The Urban Field Naturalist Project is a collaborative initiative that aims to describe and playfully explore what it might mean to be a field naturalist today, in the 21st century, in an urban context. The escalating realities of climate change, human population growth, urbanisation and agricultural intensification are driving the mass extinction of all kinds of species around the world. At this time when we need to connect with the natural world more than ever, many of us feel increasingly cut off from it. What possibilities might the very best aspects of the European naturalist tradition coupled with an appreciation of cultural knowledge of the natural world, have to offer for our time?
A Guide to the Creatures in Your Neighbourhood is a new major publication by the project team. Combining science with art, philosophy, and cultural storytelling, the book aims to cultivate a sense of wonder and appreciation for our remarkable natural world. 272 pages of weird and wonderful facts about cockatoos, hoverflies, spiders, possums, and other animals just outside (and sometimes inside) your doorstep, plus activities for observing, sketching, and making field notes.
While the stories and approaches included in A Guide to the Creatures in Your Neighbourhood are grounded in the many insights produced by the careful study of nature, the book aims to stretch and reimagine what has become the standard scientific way of thinking and talking about the natural world. Inspired by the naturalist tradition, this book seeks to cultivate our capacities for curiosity and wonder, while working towards a richer appreciation of the non-human world we are a part of and that sustains our lives.
