Festival of Nature goes wild this summer: 16 - 17 June 2012
Friday 23, March 2012
Voted Bristol’s ‘Tourism Event of the Year’, the Festival of Nature unleashes the city’s wild side once again this summer, taking over the Harbourside on the weekend of 16-17 June.
The UK’s largest free celebration of the natural world, the Bristol Festival of Nature lets loose wildlife enthusiasts of all ages to explore, enjoy, and get close to nature in the heart of the city.
Throughout the weekend, the festival site will be packed with exciting free activities from over 150 organisations – here’s a taste of what’s in store…
• Interactive exhibits – discover the latest technology with the BBC Natural History Unit. Get closer to nature with the National Trust, hands-on with interactive science activities from UWE and University of Bristol and meet the dinosaurs with Bristol Zoo Gardens.
• The largest-ever Festival Talks tent – this year’s speakers include BBC The One Show’s Mike Dilger, Urban Birder David Lindo and author Hugh Warwick.
• The Green Forum – over 40 organisations in one place. Find out how to get involved with Bristol’s amazing array of environmental and conservation groups. Join a group, make a pledge, start a new hobby!
• Festival Market – packed with local produce and sustainable goods, the bustling market is a great place to do your weekend shopping. Sample the wares of independent producers from across the South West, take home a unique gift, and have lunch in the Festival beer garden.
• Wild Bristol tent – find out about conservation projects in the city, get involved with your local green space, and learn more about Bristol’s newest residents, the Avon Gorge goats!
• Entertainment programme – soak up the festival atmosphere with live entertainers, roaming the site and on the two Festival stages. The line-up includes everything from Pete the Bug Man and his exotic animals to live music.
• New themed areas – watch bees in action in the pop-up wildlife garden, then build a nest box in the Bee Tent. Explore the marine world in the on-site rockpool.
• Cutting-edge research – go behind the scenes of one the UK’s largest research programmes, Connected Communities, and contribute to the work of Research Councils UK researchers.
In 2012, the Festival is supported by At-Bristol, Institute of Physics Publishing, Clifton College, Bristol Water, Sita UK and Good Energy.
The Bristol Festival of Nature is working in collaboration with Research Councils UK (RCUK), the strategic partnership of the UK’s seven Research Councils to deliver public engagement activities focussed on the new Connected Communities cross-cutting research programme. Connected Communities is led by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) in partnership with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
In 2012 the Festival of Nature is part of Bristol’s BIG Green Week (9-17 June 2012), the UK's world-class festival of environmental ideas, art and culture that brings green ideas to life, with a packed programme of speakers, music, art, comedy and film. See www.biggreenweek.com for more details.
Communicate 2011: Interactive conference summary online now
Friday 02, March 2012
Communicate 2011: Nature, People, Economics, interactive conference summary online now.
View the Conference summary here
For the first time, Communicate has collated all the material from the annual conference into a single, interactive, online conference summary, providing a valuable resource for both Communicate 2011 delegates, and the wider environmental communication community. Watch the videos, download the presentations, or read contributions from all of last year’s inspirational speakers. Communicate 2011 highlights included:
• Our special guest, comedian Robin Ince, sharing his experiences of combining science through comedy, and communicating the most difficult ideas with a dose of humour.
• Martin Brasher, Head of Wildlife, Habitats and Biodiversity at Defra, on the implications of the new Natural Environment White Paper and England Biodiversity Strategy for environmental communicators.
• Rita Gardner, Director of the Royal Geographical Society discussing the role of the society, and landscape as a means of engaging audiences with the natural world.
• Tessa McGregor on the links between people, economics and nature on the ground, and the role of eco-tourism in engaging local communities in conservation.
• Reconnecting Nature and Economics, including a video address from TEEB study leader Pavan Sukhdev, and contributions from Juliet Davenport (Good Energy), Katherine Symonds (Coca-Cola), Paul Morling (RSPB), and Paul van Gardingen (ESPA).
• Professor Aubrey Manning and Professor Myles Allen on communicating the most difficult and controversial environmental issues.
• The Psychology of Persuasion, with Professor Geoffrey Beattie, Graham Russell and Tony Butler.
• How to co-ordinate more effectively across sectors, delivered in conjunction with RCUK’s Living with Environmental Change programme.
• The Delegate Showcase, with case studies of innovative campaigns from experienced environmental communicators.
Communicate is an initiative of the Bristol Natural History Consortium. Communicate 2011 was held on the 2nd and 3rd November 2011 at Bristol Council House. The Communicate 2011 Conference Summary was produced with support from Bristol City Council.
Bristol Festival of Nature takes Bronze in the South West Tourism Awards
Tuesday 07, February 2012
The Bristol Festival of Nature was delighted to be awarded the bronze award for Tourism Event of the Year at the South West Tourism Excellence Awards 2011-2012, hosted in Torquay on 6th February. It was a great night for Bristol, with the Bristol Ballon Fiesta taking gold in the Event of the Year Category, the SS Great Britain silver for large visitor attraction of the year, and Festival of Nature supporter @Bristol taking the silver award for sustainability.
The South West Tourism Excellence Awards are the ‘official’ tourism awards for the region, linking closely with the awards in Cornwall, Devon and Bristol as well as forming the regional heat of the national VisitEngland awards. A total of 350 entries were considered for the Awards, with all entrants undergoing a short-listing process and over 100 going on to be visited by a team of 25 judges and mystery shoppers. All entrants receive feedback on how they’ve done, giving them the best opportunity both to hone their entry in future years and make improvements to their business.
Bristol Festival of Nature 2012 - Green Forum Registration now open
Monday 06, February 2012
The Green Forum tent, located in Anchor Square, offers local and national environmental and conservation organisations the oppportunity to display their work to the thousands of people who visit the festival. Organisations can run activities, display materials, sign up new members and volunteers, collect funds and showcase their work and projects. Click here for more details of how to register.
South West Tourism Excellence Awards - Tourism Event of the Year
Tuesday 17, January 2012
We are pleased to announce that the Bristol Festival of Nature has been selected as one of the three winners in the Tourism Event of the Year category for this year's South West Tourism Excellence Awards. Take a look at the full list of winners and details of the awards.
The South West Tourism Excellence Awards are the ‘official’ tourism awards for the region, linking closely with the awards in Cornwall, Devon and Bristol as well as forming the regional heat of the national VisitEngland awards. A total of 350 entries were considered for the Awards, with all entrants undergoing a short-listing process and over 100 going on to be visited by a team of 25 judges and mystery shoppers. All entrants receive feedback on how they’ve done, giving them the best opportunity both to hone their entry in future years and make improvements to their business.
Nature, People, Economics
Tuesday 26, July 2011
The theme for Communicate 2011 will be "Nature, People, Economics". The conference will take place on the 2nd-3rd November at the Council House in Bristol, with more details of the programme and speakers to be released in the coming weeks. Register here now!
