Dynamic Dunescapes
The Laal Collective was approached by Cumbria Wildlife Trust to develop and deliver a community project for Dynamic Dunescapes a partnership project between Natural England, Plantlife, National Trust, Natural Resources Wales and the Wildlife Trusts which is a new project to restore sand dunes across England and Wales for the benefit of wildlife, people and communities.
The Laal Collective developed a project that worked with three local schools in Barrow: Sacred Heart RC School, St Pauls C of E school and Askam Primary. Each school would take one creature found at the Dunes and develop a story, and make the creature and an interactive box for it to be housed in . Working with The Laal Collective artists and supported by Cumbria Wildlife Trust, each school began the project with a visit to the Dunes where they learned about the wildlife found there, listened to some folktales around the flora and fauna and took part in activities linked to the site.
The next session the schools developed their stories around their creatures: The Natterjack Toad, The Skylark and The Northern Dune Tiger Beetle.
Once the stories were created, the classes moved onto their makes, using techniques such as felting, paper mache and collage. They also worked alongside a musician on digital sound, recording their stories and creating sound effects to be housed in the box.
The project was celebrated with a day at the Dunes, with the schools coming together to share their boxes and stories.
‘Working with The Laal Collective has been an absolute delight! We have enjoyed every second of working with them to deliver our arts project on the sand dunes with the three schools. Every participant has engaged with the project, and it has been a lovely way to allow others to celebrate, access and explore our coastal environment through art, theatre and music. We have particularly enjoyed the experience of incorporating art and conservation to engage with new audiences and seeing how arts can be used to highlight important conservation issues – they complement each other so well. We really do hope to work with The Laal Collective again. Thank you so much!’
Eve Mulholland, Dynamic Dunescapes Engagement Officer, Cumbria Wildlife Trust
‘Dynamic Dunescapes is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the EU LIFE Programme. The project is a partnership between Natural England, Plantlife, National Trust, Natural Resources Wales and the Wildlife Trusts.’
