We were thrilled to welcome over 60 partners to our most recent partnership event, held at Fabrica gallery in central Brighton on 3 June.

The ‘Our Biosphere – Shaping the Future’ event, brought together many of the communities, organisations and individuals that are a key part of our global UNESCO Biosphere.

The programme celebrated the redesignation of our area as a UNESCO Biosphere for the next decade and some of the core projects and programmes that have been in delivery over recent years, as well as sharing some of the plans for the future that we have been developing with partners.

The event highlighted the creative programme to put art at the heart of the Biosphere led by Liz Whitehead at Fabrica Gallery, in collaboration with the University of Brighton and University of Sussex and previously alongside the team at ONCA Gallery.  This programme has delivered some wonderful exhibitions and residencies over the past few years, supporting deeper connections between people and nature, as well as looking forward – thinking how culture can unlock access, with the need for reciprocity of care between people and place ever greater.  You can learn more about our recent artist residencies by following these links: Anna Dumitriu, Rachel Henson and Andres Saenz de Silicia, Multispecies Flourishing and Stream to Sea as well as ‘Home’ – the sculptural installation celebrating the Marine Conservation Zone.

Karen Poley, Director of KP Projects, also shared the achievements of The Living Coast Undersea (VR) Experience and how digital arts can deliver a huge breadth of access and engagement and foster environmentally positive behaviour change.  The Undersea VR Experience has been hugely successful in introducing a wider range of people to the importance of our Marine Conservation Zone Beachy Head West as well as supporting pro-environmental behavious change.  It was brilliant to hear the next steps for the project which includes creating new scenes for the VR experience as well as undertaking the research and development required to transition into a platform game.

It was a pleasure to be able to celebrate the achievements of the monumental Changing Chalk programme, shared by Sam Page, Changing Chalk Programme Manager for the National Trust. From development to legacy, this landscape scale project connecting nature, people and heritage on and around the South Downs National Park Authority has delivered huge amounts over the past 6+ years.  The Biosphere has been an incredibly proud to be a development and delivery partner on this programme, in particular delivering the Greening the Cities project.

Those at the event were also treated to the wonderful sounds of our Biosphere at dawn, thanks to University of Sussex Professor Alice Eldridge, who shared the fabulous Bird Bath as part of the event.  This recording of Bird Bath was originally curated for the 2024 Brighton Festival, capturing the sounds of the dawn chorus from some of the least accessible spaces within the Biosphere, and bringing them into the heart of our urban environments, inviting listeners to take a moment to pause, whilst being surrounded by the beautiful sounds of nature.

Individuals, communities and organisations across the Biosphere region are welcome as part of the Biosphere Partnership.  The Partnership comes together to support and deliver our local and global goals as part of the UNESCO Biosphere family.  For more information about joining our Biosphere Partnership please have a look at our web page or get in touch.