Feedback from the University of Leicester street tree tour

Sheffield Street Trees and Heritage

“In May 2018 STAG members supported a visit to some of the key campaign sites – and iconic street trees – for a group of undergraduate students from Leicester University. These BA Human Geography students were taking part in a field course, ‘Heritage and Place’ in Sheffield. As one of the field course leaders, I was very keen that students had chance to engage with important aspects of environmental heritage and activism, which the STAG campaign epitomises. Through spending some time reading around the issues and walking around the streets with local campaigners the students were able to reflect critically on all sides of the argument, to better understand the value and importance of the trees to campaigners, and to appreciate incentives for and strategies of activism. They found these encounters challenging, inspirational and thought provoking. As well as informing them about the complexities of this specific case, the visit offered a really important lesson for them in thinking about place, heritage, emotion and environmental values – something they will carry forward into their future studies. Many thanks to the STAG members involved.”

– Dr. Caroline Upton, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Leicester.