Just Access to Land
- Date
-
Fri 19 May 2023
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
- Venue
- Quaker Meeting House and Online
“The law locks up the man or woman, who steals the goose from off the common, but leaves the greater villain loose, who steals the common from the goose.” (18th century poem)
Can we have a landscape with more space for wilderness and food growing, alongside access to green spaces for all? The land in and around Sheffield could be a haven for nature; reducing the risk of flooding, heatwaves, and food insecurity; providing green spaces that are good for people and our planet. But the land under our feet is often not our own. Developers are putting up buildings with no thought for green spaces. Landowners are creating a monoculture for profit that pushes nature to the margins. Land is a precious resource. However, there is a deep inequality in who has access to grow, change, build, or just walk on the land.
This panel discussion, hosted by Sheffield Green Party, brings together experts and activists to discuss land ownership, protecting nature, food growing, and the right to roam. Join us for this conversation and discussion. Could we have just access to land?
This event will be chaired by Natalie Bennett.
Zoom Webinar Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82948057162
Nadia is an Ornithologist and Naturalist who has worked in the Conservation sector for over 14 years, recently in Nature Protection Policy and in Community Engagement. Nadia currently works for the Right to Roam campaign and more broadly is interested in land and social justice issues around access to land. She is also a trustee for the Wildlife and Countryside Link.
After a decade-long landscape photography and writing career, Fran completed an MA in landscape architecture at the University of Sheffield. Having been active within the Sheffield street tree campaign, Fran began leading 'interpretative' woodland walks through Sheffield Woodland Connections, working closely with the City Council and local environmental groups. Fran's nature activism and experiences creating community-led vegetable gardens led her to join Regather, where she advocates for a fairer and more sustainable food system. She is the Landscape Architect on Regather's Urban Agriculture Task Force, which is developing local food infrastructure in partnership with the South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre.
Steve is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Wildland Research Institute at the University of Leeds. A geographer with specialist interests in rewilding, wilderness, landscape ecology and environmental modelling, Steve is author of over 120 scientific journal papers and book chapters. Co-editor of recent Routledge Handbook of Rewilding and Co-chair of IUCN CEM Rewilding Thematic Group. Writer and editor for ECOS magazine. Tweeter and blogger. Thinker and critic. Outdoors type. Lover of real ales and proper pubs. Tinkerer with old British motorcycles.
Bob is a moorlands activist and campaigner based in Sheffield. A retired counsellor and psychotherapist, Bob has spent his life outdoors, fell running and rock climbing. Having campaigned for the Right to Roam (CROW Act), Bob has written numerous blogs and a novel exposing the reality of countryside crime, Snared (2020), which drew co-ordinated online abuse, malicious allegations, criminal damage and harassment. You're most likely to find Bob on a Peak or Pennine moor climbing or running, rain or shine, wind or snow.
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