Every Tree Tells a Story

This is a collective organic project, founded in Glasgow in 2021, and conceived as an innovative response to the need to more deeply explore the connections between place, nature, community, (inclusive) society, and ecojustice.

ETTAS supports postcard-centred storytelling in partnership with schools, communities, artists, activists, walkers, students and policy makers. We invite citizens of all ages to simply share their stories of trees with us on specially designed postcards, through an informal vox pop approach, in the city’s squares, pubs, parks and trails. We have also run more structured pop-up workshop events, collaborating with primary schools, libraries, cultural centres, universities and other civic institutions. Some stories are shared in words, some in drawings, and some in both forms. ETTAS generates sustainability value for participants through voicing and sharing their connections with nature. ETTAS’ citizen social science data also captures the role, value, and impact of trees in citizens’ lives, facilitating democratic and grounded evidence-based policy mapping for urban forestry. Recent work highlights the multifaceted significance of tree-sources for urban citizen wellbeing.

The collective is led by Strathclyde University and Glasgow City Council, and other friends involved in ETTAS include Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow Caledonian University, University of Glasgow, and actor-activist Tam Dean Burn.