Project write up: Mapping Value: Peatlands as Case Study (2024)

Bethany Copsey

The project aims to understand and express the value of the natural world beyond its monetary and instrumental worth. A crucial and often overlooked step toward ensuring a viable planet is the need to fundamentally rebuild the human relationship with the natural world. This involves thinking beyond current approaches to valuing landscapes, that often focus solely on their use as resources or in terms of “nature-based solutions,” “carbon storage potential” and others that focus on the human benefits.

The project explores the notion of value and how different value systems can be uncovered and conveyed through mapping. To achieve this, four workshops will be held across the UK, inviting participants to approach these questions from different angles. The outputs from these workshops will be gathered in a deep map and a comic.

Peatlands are used as a case study due to their unique position at the intersection of climate, ecology and culture. Their frequent perception as wastelands or undesirable spaces presents a particular challenge in terms of value recognition and uncovering. The project will end with a report sharing our learnings to be applied to peatlands and other environments.