Claim OwnershipDo London Differently by London National Park City
Subscribed: 0Played: 9
Subscribe
© 2025 Do London Differently by London National Park City
Description
Do London Differently is a podcast series hosted by London National Park City Ranger Emily Langston and produced by Michael Shilling.
Have have relaunched in 2025 with a new format - sharing how Londoners are making the city Greener, Healthier and Wilder.
36 Episodes
Reverse
Paula Harvey is building something rare in North London: a permanent outdoor learning and wellbeing space where every family can belong, including SEND families who are too often split apart by inaccessible provision. Through Urban Forest Tribe CIC, she is turning a blank canvas site in N11 into a thriving Forest School home, but she needs support now - funding, materials (especially timber), and volunteers. You can help by donating to the Tribe Roots for Resilience campaign and sharing it wi...
Recorded live at This is Nature+ at Camley Street Natural Park, this episode brings together London National Park City Ranger Becky Lyon and Imogen Malpas (founder of climate-conscious clubbing collective Club SOL) to explore how we can make contact with nature through everyday culture, sound, and the senses. In this episode What counts as “nature engagement”, and who gets to define itRaves, coffee, sculpture, and other “unexpected” routes into nature connectionTouch, sound, smell, and ...
Recorded live at Camley Street Nature Park, in collaboration with Open Area. Moja Collective founder Shukura Babirye sits down with Ijaz Kato for a warm, honest conversation about how an Instagram page celebrating diverse experiences in nature unexpectedly grew into a monthly walking community - and why slowing down, paying attention and sharing access matters. They explore how Moja Collective’s walks evolved from social hikes into mindfulness-led outdoor experiences, what it means to “lead” ...
What if your phone could help you care for the trees on your street, not just scroll past them In this live conversation – recorded in collaboration with Open Area at Camley Street Nature Park in October 2025 – artist Rachy McEwan and technologist, guerrilla gardener and nature rights campaigner Kalpana Arias explore how art, code and community action can work together to protect and restore urban nature. From felled sycamores behind a London flat to cyber gardens and Tamagotchi-style tree ...
For the first time London National Park City will be showcasing a garden visioned by Rangers and brought to life by celebrated landscape designer Yoni Carnice and contractors Cultivate London and Froglife. During the build week we joined contractors and volunteers who are helping bring together the Aster of The Senses Garden. We interviewed those involved and we'll be sharing some of these conversations during the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. This is the firth part of this ...
For the first time London National Park City will be showcasing a garden visioned by Rangers and brought to life by celebrated landscape designer Yoni Carnice and contractors Cultivate London and Froglife. During the build week we joined contractors and volunteers who are helping bring together the Aster of The Senses Garden. We interviewed those involved and we'll be sharing some of these conversations during the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. This is the forth part of this ...
For the first time London National Park City will be showcasing a garden visioned by Rangers and brought to life by celebrated landscape designer Yoni Carnice and contractors Cultivate London and Froglife. During the build week we joined contractors and volunteers who are helping bring together the Aster of The Senses Garden. We interviewed those involved and we'll be sharing some of these conversations during the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. This is the third part of this ...
For the first time London National Park City will be showcasing a garden visioned by Rangers and brought to life by celebrated landscape designer Yoni Carnice and contractors Cultivate London and Froglife. During the build week we joined contractors and volunteers who are helping bring together the Aster of The Senses Garden. We interviewed those involved and we'll be sharing some of these conversations during the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. In the second part of this mini...
For the first time London National Park City will be showcasing a garden visioned by Rangers and brought to life by celebrated landscape designer Yoni Carnice and contractors Cultivate London and Froglife. During the build week we joined contractors and volunteers who are helping bring together the Aster of The Senses Garden. We interviewed those involved and we'll be sharing some of these conversations during the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. This is the first part of this ...
We visited a new pocket park carved out from the Coulsdon South station car park, created to tempt the local cycling group (and everyone else) away from the tarmac and into a greener, friendlier meeting place. What started as “somewhere nicer to wait with a coffee” has grown into an outdoor classroom and community hub: rail-safety learning for Cubs, Scouts, nearby schools and adults with learning needs; a rest spot for commuters, cyclists and ramblers; and a platform for local volunteering. E...
