Observing one of our citizen panels in York

The research team has run three citizen panels in our focal cities of York, Milton Keynes, and Cardiff. The aim of the panels was to bring local citizens together to better understand how trees matter to them by gathering stories they have of how they engage with and think about the treescapes across their cities at present.

I was fortunate enough to observe the citizen panel in York in late January. Others in the team had put in a lot of effort to organise the evening which lasted from 5.30pm until 9pm, with a buffet dinner also provided for participants. I sat at one of the tables for the evening to listen to people’s perspectives and it was fascinating. Participants talked about trees they knew or had planted and about trees in the street, in parks, and woodlands in the city. One person talked about planting trees to mark the birth of his children and there was then some discussion of how trees and woods can be magical and exciting when experienced with, and through the eyes of, children. There was general agreement at my table that the city would be ‘barren and drab’ without trees, not only because of how they impact on the aesthetics of the city but also because of the life that the trees support; with birds mentioned on several occasions, and the fruits that trees can provide. The participants highlighted that trees have something to offer in every season of the year and there was a lot of enjoyment expressed for tree blossom.

There was acknowledgement that people don’t always notice trees as much as they might, but they said they would notice if they were not there anymore. Some negative aspects were raised as well such as some trees casting too much shade near houses and gardens, dropping fruits, leaves, and becoming large and difficult to deal with as they grow. This seemed to be an issue of context such as proximity, as trees in streets or avenues and parks were valued for their aesthetics and providing shade on hot days.

At the end of our evening one participant said ‘I can’t believe we talked about trees for over three hours’. There was no shortage of comments from participants, and they highlighted that perceptions and engagement with trees could also change throughout life from focusing on the magical side of woods when you have children, to considering trees more practically when they are in your own garden, to appreciating the provision of important benefits they provide.