Explore: Urban Nature

We're challenging students across the UK to help everyone better understand the nature around us, in our towns and cities.

In partnership with

The Explore: Urban Nature Programme has ended, but your journey continues!

This page is being updated, but you can still access our resources to help students across the UK engage with urban nature.

In the meantime, we still need everyone's support to better understand the nature around us, in our towns and cities.

Nature in the UK is under threat, and we all have a part to play in the solution. We need your students to track and monitor the nature closest to home, become the local experts, help us observe and collect new data, and take action through science to make a real difference.

Ways to take part

National Partners

A museum near you will be leading activities in their local schools and at their sites. Find your closest museum below:

1. Natural History Museum, London
2. RSPB: Giving Nature a Home in Glasgow in partnership with Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
3. Great North Museum, Newcastle
4. Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales
5. Birmingham Museums Trust
6. Leeds Museums and Galleries

7. Wollaton Hall (Nottingham City Museums and Galleries)

8. Natural History Museum, Tring, Hertfordshire

9. National Museum Northern Ireland

10. Dorset Museum

11. Stoke-on-Trent Museums

12. Touchstones Rochdale

13. The Horniman Museum and Gardens

To be connected to your nearest museum email: ExploreUrbanNature@nhm.ac.uk

Not close to a museum? Don’t worry! There are many ways for your students to take part remotely, from CREST awards to an EcoSchools challenge and more.

Why urban nature matters

Over 83% of the UK population live in urban areas. Towns and cities are where most people experience nature - in parks, gardens and patches of wasteland, rather than in the countryside or national parks.

These urban green spaces are important: strongholds for a wide range of species, and places for people to connect with nature, improving our mental and physical health.

But these spaces can be neglected and may come under extra pressure as the urban population grows.

We want to help thousands of young people dig into what urban nature is, what it does, how it's changing, and what we can all do to support it.

Funding

We thank all funders to the Urban Nature Project campaign so far, including those who wish to remain anonymous, for their generous support. We recognise the following funders for their exceptional contributions to the campaign:

Find out about other strands of the Urban Nature Project