About the project
Image Credit - Emma Stoner Photography
Tales of the dart
These storytelling workshops are part of a research project exploring the ways that participatory storytelling practices can support ecological values and behaviours. The following information tells you what is involved. Please read it carefully before you book your tickets.
What is the research project about?
This research project is interested in evaluating the ways in which story and storytelling can play a part in the ways people interact and engage with the natural world, in this case the River Dart. It aims to build on existing evidence-based recommendations for storytelling as an effective form of environmental communication and education. This would not only benefit environmental educators, but also storytellers so that they can link their environmentally based creative practice with some data that shows the impact of their work on helping to transform environmental perception.
How would I be involved?
We would like to invite you take part in a storytelling workshop called Tales of the Dart. This interactive and participatory workshop is intended for anyone over the age of 7 and families are more than welcome. You do not need to have any storytelling experience; the workshop offers a fun and playful way to explore the River Dart, its ecology, history and the traditional tales it has inspired. As part of the research, you will be asked whether your contributions in the workshop can be documented anonymously. For family groups, consent must be given by an adult on behalf of the child/children taking part. You will also be asked if you would be interested in taking part in an additional online survey or be willing to share your own story/experience of the Dart on our website. Taking part in the online survey or sharing your story on our website is completely voluntary.
What happens if I decide to take part?
A consent form will be shared with you either via email or on the day of the workshop to ask whether you would like to share your creative contributions as part of the research project. These will be anonymised and will be used only by the researcher to gain an understanding of your experience of the workshop and your reflections on how the stories shared in the workshop may have changed the way you think about the River Dart. You will also be asked if you would be interested in taking part in an additional online survey or be willing to share your own story of the Dart on the project’s website. Taking part in the online survey or sharing your story on our website is voluntary and you can decide only to take part in the storytelling workshop.
Do I have to take part?
By signing up for the storytelling workshop you are agreeing that your participatory responses can be used as part of the research. For family groups, consent needs to be given by a parent or care-giver for creative contributions of anyone under the age of 16. You can decide to stop taking part at any point in the research project and you do not have to give a reason for withdrawing. If you decide to withdraw after completing the survey please contact Dr Charlotte Lancaster. You can withdraw your consent at any time up until the point of anonymization (May 2024), at which point it will not be possible to separate your responses from the final results. After this, your responses will continue to be used for this research, under the conditions of anonymity described below.
What will happen to the information I contribute?
All data will be anonymised and treated as confidential. This means that your identity will be protected and the information will not be shared with unauthorised persons. Any references to your identity in the information will be removed before publication of the research. The information will be stored securely: the digital data will be stored in a password protected folder on the institutional hard-drive (protected by IT security measures). Any personal information will be stored separately from the research data.
For the purposes of this project, Bath Spa University is the Data Controller and has put in place a full Data Protection Policy and a Data Protection Officer who can be contacted on [email protected] for more information or to make a complaint. You can find full information about Bath Spa University’s Data Protection Policy online: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/about-us/governance/policies/data-protection-policy/
What will happen with the results of this study?
We would like anything we learn from this project to be available for others to use, so that the outcomes can support the development further research into storytelling for environmental education. We will share the results with both academic and creative organisations and make the outcomes and methods available to anyone who is interested in environmental story and storytelling practices. The findings will also be presented at conferences and the results will be published in peer reviewed journals. We will use quotes to illustrate our findings but all personal and identifying information will be removed to ensure confidentiality.
DR CHARLOTTE LANCASTER
PROJECT LEAD & RESEARCHER
Charlotte is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Bath Spa University. She specialises in modern and contemporary Anglophone literature, with a focus on environmentalism, affect theory and myth studies.
Please contact the researcher, Dr Charlotte Lancaster on [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns about any aspect of the research.
If you have concerns about your participation or wish to make a complaint please contact Bath Spa University’s Research Support Office at [email protected]
LISA SCHNEIDAU
DARTMOOR’S DAUGHTER
WALKING GUIDE Emma Cunis is a Dartmoor Guide leading walks, talks, tours and nature-connection experiences to encourage learning, exploration, enjoyment and care for this extraordinary living, working landscape. After a 20 years global business career, Emma returned home to Devon to recover her health, and subsequently qualified as a Hill & Moorland Leader (HML) with the requisite Outdoors First Aid qualification. She is a member of BMC, MTA, Visit Dartmoor and has been awarded the ‘Travellers Choice Award’ every year since 2021. www.dartmoorsdaughter.com “
KATHY ALEXANDER
Tour Guide and local historian
Kathy has been tour guiding since 2003, starting her career in her hometown of Plymouth. Kathy has worked for English Heritage for four years and also conducts weekly walking tours of Totnes. Kathy takes pride in guiding, history and heritage as a passion and priority; she wants everyone to love Devon and Cornwall as much she does and aims to bring a local perspective to visitors, while helping locals see their home through fresh eyes.