovations which can benefit human health and well-being; with a specific focus to prevent and reduce inequalities that affect non-communicable diseases (NCD) in urban settings.

Here is a summary poster I recently produced for a Post-Graduate Researcher Conference; Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, University of Exeter.

For a clearer high-resolution version please click here:

Morley_Kate_poster23.pdf

Download PDF • 3.93MB

KEY REFERENCES IN POSTER:

1. Wheeler BW, et al. 2015. Beyond greenspace: an ecological study of population general health and indicators of natural env. type and quality. Int J Health Geogr. 2015 Apr 30;14:17

2. Outdoor Accessibility Guidance. 2023. Paths for All & Sensory Trust

3. Bell SL, et al. 2017. Everyday green space and experienced well-being: the significance of wildlife encounters. Landscape Research Vol. 43 8-19

4. Bell SL, et al. 2018. The “healthy dose of nature: a cautionary tale. Geography Compass. 2018 Vol 13.

5. Wolch JR, et al. 2014. Urban green space, public health, and environmental justice: The challenge of making cities ‘just green enough’. Landscape & Urb. Planning, 125, 234-244

6. Hudson H. Moving from Disability Rights to Disability Justice. Blog Post. World Institute on Disability. Accessed 06.2023. https://wid.org/moving-from-disability-rights-to-disability-justice/

7. Kosanic A, et al. 2022. An inclusive future: disabled populations in the context of climate and environmental change. Current Opinion in Envir. Sustainability 2022 Vol 55.

8. Njie B & Asimiran S. 2014. Case Study as a Choice in Qualitative Methodology. IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSRJRME) Vol 4:3, 35-40

9. Dicicco-Bloom B & Crabtree BF. 2006. The qualitative research interview. Med Educ. 2006 Apr;40(4):314-21

10. Carpiano RM. 2009. Come take a walk with me: The “Go-Along” interview as a novel method for studying the implications of place for health and well-being. Health & Place 2009 Vol 15:1, 263-272

11. Hunter RF et al. 2022. GroundsWell: Community-engaged and data-informed systems transformation of Urban Green and Blue Space for population health – a new initiative. Wellcome Open Res 2022, 7:237

Making Sense of Things by Making Things

Sometimes in life, it can feel that there are so many issues to 'get stuck into' that if you care deeply, your ability to see a brighter future gets obscured. Eco-distress and 'activism burnout' are shadows that often haunt my life. Sometimes it feels that no matter how much you care and 'do', it is never enough... Over the last few years, it feels as though we have been living in a 'Crisis of Crises'; Climate Crisis, Biodiversity Crisis, Cost of Living Crisis, Housing Crisis, Mental Health Crisis, and the list goes on... all of these are on top of a (hopefully) 'once in a lifetime pandemic;' as well as multiple injustices, it can be hard to feel much hope.

I was really inspired by the wonderful Elin Bååth, Swedish activist, ecofeminist, teacher, artist, politician - and witch when she said;

"Politics is extremely draining to me and nothing I ever enjoyed. But I enjoy living on this green planet, so therefore I felt like I had no choice other than taking on some responsibility for protecting her. But I don’t think it is healthy to stay there too long. Rather, I would love to see more people go that path so that we could all take turns in fighting the front lines of the earth. Our activism needs to be as sustainable as the world we are trying to create."

As well as spending time in nature one of my main joys and ways of sustaining my activism is by getting creative and using Craftivism. Wikipedia defines Craftivism as:

"... a form of activism... that is centred on practices of craft - or what has traditionally been referred to as "domestic arts". Craftivism includes but is not limited to, various forms of needlework including yarn-bombing or cross-stitch. Craftivism is a social process of collective empowerment, action, expression and negotiation. In craftivism, engaging in the social and critical discourse around the work is central to its production and dissemination."

I find Craftivism a particularly effective tool in my activism. Craftivism requires you to slow down... Sarah Corbett (the founder of the Craftivist Collective) talks about gentle protest as a way to mindfully engage with an issue, create a deeper understanding, visualise a brighter future and create a work that will engage and portray 'the message' in the most effective way.

