How do you value nature?  Thinking with and beyond natural capital

This event is an open invitation to reflect on a simple but important question: How do you value nature in your work? There will be an in introductory talk on the importance of natural capital in Greater Manchester, followed by a workshop to explore the multiple ways in which we value nature.

Do you work with nature - whether as a gardener, volunteer, artist, educator, activist, urban forager, amateur naturalist, or something else entirely? Your experiences and understandings matter. Often, the way people engage with and value nature through their work isn’t reflected in decisions and frameworks that shape our local environment.

This event is a chance to:

• Share your experiences and connections with nature in a space that values diverse perspectives.
• Explore how environmental value is defined - and who gets to define it.
• Engage in open discussion where different viewpoints are welcomed and encouraged.
• Connect with others whose work contributes to nature and community wellbeing.
• Learn about how natural capital in Greater Manchester shapes decisions affecting local environments.
• Contribute to a research project considering how professionals value nature (detailed below).

Feel empowered to take part in shaping how nature is valued in Greater Manchester - even if you've not considered environmental policy or ‘natural capital’ before.

With participants’ informed consent, discussions will be audio recorded and anonymised transcriptions may be used to produce journal articles and a short blog on the event. Before you decide whether to take part, it is important for you to understand why the research is being conducted and what it will involve. As such, please read the Participant Information Sheet in full ahead of registration.

Joe Blakey, Lecturer in Human Geography at The University of Manchester

Mark Usher, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Geography at The University of Manchester

Open to all, especially if you work or volunteer with the environment.

This event is for anyone who works with and cares about nature - even if you’ve never heard of natural capital, the key policy framework for managing the environment that we will discuss at the event. In the UK, natural capital frames nature as a set of economic ‘assets,’ ‘services,’ and ‘infrastructure.’ While influential in policymaking, it often excludes the voices, experiences, and knowledge of people and communities who value nature in other ways. Your work with nature gives you a unique perspective that deserves to be heard.

In line with the festival’s theme of ‘our working lives,’ we specifically seek to engage individuals whose work - whether professionally, voluntarily, formally or informally - engages with the environment but who don’t regularly contribute to environmental policy.