Working with East Devon AONB and Blackdown Hills AONB
In 2020/21 THG is delighted to be working in partnership with East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Blackdown Hills AONB. Access, enjoyment and understanding of the countryside are important aspects of AONB delivery and proven vital to mental and physical well-being.
Our shared activity supports the Colchester Declaration 2019, a collective strategy for nature across AONBs which recognised that:
- Natural Beauty has intrinsic value and means so much to people
- Climate change is the biggest threat to humanity and one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. Designated landscapes offer some of the most powerful solutions to the challenges of climate change
- The network of AONBs and National Parks, their teams, partnerships, authorities and stakeholders offer a unique solution to tackling environmental challenges
Our collaboration builds on existing work such as the National Association for AONBs ‘Art in the Landscape’. This programme is seeking to improve the understanding and relationship between the arts sector and AONBs in creating opportunities for emotional engagement in nature.
The creative exploration of place through music, painting, poetry, and dance opens up the experience of landscape beyond the world of science and policy and helps us better understand our place in the world. With better understanding comes better stewardship; the basis of a more sustainable future.
In Conversation: Chris Woodruff, East Devon AONB and Tim Youngs, Blackdown Hills AONB discussing nature recovery, climate change and the important role art can play.