There is a fine line between art activism and craftivism. I've been lucky that my local community have engaged with my creative communications, whether that be by using craft in my role as Parish Councillor/Parish Nature Warden or in the wider Devon Wildland Initiative.

I tend to use needlecraft and woodcraft in my projects as well as recycled materials which can in themselves tell a story. My favourite craft is Pyrography where wielding a pen that is heated to 400-550 degrees C requires me to really 'be in the moment', as well as having an intimate observation of the grain of the wood and how the species of tree, really influences the process and the finished result. The process of reflection and creation is now something I'm hoping to use in my academic studies where the process is becoming as important as the end result.

Here are some examples of the use of craft in my activism and communications in the last couple of years.

Ghost Hedgehogs

Inspired by a project in Dorset, every hedgehog killed on the parish's roads was marked using a Ghost Hedgehog. The wood was reused from a previous building project. The Ghost Hedgehogs really created a conversation about how our hedgehogs are in decline and how people can help them. It also alarmed people about the sheer number of hedgehogs killed in one 'season'.

As well as placing a Ghost Hedgehog, each casualty was logged on the Big Hedgehog Map.

I have to admit I was beginning to get a bit depressed at the prospect of making yet another Ghost Hedgehog, but it was a really fascinating way of logging where the hedgehogs were crossing.

People have started noticing the plight of the parish hedgehogs and together with the Ghost Hedgehog campaign as well as articles in the local parish news, Facebook and newsletters residents are taking action to help this beloved species.

Hedgehog Highways

Using the template for the Ghost Hedgehogs I decided to make some Hedgehog Highway holes. The hole needed to be a minimum 13cm x 13cm As you can see 5 Hedgehog Highway holes initially went out (followed by several more) which helped create space for hedgehogs to move through the local village. This was a much more uplifting project!

Monsty- The Monster Drink Can Monster

Doing litter picks throughout the parish it became very obvious that Monster Drink cans were a particular problem, with 76 being collected in just 2 months. I decided to save a few and make the Monster Drink Can Monster which one of the local kids named 'Monsty'. I was particularly keen for people to start noticing litter and as a rural parish with a very fast B-road litter picking is pretty hazardous! But thanks to Stella (see below) and our local residents picking up litter near their properties, the culprit has seemingly got the message and litter has reduced (for the moment, at least)!

Stella- The Beer Can Fairy

Milk Shed Nature Signs

Butterflies

Amphibians and Reptiles

Hedgehogs

Owls

Bees

School Sensory Garden

A space at the local school was revamped and a sensory garden was created for the children to use as an outside space for learning and a place to relax for the teachers. The theme was based on the book 'A Song of Gladness' by Michael Morpurpgo and Emily Gravett which reflects on the Covid19 pandemic and how a greater connection to nature can foster new hope for a brighter future. The wildlife-friendly planting was inspired by advice from the RHS, Thrive and the Sensory Trust who also had a great resource of signage. As Monsty had become a bit of a local celebrity one of the teachers asked me to co-create a new 'Rubbish Pupil' with the children and they were encouraged to bring in some plastic bottles and together with an old hanging basket and some bubble wrap; Violet the Rubbish Pupil was born. Spending time with the children and talking about the need to take action to reduce litter and connect to nature was really good fun and rewarding.

A slice of a wind-blown birch tree was pyrographed with the Ego/Eco diagrams. I use this piece in my nature connection sessions.

Hopefully, by sharing these examples, others might be inspired to use creative methods.

Further information:

Paperback Edition: How To Be A Craftivist: the art of gentle protest - Craftivist Collective (craftivist-collective.com)

Ways of being… in nature… will the future forgive us?

When Environmental Justice Meets Disability Justice

As mentioned in my last blog post I have started a part-time PhD exploring disability and urban nature and how reflecting on the inclusive potential of nature settings through a disability lens, can alter our perceptions of these spaces.

