Existing research

Choose a destination, walk to it. Ask yourself: “Who/what wants to walk with me?” It can be a living or nonliving thing, a phenomenon, a feeling, an object —something one. As you proceed to your destination, intentionally notice those (or that something) you walk with.

Go for a walk, and walk as you normally do. At some point, refuse the pace you move with—slow down, stop, look around. Who else might be refusing with you in that moment? Don’t expect a response, but keep walking. Refuse the marked road; instead, drift toward its edge, or walk on grass or any other unpaved surface.

Choose a place/bioregion you know well and identify its prevailing color—white, green, yellow, or grey. Using your own observation/memories of your elders as well as an online climate tool, explore how this color has changed in the past 50 years due to climate impacts such as deforestation, snow loss, or urbanization. Then, imagine the place 100 years from now: Has the prevailing color changed? Why? Write a letter from the future.

Take your camera/phone and go for a walk. Notice unusual, unfamiliar, strange, or overlooked. Try to take a photo from a low angle, close-up, or through layers. Capture a perspective that might belong to a nonhuman other. Create a small collection of such images.

Choose a place that you have feelings about. Take a piece of eco/rice paper and write a word or phrase that reflects your personal connection to this spot or a challenge it faces. Fold the paper and leave it in the place—under a stone, in between moss, in a hidden spot—and let the environment intra-act with it over four weeks. Be patient; let the place map itself in its own time. When you return, observe what has changed.

Begin your walk without a destination. Allow yourself be guided by instinct and curiosity. Turn where you wouldn’t normally turn. Mark a moment when you feel you are getting lost. How does it feel for you? What/whom do you notice in this moment? Remember the context you found those others in.

Find/read about one of the challenges in your place. Choose any craft form you are drawn to—embroidery, working with clay, collage, paper-making, dyeing, felting, or something else entirely. Let your chosen medium be a way to think with the challenge, not just about it. Create something that responds to the place’s challenge. It can be poetic, practical, symbolic, or imaginary. It doesn’t need to solve the problem—just show that you’ve listened and cared.

Think of three or more living or nonliving beings near you each existing at a noticeably different pace. Ask yourself: What kind of time does each of them live in? And what might their breathing be like (for living things)? In your sketchbook, or using an AI tool, create a visualisation of the respiratory system, breathing patterns or lifespan of each being.

Choose a local environmental problem and create a mind map of one-word associations related to it. Then, select one material object from your map (e.g., aerator, pipe, gabions) and investigate it more deeply: Who makes or maintains it? What is it supposed to solve? Is it a sustainable solution, and for whom?

Create a map of your emotions, memorable moments, and special connections with others (human or nonhuman). Choose a route to walk. As you walk, pause at meaningful spots and take a photo—of yourself, an action you're doing, another being, or the landscape. Place the photos on a digital map in the same geographic locations. Use any digital tool you prefer (Photoshop, Figma, Canva, Google Earth Pro) to create image overlays and tell your story through place.