Outdoor arts company Walk the Plank is recruiting hundreds of local people to participate in a mass gathering in Dorset called Green Space Dark Skies. The production will see people come together with artists and creatives to forge powerful collective connections to the local landscape.

The artworks will be created at dusk by participants from the local area, known as Lumenators. Guided along pathways or waterways and carrying smart lights, that are sensitive to the night-time environment; the beautiful digital choreography will be captured on film and available to watch online afterwards.

Each short film will incorporate the stories of the people and places featured. Lumenators will also be encouraged to share their own connections to the landscape and the local areas as part of their involvement. The artwork will imagine a new way of seeing the local landscape in Dorset and inspire people to care for the planet for future generations.

• When? The Dorset gathering is happening on Saturday 11 June
• Where? Taking place in the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the exact location won’t be revealed to the general public until after the event, to protect this amazing landscape
• How to sign-up? Become a Dorset Lumenator by registering here: https://greenspacedarkskies.uk/

20,000 people, from the Cairngorms to the Chilterns, Gower to North York Moors and Dartmoor to the Lagan Valley in Northern Ireland, are being recruited to create large-scale outdoor artworks in 20 of the UK’s most outstanding landscapes for Green Space Dark Skies, part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, from April to September 2022.

The first gathering will be created in the Peak District National Park on 23 April. Green Space Dark Skies is inspired by the 90th anniversary of the 1932 Kinder Scout Mass Trespass, a pivotal event in the movement to secure access to the countryside for ordinary people that influenced the creation of the UK’s network of National Parks.

Green Space Dark Skies will enable people from all walks of life to forge new connections with the countryside by supporting those who experience cultural and physical barriers to experiencing our National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty to access events. The series of gatherings will celebrate the countryside and people’s right to explore it as well as encouraging our responsibility to take care of it for future generations.

Outdoor art experts Walk the Plank are the lead creative organisation in the production of Green Space Dark Skies. John Wassell, Creative Producer said:

“Green Space Dark Skies is about class and landscape, race and landscape, disability and landscape. We want to build more countryside stewards for the future, and to inspire more people to see the connection between their use and enjoyment of the land and our care for the planet.”

Activate Performing Arts are working with the Green Space Dark Skies team as local producers. The Dorset-based arts organisation works around the South West and exists to uplift and connect people by bringing extraordinary events to unexpected places.

A not-for-profit, Activate’s aim is to break down barriers and reach the widest possible audiences, while celebrating Dorset’s natural landscape and sense of place – making it a perfect fit for the ambitious Green Space Dark Skies production in June.

John Watkins, Chief Executive of the National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty said:

“The UK’s 46 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are within half an hour’s journey time for the majority of people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Green Space Dark Skies will give people a truly once in a lifetime experience and the opportunity to develop their own relationship with the nationally valued landscapes on their doorstep.

The AONB family is thrilled to be part of Green Space Dark Skies, a project committed to opening up spaces for people while protecting nature. We hope that the Lumenators will continue to return to their AONBs, benefitting from the peace and rootedness that comes with a deep connection with place, and become the environmental guardians of the future.”

To protect these amazing places, the exact locations will only be revealed to the people who have registered to take part. There will be no spectators, but anyone can take part for free as long as they sign up in advance and everyone can watch the films of each event online.

Green Space Dark Skies places environmental and social sustainability at the heart of its design and delivery; highlighting the value of the natural environment as a core purpose and delivering significant measurable positive impact. Green Space Dark Skies will be a carbon net-positive project combining exemplar low-emissions production with climate investments.

To take part in Green Space Dark Skies register at greenspacedarkskies.uk/get-involved/