Last month I was lucky enough to hear a talk by Professor Catriona McKinnon, as part of the University of Exeter’s Perspectives of Personalised Ecologies lectures. It was one of those ‘goosebumps’ moments, where my random muddled thoughts coalesced into a clear framing of many of the big issues around Disability Justice. Disability Justice is ‘a social justice movement which focuses on examining disability and ableism as they relate to other forms of oppression and identities such as race, class and gender’. The Disability Justice movement seeks to explore how “systems of oppression are intertwined”, and a ten-point framework of Disability Justice has been developed. The ten principles of Disability Justice include; Intersectionality, Leadership of those most impacted, Anti-capitalist politic, Commitment to cross-movement organizing, Recognizing wholeness, Sustainability, Commitment to cross-disability solidarity, Interdependence, Collective access and Collective liberation. I thought I would summarize these principles by pyrographing the 'Tree of Disability Justice':

Image: Tree of Disability Justice, pyrographed on repurposed UK-grown Cedar (K.Morley)

In the lecture, Prof McKinnon discussed the concept of ‘Extinction of Experience’, which is where ‘there is a progressive loss of human/nature interactions’. What Prof McKinnon termed “intergenerational blinding” (1) involves the “ethically objectionable imposition of ignorance by one generation to another” leading to shifting baseline syndrome, which I explored in a previous blog.

The notion of an ‘extinction of experience’ could be queried amongst people and communities- including many disabled people- who are not afforded equity of experience in the first place. Many disabling barriers to nature have been identified, some of these include;

• Lack of local nature

• Physical barriers such as steps and uneven paths.

• Limited and/or inaccessible information.

• Lack of accessible toilets and changing facilities.

• Lack of accessible transport.

• Poor maintenance.

• Limited range of opportunities to connect with nature in different ways.

• Attitudinal barriers including lack of confidence, and other people's attitudes and prejudices which may make disabled people feel out of place or unwelcome. (I plan to explore disabling barriers to nature in more depth in a future post)

However, when the ‘extinction of experience’ in nature is considered what is the ‘norm’ of ‘nature experience’, against which other people’s experiences are held/compared? Who decides what that is? What does that mean for people, who due to disabling barriers, for example, have had to improvise to forge connections/experiences with nature that might diverge from the norm or people who can only access nature that has already been supposedly ‘damaged’ in some way?

Do experiences of disability, ableism and/or disablism diminish one's connection to nature? Many commentators and papers explain how disabled people might experience nature differently. So, to look at an ‘extinction of experience’ could be deemed ableist as society is ‘normalising’ what a nature experience should be.

The disabled writer, Naomi Ortiz offers some insights into how disabled people perceive ecological destruction;

“Maybe non-disabled people can disassociate more from what’s happening, because they can access some of these wild spaces that are further in. They can get to spaces that are more isolated, more untouched. But I can’t. Whether I’m in a parking lot or just on a dirt road, I’m present with the man-made, extracted stuff. It’s harder for me to not be in constant relationship with the impact of what’s happening." This is what they call, developing a “witnessing relationship.”

One of the most striking moments in the talk was when Prof McKinnon explored Nozicki’s Experience Machine Thought Experiment. This thought experiment explores hedonism, the desire to increase pleasure (and decrease pain)… it’s a similar concept to the plot of The

Matrix film! In his 1974 book, Anarchy, State and Utopia, Nozick outlines the Experience Machine:

“Suppose there was an experience machine that would give you any experience you desired. Superduper neuropsychologists could stimulate your brain so that you would think and feel that you were writing a great novel, or making a friend, or reading an interesting book. All the time you would be floating in a tank, with electrodes attached to your brain. Should you plug into this machine for life, pre-programming your life's experience?'

'What (if anything) is wrong with a life lived in the experience machine?'

'Plugging into an experience machine limits us to a man-made reality, to a world no deeper or more important than that which people can construct ... perhaps what we desire is to live (an active verb) ourselves, in contact with reality.'

