The Power of Art, Nature, and Community: Poplar's Nextdoor Nature Project

At the heart of Poplar's Nextdoor Nature Project lies a story of community organising, creativity, and the transformative power of connecting with nature. Through my journey of supporting the Nextdoor Nature project in Poplar, discover how art, environmental stewardship, and community collaboration are shaping a brighter future for young people in London. By the end of this blog find inspiration to explore new ways to engage with your local community and harness the power of creativity and nature to create positive change.

The Importance of Partnership

A wonderful collaboration has blossomed! Uniting Splash Arts CIC and me, Lois Donegal, from London Wildlife Trust, in a weekly Arts and Nature Children's after-school club. This venture, born out of our shared commitment to community engagement and environmental stewardship, has become a journey of connection and shared responsibility for the local environment.

I was lucky enough to be introduced to David Bratby, an artist and local facilitator who runs art workshops with children and elderly in the local area, creating large murals. Working at SPLASH Arts, a small charity that strives to ensure a better standard of living for the residents of Blackwall in East London. Introduced by Sister Christine, the founder of Neighbours in Poplar a strong pillar of the community with her long-standing dedication to community engagement, providing essential services like a food bank, a local planter scheme, trips away, and community fun days throughout the year to the community.

For the Nextdoor Nature programme to be a success, it was always my hope to meet community elders who hold strong knowledge and experience of the local communities for the young people to look up to as an example of what can be achieved.

With Sister Christine's support, David and I combined our skills of environmentalism, art and community organising to connect with the local community. We were lucky enough to have Muna on the Splash Arts team who has strong connections within the local community and the local schools.

I started by supporting SPLASH and Neighbours in Poplar at their annual community summer series held on the local estates and parks. The days were a great success, and the community was keen to see the coming together of art and nature continue.

An art mural created on glass panels of a train station walking tunnel. — A mural created in a local DLR station tunnel by the local community with the support of SPLASH ARTS CIC.

The power of feedback and co-design

The turning point of real success was the interest and passion of the parents and guardians, keen to hold onto what is a rare opportunity in London for the young people in the area to engage in skills building activities free of charge. By building in a strong feedback loop and co-designing the after school club programme we have overcome barrier to engagement that many of the young people would usually face.

The after school club is now evolved into a budding community hub with a strong collective focus on securing funding to bring the young peoples exciting plans to life. This transformation signifies our collective endeavour to offer a space for local young people to build hope in their abilities to create change, focusing on positive action, education, and exploration of nearby green spaces, thereby enhancing community confidence and accessibility to nature.

The parents and guardians have now formed a committee to drive the hub space forward, expressing how much this space is needed within the local area.

The community struggles with coming together, community deprivation means the youth don’t have many opportunities. We didn’t have enough activities for the young people in our community, but this has given them an opportunity to have fun and learn – it is important for the young people to learn about how to live a healthy lifestyle and that they can make a difference.

Fatima
Parent and Hub Committee Member

Members of the local community in Tower Hamlets painting a mural.

Meaningful exchange

The experience for me personally working on this partnership has been incredibly rewarding, to have formed connections with the young people and their loved ones. My time working in Poplar has highlighted outstanding initiatives such as planting projects, grassroots-led growing spaces, environmental and food justice spaces, and community support hubs. These serve as inspiring examples of community-led action that centre the community's needs.

Our partnership focuses on addressing the needs of the community members facing challenges in engaging with green initiatives and local green spaces, providing a confidence-building environment that adjusts to them. The success is based on the sessions based on the wishes of the community with flexible timings, materials and snacks being provided.

Our time together has served as a bridge, fostering mutual learning between the community and London Wildlife Trust. This project has spotlighted the importance of relationship building for a wildlife conservation charity, connecting with communities that have a rich history of valuing nature alongside a history of exclusion from engaging with green spaces such as our nature reserves. (Seeding Change Report)

A group of children experiencing growing in a planter.

As I continue this incredible journey with the Poplar Nextdoor Nature Project, I'm reminded daily of the transformative power of community organising and the profound impact it has on connecting people with nature, fostering a love for the environment, and creating lasting positive change within our communities.

Local action for nature

This new collaboration has been made possible through the Nextdoor Nature Programme, which involves empowering communities historically excluded from engaging with green spaces and or conservation, to take action for nature on their doorstep.

We launched the Poplar Nextdoor Nature project in 2023. The club's overarching goal was clear: to instill further knowledge about the environment, local wildlife, and nature-related skills in children while engaging wider members of the community in the process. Splash Arts CIC, dedicated to nurturing creative skills through nature-inspired artistic activities, aimed to create a bank of artwork for a community display at the local Poplar DLR station in collaboration with Docklands Light Railway (DLR).