Bristol Distinguished Address Series x Festival of Nature
How to create a forest
Looking into the new western forest and how woodland creation is much more complex than large-scale tree planting.
Key Information:
- Date and time
- Wed 10 June 2026
18:00 - 21:00 - Location
- Hybrid: Online and Watershed, 1 Canons Road, Further info
- Contact
- Events Team events@uwe.ac.uk
- Cost
- Free
- Attendance
- Booking required
Description
Trees are transformational, and our region has a bold mission ahead: to create one of England’s new national forests. Can it be done, and what will the benefits be for communities, wildlife and businesses?
John Everitt (CEO, The National Forest) will open by sharing the nation’s ambitions for transforming landscapes. He will be followed by Jamie Audsley (Director, Western Forest) and Leah McNally (CEO, Avon Wildlife Trust) who will unveil plans for the region before handing over to Chiara Lodi (Research Manager, Black Southwest Network) to share early findings from Western Forest research exploring how we ensure forest creation is inclusive.
This event will be chaired by Darren Reynolds, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange at UWE Bristol, with a welcome from Savita Willmott, Director of the Festival of Nature.
This event is part of The Festival of Nature.
Programme
- 18:00: Arrival and registration at Watershed
- 18:30: Event starts at Watershed and livestream begins
- 19:30: Q&A
- 19:45: Event and livestream ends
- 19:45-21:00: Networking and drinks.
How to attend
You can attend this event in person or watch online via live-stream. Please register so we can send you all the relevant details.
Attending in person: Further information on how to find us will be emailed to you a few days before the event.
Attending online: The live-stream link will be emailed to you a few days before the event.
- Cost: Free
- Attendance: Booking required
Accessibility
UWE Bristol welcomes all abilities/disabilities, ages, ethnicities, and genders to our events. If you have any questions, concerns or additional requirements then please let us know by contacting events@uwe.ac.uk so that we can make your time at this event as comfortable as possible.
Venue information:
- Disabled parking: No
- Step-free access: Yes
- Accessible toilets: Yes
- Assisted Listening: Yes
- Guide/assistance dog-friendly: Yes
- Quiet spaces available: Yes
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