Image: Yescela Vorazan

There is debate as to whether those who are ‘plugged in’ to the machine know what state they are in, and whether there is an ethical concern about who does the ‘plugging in’. Prof McKinnon stated that it can be argued that if a person plugs in another without their knowledge or consent, then ‘a grievous harm’ is done to the person in the tank… does this have parallels with how society curates so-called accessible nature experiences in the UK, in the present?

Often outdoor experiences for disabled people are carefully choreographed. Loaded with risk assessments and perceived accessibility needs, the nature experience of a disabled person can become so sanitised that the health and well-being benefits of being in nature are diminished.

There has been some debate about the potential role of Virtual Reality (2) in promoting access to ‘nature’ amongst disabled people, or other individuals without other forms of nature access; to what extent is this an acceptable replacement for an embodied nature encounter in situ? Is virtual reality better than, doing the bare minimum to create limited access to nature settings? Are either of these approaches ‘enough’ or ‘reasonable’?

Prof McKinnon spoke about the experience machine in terms of social, environmental injustice and intergenerational injustice. Perhaps it’s time to add disability injustice to the list. Intergenerational injustice is a threat to people living in the future (the generations yet to come) who are ‘radically vulnerable’ to present people’s actions or inactions. Future generations cannot alter the past so are reliant on the people of the present to ‘do the right thing’… The people of the future cannot hold us to account for what we choose to do, or not do now, in the face of climate and ecological emergencies.

In her presentation, Professor McKinnon stated, “There is no group of human being more vulnerable to us in the present than those in the future.” Without denying the agency of disabled people, one could argue that many disabled people experience these power differentials and abuses of power, in the ‘here and now.’ Those expressing concern about intergenerational injustice for humans living in the future could expand their awareness by recognising the ableist societal structures, systems, and policies that are compromising nature experiences amongst the current generation. Eli Clare writes about this in his Brilliant Imperfection : Grappling with Cure book, where he states that disabled people have "a life to live here and now, a life that will be made better by material and attitudinal access... we mustn't ignore the ways in which research's future-focused commitment has served to devalue people in the present." How are disabled people, present or future expected to ‘fit’ – or achieve equity of nature experience- in a society that is designed to favour non-disabled people and that actively disables people from living the life that they would choose?

When we talk in terms of intergenerational injustice for non-disabled people where does this leave disabled people? How could radical societal reform turn the tables from disabled people being viewed or ‘othered’ as ‘less than’ or disposable? How could society be reconfigured to challenge and address how it disables people?

The failure to value disabled people was thrown into stark relief during the Covid 19 pandemic when 60% of the people who died in England, were disabled.

Image: Remembering the 60%. Six Owl and Buzzard feathers, and four Crow feathers. (K.Morley)

The pandemic has shone a spotlight on disability rights and the potential for eugenic practices which are also being hotly debated around the Parliamentary Assisted Dying Bill. If a society fails to value the lives of disabled people in the present, where will that leave the disabled people of the future?

Rosemarie Garland-Thomson explores the ideas of 'world building' through a disability lens, where "ideological and material separation of citizens into worthy and unworthy (are) based on physiological variations". She questions "How can disabled people in our shared world now and in future worlds inhabit those worlds effectively?" When disabled people are valued and their differences embraced rather than eliminated, 'conserving disability' can be seen as a way of valuing human 'biodiversity' and variance.

As Riva Lehrer states in her wonderful memoir, Golem Girl, “Disability is the great billboard of human truth. Add it to any discourse and we can see what humanity truly values.”

Disability rights activist Syren Nagakyrie writes in ‘Nature is a Human Right’;

“Disability is a normal and natural way of being embodied. Disabled people have always existed, indeed as humans age, most of us become disabled in some way. It is beyond time for disability to be recognized as the natural part of human experience that it is. It is not separate from nature, not separate from humanity, not better or worse than any other way to experience life.”

