Urban Wildlife Engagement

About this Challenge Team

In modern cities, it's easy for children to feel cut off from the natural world. Forming a connection with nature, especially at a formative age, has been shown to have a wide range of emotional and social benefits. Luckily, London boasts an amazing wealth of wildlife and nature to be discovered and is often ranked as one of the top cities globally for most green space.

The aim of this project is to therefore try and take advantage of these exciting nature spots and get primary school children more enthusiastic about the nature in their local environment. We will achieve this by using a variety of interactive materials, including videos, virtual guided walks, maps, and other lesson tools. Through these sessions, we hope to increase awareness, enthusiasm, and concern for nature, as well as instil a sense of how important urban wildlife and green spaces can be for people's mental health.

What we did

• Partnered with ZSL London Zoo’s outreach programme to find candidate schools
• Ran eleven 90-minute workshops across eight partner comprehensive schools
• Delivered in parks locally to schools incl Regent's Park and Hampstead Heath
• Each pair of students got a bespoke workbook for the session
• Surveyed students before and after to see the difference

Team Members

• Alex Auyang (Cohort 8)
• Jordi Buckley (Cohort 8)
• Ben Chapple (Cohort 7)
• Henry Grub (Cohort 8)
• George Horner (Cohort 7)
• Verity Miles (Cohort 7)
• Alex Rabeau (Cohort 8) - team captain
• Josh Reynolds (Cohort 8)
• Aileen Scott (Cohort 8)