An important integral part of the OHOF project is the proposed Art project linked to environmental education. We are proposing a pilot project in the community that engages children, young people and the wider community in environmental education by supporting them to learn about and make a connection to the trees in the local area that surrounds them. It will bring together children and their families to experience the therapeutic benefits and physical and mental wellbeing that can be gained from taking part in creative activity linked to nature and the outdoor environment, helping participants feel happier, more confident and healthier.

Specifically, the activity will use art as a way to develop understanding about the environment and sustainable living, also raising aspirations amongst children by incorporating a technological element of tree mapping in the area. The tree mapping will aid the understanding of the biological assets within the city boundary and assist multiple bodies to assimilate their value in terms of environmental benefits as well as the actual timber value.

Following significant consultation with the Schools Improvements Team at the Orchard we will work in collaboration with renowned organisation Art Link, to deliver a pilot project in local schools. The pilot will be used to inform a city-wide project using lessons learned in Phase one. Phase two will roll out the project to 72 schools and 49 (Private, Voluntary and Independent Nursery Settings) PVIs plus dozens of other nurseries as well as in the future incorporating additional schools in the East Riding.

The pilot will initially include 2 nurseries and 2 primary schools in Hull, with a view to looking also at how we can include child-minders in the second phase of the project.

There are 3 strands to the project

• Art & Environment
• Tree Mapping
• Tree planting – where possible within budget constraints (not expected within the pilot scheme – Phase I)

Art & Environment

As part of the Phase 1, Artlink Hull will manage artist’s mini-residencies in 4 educational organisations in Hull comprising intensive environmental and participatory projects in each of the schools.

Artlink Hull will recruit and manage a freelance visual artist with participatory experience to deliver on the project. Artists will deliver three full school days of activity for up to 30 children in each school. On the fourth day there will be a final installation and celebration event with pupils, their parents and partners. All 4 projects will then be combined into an exhibition to display during the National Play Day 2019 in the Queen’s Gardens in Hull.

We will open discussions with Absolutely Cultured on creating a Master Training plan using their volunteers and request they help share the workload with Art Link facilitating the workshops, so we get more bodies involved to cover the schools in and around the city for the broader project.

Tree Mapping

The PATT Foundation will liaise with teachers at the schools on the technology component of the project and coordinate the delivery of artwork with schools and Curio.

The intention is for students to be engaged in a physical outdoor activity of tree mapping the biological assets within the city using an specially develop App available from Curio - https://www.curio.xyz/world

Curio incorporates iTrees, which will also be used to assist in assessing the tree assets within the city boundaries. The last asset register was conducted by the Hull City Council in 2005 and only counted the trees on the highways. 30,000 trees were identified with a value of £17M. The project will assist the local council in understanding the assets they have and also their environmental and timber value, which is of significant importance.

It also allows the children to cover a wide range of learning aspects from communication, language, technology via the use of the Curio app and allow also an educational element as new findings can be posted online to a wider audience and used as a learning tool for students

The Art & Education element will also be featured on the Curio website an example of a previous project is available here https://www.curio.xyz/project-pages/treetop-meadow

The use of Curio will facilitate the following

• Create a local tree and plant inventory
• Coordinate the group's efforts
• Connect the local communities easily online via the app
• Enjoy a better public profile of the project
• Provide educational resources to the local community
• Create a species library