In her article, 'Accessible Outdoors: Opening the Door to Nature for People with Disabilities,' Bonnie Lewkowicz discusses how society can make nature experiences more equitable with and for disabled people;

“George Covington, the former White House adviser on disability, said it best: “You have to ramp the human mind or the rest of the ramps won’t work.” It’s not just about obeying a law; it’s about wanting to share what we all get from contact with nature and the outdoors. For those of us who believe passionately that a connection with nature is a powerful tool in making the world a better place, we can start by welcoming the opportunity to share the natural world with people different from ourselves. After all, the more of us there are going out into nature to do these things, the more likely it is that those mountains, rivers, and shorelines will be preserved for all of us for many more years to come.”

By exploring ‘Futures Philosophies’ of the lives that will be lived by disabled people and those people who are not disabled yet, we may be able to gain insights into how to live well together, within environments that are increasingly challenged by an inhospitable climate and catastrophic biodiversity loss, whilst also taking action to minimise such risks in the first place. Disability studies theorist Michael Dorn argued that because the disabled body “remain[s] attentive and responsive to changing environmental conditions,” it “exhibits a mature form of environmental sensitivity” and calls this ‘heightened attention to the environment’, "geographical maturity." Riva Lehrer writes:

“… what defines strength in a time of crisis? In the coming decades, humanity must reimagine how to do every damned thing in the world. Disabled people are experts in finding new ways to do things when old ways don’t work. We are a vast think tank in plain sight. A bottomless well of ingenuity and creativity.”

By turning to disabled people and involving them in the quests for solutions to these big societal challenges, we obtain a richness and wealth of lived experience that can leave a better legacy for all.

Thanks to the brilliant Dr Sarah Bell for all her input and discussions in the creation of this blog post!

Links and further reading:

• Personalised Ecology | Working with natural systems for sustainable futures | University of Exeter

• Experience machine - Wikipedia

• Anarchy, State And Utopia : Robert Nozick : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive (Nozick, 1974: 42-45)

• The Experience Machine | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (utm.edu)

• Outdoor Accessibilty Guidance 2023. Paths for All and Sensory Trust outdoor-accessibility-guidance-2023.pdf (pathsforall.org.uk)

• Brilliant Imperfection : Grappling with Cure (2017) (Page 86)

• The harmful ableist language you unknowingly use - BBC Worklife

• Eugenic World Building and Disability: The Strange World of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go | SpringerLink Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, 2017. Journal of Medical Humanities.

• The Story of My Work: How I Became Disabled | Disability Studies Quarterly (dsq-sds.org) Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, 2014. Disability Studies Quarterly.

• Opening the Door to Nature for People with Disabilities - (baynature.org)

• BEYOND NOMADISM | 11 | The travel narratives of a "cripple" | Michael (oclc.org)

• Golem Girl: A Memoir a book by Riva Lehrer (bookshop.org)

FOOTNOTE 1:

Note on the Tragedy model of disability in climate and environmental justice discourse:

It’s worth picking up here on some of the vocabulary used in climate and environmental justice. Using language that equates disability to something negative (eg blindness) has been highlighted as ableist, or as Sara Novic explores in this excellent article on the complexities ‘linguistic microaggressions’. With dire consequences of climate inaction, some educators inadvertently slip into doom-laden ‘Personal Tragedy Models of disability’, hoping by so doing, shock people into action.

FOOTNOTE 2:

Use of technology:

From a personal perspective; for twenty years I have worked alongside the medical profession and had a career in audiological rehabilitation, working with people with hearing loss to minimise the impact that this has on their day-to-day lives, for me, these newfound ways of viewing disability are sometimes hard to grapple with. Technologies that may minimise disabled identities can also assist disabled people in living their lives.... which is why I wear hearing aids every day... Rosemarie Garland-Thomson discusses the complex relationship that some disabled people have with emerging technologies in her 'The Story of My Work: How I Became Disabled' essay: "technologies- were what kept me out; they are now what let me in," and goes on to say "The built and social environments make disability, and they can help unmake disability as we know it." The long-term potential impacts (both for good and bad) of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR) on the lives of all people are yet to be fully realised. Certainly, the Audiology profession has been wrestling/embracing these technologies for a while now and the impacts that this will have on how Audiologists practice and the profession as a whole, will be vast.