Resonance Launch and ‘Big Dig’ Day

November 26, 2024

On the bog at Bolton Fell Moss National Nature Reserve, followed by refreshments
and further conversations at the nearby Hethersgill Village Hall, CA6 6EH

Come and join discussions around land use and change, while helping to create land art in Cumbria ...

Resonance centres around the installation of a living artwork across the Lake District National Park: seven circles, each of seven silver birch trees, radiating from a central point.

The Big Dig Day is the first event. It is a unique chance to encounter the remarkable Bolton Fell and Walton Moss National Nature Reserve, a vast peat bog that is re-wetting after a process of restoration, and to play a part in the co-creation of a living artwork that will be part of the Cumbrian landscape for decades to come. Attendees will be joining an ongoing conversation about land use change while feeling the weather and, quite literally, getting stuck in! You'll be collecting the young birch trees that will be used to form the constellation of seven small, beautiful circles elsewhere in Cumbria.

Resonance is one of the participatory elements of the UK’s Land Use for Net Zero, Nature and People (LUNZ) Hub that brings people together from across land-user, stakeholder and specialist groups to discuss land use, nature, climate and changes in practice and policy that can help the UK achieve ‘net zero’ by 2050. Resonance takes a creative and hands-on approach to learning about places and knowledge sharing.

Plans for the day

Start: 1030, Bolton Fell Moss National Nature Reserve

End: 1530, following refreshments in Hethersgill Village Hall

The day will begin with an introduction about the bog's history, recovery and ongoing monitoring. Then, with guidance, groups will carefully remove 49 birch trees from the bog. Later in the winter, these will be replanted in seven tight cicles of seven trees each, across the Lake District National Park. If you’d prefer to watch, rather than dig, that’s fine – moral support is always valuable! We will then gather for lunch in the nearby village hall, where there will be short presentations and plenty of time for discussion.

Places are limited so please register your interest and we'll be in touch with further details. Note that transport from Carlisle Railway Station can be arranged for you if you're travelling by train.

Please send enquiries to rob.fraser@cumbria.ac.uk.

More about the Resonance project

Resonance is being curated by artist researchers Harriet Fraser and Rob Fraser from the PLACE Collective and is being developed as part of their work with the LUNZ Hub, with support from specialists in the LUNZ Hub consortium, and from Natural England, National Trust, University of Cumbria and the Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas, Lake District National Park Authority and Forestry England.

The creation of the 7-piece artwork relocates birch trees from the peat bog to seven new locations. Each circle will be 3.5 metres in diameter, with the same design, but different locations where the trees will grow to fit their place and will be a legacy for the local community there: a place to visit and revisit, to pause and to feel the changes through the seasons and over the years.

In a series of events between November 2024 and the end of March 2025, the 49 trees will be planted by groups involving local residents, regional stakeholders and national specialists, including members of the LUNZ Hub consortium. Each event is a chance to get involved and to share views about land use and the opportunities and challenges of change, with a focus on peat, soil, land use, trees and carbon.

At the end of March 2025, the final planting will coincide with a ‘Big Tent’ event at the Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas, University of Cumbria, Ambleside. This event, with presentations, discussion groups and arts interventions, will focus on land use in the uplands, with particular consideration of peat, trees and rural communities.

Resonance is an evolving project and one of its joys is to involve many people along the way. Following the planting of the seven circles in Cumbria, and the release of the Resonance film and project report, there will be a guide for people who’d like to plant circles elsewhere, building on the ethos of collaboration and transdisciplinary working.

More on the webpage here: https://theplacecollective.org/resonance/

More about the LUNZ Hub

The LUNZ Hub is an innovative research initiative that will help drive the transformation of UK land use needed to achieve net zero by 2050. It is co-funded by UKRI, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (on behalf of England and Wales), the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and the Scottish Government. It has been co-designed with Defra and the Welsh and Scottish governments.

LUNZ follows a code of conduct in the design and delivery of events. To find out more about this, please read about the LUNZ Hub values here.

Registrations are closed

Resonance Launch and Big Dig Day