On 16 August, the Nature Connection Storytelling Pod featured at the Winter in the Valley festival in Lenah Valley, Hobart. The Hub’s researchers created a space where people could pause, reflect and share their personal stories of nature.
Why storytelling matters
The Storytelling Pod is part of the Hub’s Nature Connection Project (Impact Priority 1). This research explores how connecting Australians with nature can improve mental health, strengthen communities and inspire action for the environment. Storytelling is central to this work. By listening to and gathering local stories, researchers are building a deeper understanding of the many ways people value and experience nature.
At Winter in the Valley, stories ranged from favourite childhood bush memories to everyday encounters with local plants and wildlife. These reflections highlight how nature is woven into people’s identities and wellbeing, and why protecting and enhancing access to nature matters for communities.
Creating real-world impact
Capturing these lived experiences is more than anecdotal. The evidence gathered through the Pod contributes to the project’s broader goals:
- Wellbeing and mental health: showing how time in nature improves individual and community resilience
- Urban greening and planning: providing councils and governments with evidence to design greener, healthier places
- Community action: inspiring practical steps people can take to protect and connect with the natural world
The Pod’s presence at community events demonstrates how research can be embedded in everyday life. Rather than being confined to academic spaces, this applied science becomes part of conversations that matter to people in their own communities.
Strengthening connections
Through initiatives like the Storytelling Pod, the Hub is building a pathway to impact that places people at the centre of sustainability. When individuals share their experiences of nature, they strengthen their connection to place and contribute to a collective understanding that can guide planning, policy and community action.
The Pod will continue to travel to community events across Tasmania, helping capture stories that reveal the power of nature to connect, heal and inspire.
