Nature Calling

Nature Calling is the first national programme of new art commissions delivered by the National Landscapes Association. Blaze worked with the Landscapes Association and partner organisations as an Engagement Producer on a project to gave young people in Lancashire the chance to work with professional artists and explore their local National Landscape through creativity, curiosity and connection.

Covering 46 AONB’s (areas of outstanding national beauty) across the UK - including the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire - the scheme focused on diverse natural environments that need protecting and deserve to be enjoyed by everyone,  asking important questions: who feels excluded from our landscapes, how we might acknowledge the climate crisis, and how people could experience these places in new, meaningful ways.

The programme commissioned writers and artists to work in six National Landscapes and create new work in collaboration with local communities, culminating in a national season of events between May and October 2025.

Blaze worked closely with the writers and artists commissioned to create new work inspired by the Forest of Bowland. We connected creative practitioners with young people in East Lancashire, supporting those young people to develop their own creative responses and build work shaped by the project’s themes.

Nature Calling was funded by Arts Council England (through the Lottery‑funded National Significant Project stream), Defra (as part of the Protected Landscapes Partnership), and National Landscapes in England. The Executive Creative Producers on the project were Activate Performing Arts.