The Story
“‘Walking’ forest of 1,000 trees transforms Dutch city”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/04/walking-forest-of-1000-trees-transforms-dutch-city-aoe
by Anne Pinto-Rodrigues
The Guardian, Aug 4, 2022
The Pitch
I’m writing to you about a fascinating programme being held in the Netherlands (where I live). The ‘walking forest’ programme is a fun and catchy way to get ordinary citizens to engage with the climate change discussion, especially in a place like the Netherlands where the impact of climate change is not visible on a daily basis.
This past Saturday, on 7 May, over a thousand trees began their 3.5km journey through the centre of Leeuwarden city. The trees have been placed in mobile wooden crates and are being moved around by nearly 5,000 volunteers. There are free activities planned on each day / stop – from talks and discussions, to performances and film screenings – to get people thinking about the world they want to live in and the world they want to leave behind for future generations.
Leeuwarden is the capital of the province of Friesland in the Netherlands and the programme is titled ‘Bosk’ which means ‘forest’ in the local language, Frisian. The slogan of the programme is “If trees can walk, then you can change,” encouraging people to imagine and build a better world. After a hundred days on the road, (i.e. after Aug 14), the thousand trees will be planted in the city.
For this piece, I plan to interview the artist behind the programme – Bruno Doedens, volunteers, as well as local residents who have interacted with the exhibit. I also plan to visit the installation and take pictures to go with this article.
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