Re-imagining Landscape Stewardship was a two-day event (April 8-9) during Winter School 2025 at GSA Highlands and Islands in Forres. Creative practitioners, designers and academics gathered to explore evolving definitions of landscape care within nature regeneration across Scotland and beyond.
The event examined how changing policies and practices influence landscapes and livelihoods - from biodiversity markets to net zero transitions - questioning the unseen dynamics that shape these drivers of change and their implications on access, more-than-human connection, and hierarchies of power. Our aim was to identify and co-design cross-disciplinary proposals to foster equitable and caring relationships with landscapes at scale.
Day 1: Exploring Alternative Visions
Day one began with a Landscape Reading Storywalk led by Sarah Hobbs (Strathspey Storywalks), engaging participants in place-based learning that explored connections between "ecology, folklore, social history and Gaelic culture". Sarah presented the relationships between globalised industries and their visible impacts on communities and wildlife across the region.
This was followed by Imagination-led Visioning sessions guided by Professor Stuart Candy (Tecnológico de Monterrey, Situation Lab) using his The Thing from the Future methodology. Three key speakers introduced diverse interpretations of stewardship and, in response, participants collaboratively imagined the scenarios, interactions and ‘things’ that could bring these alternative visions to life…
Àdhamh Ó Broin (Gaelic Culture Officer at CHARTS Argyll and the Isles) spoke on cultural re-connections with landscapes to foster community awareness. He shared experiences of collaborating with indigenous nations like the Māori and Mohawk to restore cultural practices, framing Gaelic language as an entry point to reconnect with ancestral knowledge and practices of care. Àdhamh challenged us to envision new and reclaimed ceremonial practices that might enable reconnection and reciprocity with the places we know.
Emily Harris and Vlad Afanasiev from Dark Matter Labs introduced Cornerstone Indicators, a framework that reframes economic indicators to reflect the intrinsic values of living systems beyond simply financial returns. Their process involves co-designing indicators with communities by combining data points into intuitive narratives that reflect societal feelings and needs. Emily and Vlad invited us to envision futures in which grounded, holistic decision-making: centred the desired outcomes of communities (including more-than-humans); enmeshed contextual wisdom to scientific financing; and leveraged technological enablement, such as generative AI, to distribute power across systems.
Henriëtte Waal, artist, designer and co-founder of Atelier Luma, discussed community-led bioregioning projects that demonstrated the value of reclaiming place-based knowledge: from reconnecting with historic flood characteristics in Rhône to scaling heritage furniture making and innovating sustainable fabric dyeing methods in Friesland. Henriëtte asked us to be sensitive to the experiential worlds of others to cultivate curiosity and empathy.
The day concluded with a screening of ‘Forest Floor’ by Robbie Synge, who discussed his artist residency in partnership with Cairngorms Connect and his vision for nature restoration as one that enables community and artistic expression. The film showing was followed by discussions about access and inclusion within outdoor landscapes including national parks.
Day 2: Enacting Preferable Futures
The second day focused on identifying actionable design proposals to enact the visions of landscape stewardship that were discussed during day one. Dr Michael Johnson (Creative Economy Leadership Fellow) and Zoë Prosser (Research Fellow and Lecturer in Social design) from SIT GSA opened the day with guided reflections in response to ideas by the group.
Dr. Katherine Simpson, Lecturer in the School of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow and Environmental Economist, then led a workshop on Transforming Environmental Economics. Katherine presented the drivers of change shaping land use across Scotland and beyond, from climate change to policy targets and economic incentives. Through an in-depth review of one nature restoration case study, the impacts of these drivers were mapped live by convener Zoë Prosser using a Causal Layered Analysis framework (Inayatullah, 2004). This allowed participants to identify the interrelationships between worldviews, societal beliefs and values, and systemic structures that influence how environments are treated. Participants were then prompted to envision an alternative, hopeful future by re-imagining injustices and contentions within the system.
The event concluded with a 'Flipped Panel' of experts who reflected upon the role of design and creativity to embody hopeful futures before posing questions to the room for participant-led discussion. Panelists included Professor Stuart Candy (introduced above) who was joined by: John Thackara, author, curator and Visiting Professor with Tongji University and the Glasgow School of Art; and Dr James Oliver, Associate Professor with the School of Design at RMIT University. Final reflections emphasised the need for community-focused creative representation in environmental restoration, rights-centered conservation and legal frameworks, and wider means to celebrate cultural practices that enable emotional connections with place.
Design proposals from the event will be published in Spring/Summer 2025.
Re-imagining Landscape Stewardship was convened by Zoë Prosser, co-designed with Professor Stuart Candy and facilitated with Dr Michael Pierre Johnson and Professor Lynn-Sayers McHattie. With special thanks to Professor Irene McAra-McWilliams and Professor Gordon Hush for opening the event and to Marianne McInnes and Ann Sim for their support throughout.