Share Your Stories of Urban Nature in Ülejõe, Raadi, and Kvissental!
Urban environments are under constant pressure, with familiar places for both humans and other species changing or disappearing. Local stories about urban nature offer an opportunity to map these places and become aware of other species and their needs. At the same time, these small stories strengthen the sense of place and the relationships between people and the rest of nature.
We invite you to share your stories related to Tartu's Ülejõe, Raadi, and Kvissental neighborhoods in Tartu. Through your stories, we hope to learn which places in the area are important to you and what non-human neighbors (animals, insects, plants, etc.) you encounter or live alongside. These stories can be personal observations, tales you have heard from others, old or new, long or short. We also encourage you to include photos, videos, or audio recordings with your stories.
It is also important that you describe the location associated with each story, even if the location is general (a street, a garden, a riverside meadow, etc.). This will allow us to later display the stories on a map.
We will be collecting stories of encounters with urban nature until October 2025, and we will also be organizing various public events this year. Later, we aim to make the collected stories accessible to others through exhibitions, walks, or a web application.
After the project ends, the collected stories will also be archived in the Estonian Folklore Archives.
You can share your stories through the following channels:
The Estonian Folklore Archives' collection module Kratt: https://kratt.folklore.ee/ctrl/et/Kysitluskavad/andmed/28
Email: coevolvers@ut.ee
NatureNexApp web application: https://tinyurl.com/4t6th956
We look forward to joyful encounters with urban nature!
Kalevi Kull, Riin Magnus, Timo Maran, Nelly Mäekivi, Lona Päll, and Tiit Remm
In collaboration with the Estonian Folklore Archives