Nature-Based Solutions
All are welcome at the cultural and ceremonial programme of the Nature-based Solutions Conference taking place at the Museum of Natural History. With events led by wisdom keepers, local or Indigenous artists, these cultural and ceremonial spaces provide an opportunity to slow down, connect with ourselves and remember the awe and beauty of the world around us.
Water Pilgrimage
17th June
Chris Park will lead a deep journey into Oxford’s springs, wells and rives, exploring water’s crucial role in Oxford’s emergence as a global centre of imagination. Chris’s stories and wisdom will be interwoven with knowledge from indigenous elders visiting from Mexico, Chile and Hawaii, producing a magical journey that honours the role water plays to all life. There will be capacity for a maximum of 50 pilgrims to join so please register here early.
Ceremonial Space
17th-21st June
Participants and the public will be invited to take time to reconnect with themselves, nature and the elements in the ceremonial space outside the museum. Here they will be invited to ceremoniously weave natural materials into hazel panels representing earth, air, water and fire. A beautiful tlamanalli, created from local flowers, fruits, seeds and stones by our visiting elders on Tuesday morning will form our altar, alongside the sacred flame of the conference. Delegates may also contribute their own items.
The ceremonial space has been created to hold our intentions and hopes for the week and to encourage reflection on how we might rekindle a deeper relationship with nature.
Nature-based Solutions in Action
17th-21st June
These 24 inspiring short films share stories of positive change in human relations with nature from projects worldwide.
Mural: Rivermap to COP30 and beyond
18th–20th June
Artist, illustrator and scientist, Cecile Girardin, will lead her team to create a striking mural depicting key discussion points and outcomes of the conference. It will visualise how the nature-based solutions community will work together in the build up to COP30 in Brazil in 2025, to address climate change and biodiversity loss while promoting rights and equity. The artwork, set to evolve over three days just outside the museum, promises to capture attention with its size, significance and beautiful colours in ecological paints. Cecile has a track record of producing engaging pieces, including for major international events such as the climate COP26 hosted in Glasgow in 2021, and the mural will likely inspire all who pass it.
Greensong: Reconnecting through Immersion
18th–20th June
Artist and eco-architect JP Frazer has designed Greensong, a collection of dawn soundscapes from the homes and habitats of conference delegates. Situated in the museum’s atrium, this immersive audio exhibit will greet the delegates as they arrive into the conference space, aiming to provoke a profound sense of awe and connection to nature.
Exhibits by Indigenous and local artists
18th–20th June
Jane Frere is a Scottish artist living in the Highlands who works in a variety of media including painting, pastel and printmaking. Her recent work aims to confront and engage with the great global emergency of climate change and biodiversity loss. She has worked closely with Trees for Life and will be bringing some new works to life at the conference.
Naine Terena, an indigenous woman from the Terena people in Brazil, is a researcher, university professor, curator, and art educator. She will present a photographic series “I Am a Tree!” which proposes a dialogue between human and non-human realms and explores the Terena people’s understanding of the relationships between living beings and cosmological plant beings.
Nature Connection and Ecology Walk in the University Park
6.30pm 18th June
Join us for a guided walk in the University Parks, inviting you to slow down and reflect on the day and land in the beautiful space where the conference is being held. Part ecology walk, part guided opportunity to be in the present moment and peacefully connect with the natural world around us.
