Welcome to this second edition of our newsletter. 

Since we last were in contact we have held a national webinar which explored the topic of ‘What is Natural Beauty?’; and we are about to embark on an online conference 'Landscapes for Nature Recovery', on 7 April. 

I’d also like to take this opportunity to welcome Dr Angus I. Carpenter as the new theme lead for Conservation & Ecology, which merges two of our historical themes of Wildlife Conservation and Landscapes & Ecology.

If there are any of our projects you would like to learn more about please do not hesitate to contact us at: cnppa@cumbria.ac.uk

All the best,
Lois Mansfield, Director of CNPPA

In this issue:

• Valuing the Cultural Farmed Landscape
  
• 'Learning Spaces' Contribution to UNESCO report
• Recent University of Cumbria student appointed Curator and Custodian of Rydal Mount
• Three new Cultural Landscapes projects
• PhD Student Working with Our Upland Commons Project
• Funded PhD Research to Support Cumbria Tourism
• Landscapes for Nature Recovery - Online Conference
• Monthly Cultural Landscapes Talks
• What is Natural Beauty? Event Report 
• Call for Papers for GeoWeek 2022 Symposium
• Emergency Support for Protected Areas in the Carpathians
  

‘Learning spaces: built, natural and digital considerations for learning and learners’ is the title of the chapter in the new UNESCO MGIEP document called, Education and the learning experience in Reimagining education: The International Science and Evidence based Education Assessment. The launch of the full report of the ISEE Assessment will be held on 22 March at UNESCO HQ in Paris.  #ISEEAssessment #TheEducationWeNeed

Members of the University’s academic team who work within the area of Cultural Landscapes have recently been successful in applying for internal funding to support the development of three exciting new projects.

Professor of Fine Art, Robert Williams has received funding to work on GeoWeek: A response from the Arts: Communication Measures to bridge 4.543 billion years. This will culminate in a symposium at University of Cumbria's Brampton Road campus in May (see call for papers below and further details about GeoWeek here.)

Dr  Penny Bradshaw, Associate Professor of English Literature, has received funding for a project which will work with community groups to explore the impact of Cumbria’s literary legacies on contemporary visitors from ethnic minority backgrounds, and the potential of new writing to encourage more diverse visitor engagement. The project will also involve the commissioning of new writing and a final report will be produced to reflect on the outcomes of the community work.

Tristan Poyser, Lecturer in Photography with a background in Ecology and Biological photography, is working on a pilot project which will explore the impact on mental health and well-being from engaging with green spaces through photography.

Hannah will be working with commons in Cumbria, Shropshire and Dartmoor, building an in-depth picture of each common and the commoning practices. Interviews and information will be collected to understand the multiple stories in the commons and how they interact, how information is shared and how decisions are made.

Dr Julia Aglionby, Professor in Practice here at the Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas, is Executive Director of the Foundation for Common Land which is leading the Our Upland Commons project.

Having received several excellent PhD applications at the beginning of the year the successful candidate, Delia Moisa from Romania, demonstrated an excellent industry and research background and will be based at University of Cumbria's Ambleside campus from 1st April 2022.

The conference will provide a forum for discussion of land management in protected landscapes, with a focus on how to achieve the UK Government target of 30% of land protected for nature by 2030.

'Landscapes for Nature Recovery' is hosted by Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas in partnership with RSPB, Lake District National Park Partnership and Nature North. 

A provisional programme is available here. 

Please book here by Sunday 3rd April to secure your place.  

Image of Alfred Wainwright © Derry Brabbs (above left); cover image of one of his books (above right).

In this our third series of free monthly public lectures on the theme of ‘Cultural Landscapes’, we have hosted some wonderful speakers including Dr Jenny Messenger discussing ‘Cumbrian Landscapes in Kathleen Raine’s Autobiographies’, and Liz Woodham on ‘Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells’. These talks have taken place online and most are now available on demand.  You can listen to Dr Jenny Messenger’s talk here  and Liz Woodham’s talk here.

Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas hosted this exciting event, run by the PLACE Collective with the Wye Valley AONB Partnership and the Lake District National Park Authority.

The cross-disciplinary symposium explored values, aesthetics and the way we relate to and care for protected landscapes in a time of environmental crisis.  125 people attended, taking part in discussions and enjoying various artistic contributions. 

Recordings are available to view on our YouTube channel here. 

The event report is available here. 

University of Cumbria, Institute of Arts, Carlisle, Cumbria

12 - 13th May 2022

Symposium Context & Aims: The University of Cumbria Institute of Arts, Arts Research Initiative (ARI), will become ‘host’ in a partnership with Tullie House Museum for the national event GeoWeek, to offer a free public symposium in which to explore themes of cultural engagement with the geologic, particularly through the interpretations of artists and cultural practitioners. The Cumbrian region has a rich history of such investigations from luminaries such as Wordsworth, Turner, West, Martineau, Southey, Atkinson, Graves, Nicholson, Harrison and Fell. This Symposium will offer a range of responses to GeoWeek, focusing on themes such as the Anthropocene, Deep time, Strata, Underworlds, Crystals and Landforms, seen through the lens of contemporary arts interventions and artists’ responses. Whilst Cumbrian geology is foregrounded, the symposium will also consider a much broader range of contexts and geologies. In encouraging provocative, divergent, and critical artists’ engagement, the aim is also to prompt interdisciplinary and public facing discourse between scholars, artists and cultural practitioners.

We welcome proposals for papers, presentations, short film screenings, workshops and panels. Presentations should be of 20 minutes duration, with 10 minutes for questions.

Please email max. 250-word abstracts plus a short bio with photograph of both the author and (where appropriate) recent work to Professor Robert Williams: robert.williams@cumbria.ac.uk. 

Submission Deadline: 16:00 Monday 4th April 2022

The Frankfurt Zoological Society supported by the EUROPARC Federation, have launched an appeal to help our protected area colleagues in Ukraine.

If you would like to know more about this appeal please follow this link. CNPPA would also like to thank our Protected Areas colleagues in Poland, Slovakia, Romania and other neighbouring countries who are helping with the humanitarian crisis.

Our Vision is to be a national and international centre of excellence for transdisciplinary study and research into national parks and protected areas, that addresses complex local and global challenges, and develops innovative practices to enhance landscapes and communities.

Our External Objectives are: 

· To grow our understanding of ecological, social and economic processes and change.

· To encourage dialogue within and between all communities.

· To create a safe space for addressing the contested issues.

· To provide an inspiring programme of lectures and conferences for all.

· To work in partnership with local communities to support knowledge sharing and transformative sustainable business practices that contribute to thriving communities, biodiversity and climate action.

· To use art and literature as catalysts for conversations, critical thinking, engagement and communication.

You can join our mailing list here.