As a new resident in Scotland since January, this is my first Summer north of the border and, as far as I can tell, Julys in Scotland are stunningly hot and allow for lots of time to be outside. Bearing this in mind I have been partaking of a lot of outdoor work, which has been fantastic, over the past few weeks. Here is a picture of such work:
A bug walk passing through Glasgow Green with Glasgow Association for Mental Health
However, one of the most interesting and useful things I have done recently has been a consultation with the local community in Toryglen to hear what they have to say about their local nature space. The process of consultation has been a fascinating learning curve. I went door to door in the local area and handed out surveys and queried people face-to-face; asking them what they thought of the local community woodland. The exercise has yielded varying responses; from those who consider the site dangerous, to those who want to see more kids down there, to those who want to help out changing the space, to some who want to see wildflowers there, and some who are not interested in it at all.
Taking the time to go round the neighbourhood has been one of the most useful things I have done all year. It has given me a new perspective on what those, the ones who really ‘own’ the space, think about it. I will now be going through the opinions and information that people have generously offered and will incorporate it into a plan for a small project to be undertaken at the site.
I have learned that it is pretty hard to do good consultations. I’m not sure how good mine really is, but it has taken a lot of time to create what is hopefully a balanced, fair and useful survey, and then to prepare an online version of the questions, to get feedback from peers and then to find a proper amount of time to go and do it, and keep doing it, to get results. It is a difficult business for sure, but one that is both rewarding and extremely interesting.
In other news, I have been to a couple of day events to talk about and discuss bugs with members of the public, I’ve led bug walks with adults and kids and even had the fortune to learn about wildflowers and grasses with a couple of leading experts in Scotland. I can’t say this post isn’t without its perks.
May the classic scorching Scottish summer continue, as it always does, I’ve heard.