Community voices shaping a new kind of park in East London At the launch of The Listening Project report, we spoke with volunteers and directors from East London Waterworks Park about what four years of paid listening taught them, and how co-design can turn a fenced concrete depot into a free, biodiverse park with natural swimming, learning spaces, and a genuine sense of welcome for everyone. In this episode you will hear Why ELWP put inclusivity at the heart of the project, and what they lea...
Recorded on-site at Cultivate Colindale with Heather Ring and Thomas Kendall of Wayward—in partnership with Energy Garden—transforming 4,000 m² beside Heybourne Park into a meanwhile destination for sustainability, creativity and community. Guests • Heather Ring & Thomas Kendall — Wayward: https://www.wayward.co.uk/ • Project page — Cultivate Colindale: https://wayward.co.uk/index.php/project/cultivate-colindale Partners & Place • Energy Garden: https://www.energygard...
Emma Griffin (co-founder of Footways London) sits down with the Lord Mayor of Westminster, Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg, to explore why walking is the best way to experience the city from side-road zebras and dropped kerbs to blue plaques, park corridors and the brand-new West End public toilets (yes, really). Recorded live at the London National Park City Visitor Centre during Open House Festival. Westminster Footways map & routes: footways.london/westminster In this episode Why Paul calls hi...
Recorded live at the London National Park City Visitor Centre (80 Mortimer Street), host Michael Shilling speaks with Oli Back, Head of Operations at Street Trees for Living (STfL). We dig into how community-led planting and long-term care can transform streets: from sponsorship and guardianship, to cooling overheated playgrounds, to tackling tree equity and choosing the right tree, right place — and right reason. We also cover timelines, funding realities, and simple ways you can get involve...
Underground Connections: London Fungi Festival (4–12 Oct 2025) Artist–educator Poppy Flint and Lex from Fat Fox Mushrooms join Do London Differently to reveal how art, sound and science come together for a week-long celebration of fungi across London — including (un)common threads, a free interactive exhibition at the London National Park City Visitor Centre, plus Shroom Sunday, workshops and a guided “Walk Under the Trees”. Programme & tickets Festival hub & full listings: London Fun...
What if walking was more than just a way to get from A to B? In this episode of Do London Differently, author Annabel Abbs (also writing as Annabel Streets) shares the powerful benefits of walking for health, wellbeing and inspiration. We talk about her books Windswept, 52 Ways to Walk and The Walking Cure, and explore why walking matters — from London’s hidden gardens and Wren’s churches to the science of sea air, forest terpenes and mountain hormones. 👣 Topics covered: Benefits of wal...
In this episode, host Emily Langston heads to Morden Hall Park in South London, one of the National Trust’s lesser-known gems, to explore how history, ecology, and art come together in a unique creative project. Our guest is textile artist Ranger Elly Platt, who has been running an inspiring week-long workshop with young people, helping them connect with the rare chalk stream habitat of the River Wandle through embroidery and reclaimed fabrics. Alongside her are Isabelle Bryan (Programming &a...
When Andrea Perry first looked at the neglected green patch near her home in Addiscombe, Croydon, it was a no-go zone nicknamed “Dog Poo Park” — littered with syringes, broken glass, and rubbish. Few dared to step inside. Fast forward a few years, and the same space is now Dartnell Park — alive with fruit trees, wildflowers, colourful benches, and even a wiggly path for children and dogs. It’s all thanks to Andrea and a group of neighbours who went on to create Croydon’s first official Green ...
Programme Manager Rochelle Shanthakumar talks to Dr. Bushra Schuitemaker about everything from chickens and kayaking in Norfolk to community-led science and Racial and Ethnic Equality and Diversity in Ecology What do chickens, kayaking in Norfolk, the right to roam, and community-led science have in common? They’re all part of the expansive, joyful and deeply rooted conversation we had with Dr. Bushra Schuitemaker on this episode of the Do London Differently podcast. Bushra is a zoologi...
What does it take to transform a city? Sometimes it starts with something small, a compost system, a shared idea, a community walk to reimagine our grey spaces as green. That’s what was heard loud and clear at the recent London Assembly Environment Committee, where two members of the London National Park City team were invited to speak about the power of community-led action. In a special session on the future of London’s parks and green spaces, Programme Manager Rochelle Shanthakumar and Exe...
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States