Sociology and Criminology at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Post

Welcome to our research. This treescape in Longford Park, Manchester, was created by the Tree of Hope Youth Research Group as part of the Voices of the Future – Treescapes project. Take a seat on the park bench we commissioned and enjoy the view of the trees we planted at the edge of the field. How do you feel? What do you notice? What thoughts cross your mind? You might like to read the plaque on the bench, the words the group composed for you: ‘The world is nothing without trees. The tree is we.’ What does this statement evoke in and for you? It is an urgent message from a team of global youth who have moved through and engaged with many treescapes across the world. Who have taken time to explore the diverse ways in which people and trees are mutually reliant and mutually sustaining. We present this treescape as a material legacy of our project – the intellectual, embodied, emotional, sensory work that we have done together in the pursuit of understanding and enacting more just, caring futures for people and trees. We offer it as an invitation and a gift. Supported and encouraged by our Voices of the Future colleagues and partners, including David Cuong Nguyen, Kate Pahl, City of Trees, Peter Kraftl, Samyia Ambreen, Dr Khawla Badwan, Clare Rishbeth, Peter Lawrence, Jennifer Rowntree, Richard Bridge, The Mersey Forest, and many others. Inspired and sustained by the many treescapes we have spent time in together across Manchester and the North West, including Alexandra Park, the Calder Valley, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Whitworth Park, Princes Park, Edale, and Seymour Grove Allotments. Enabled by Future of UK Treescapes, Sociology and Criminology at Manchester Metropolitan University, Research & Innovation at Manchester Met & Trafford Council.