In spring 2026, we collaborated with a group of first year BA Illustration students at NUA, who took on the task of creating work inspired by community-led urban wilding.

The students took inspiration from our accessible urban nature reserve, Sweet Briar Marshes, as well as the incredible work being done by the Green Hearts community group in Mile Cross, who are transforming empty and run-down spaces in the area into wildlife havens.

After enjoying a guided walk through Mile Cross, and undertaking their own research into urban wildlife, the students worked in small groups to create art that aims to inspire people to connect with and take action for wildlife in Norwich. This culminated in a celebration showcase of their work in May, with the projects on show ranging from animated games and flags to murals and blind boxes.

One theme that proved particularly popular among the artists was the connection between nature, childhood and play.

"It was all about connecting people to nature through play as a cross-cultural and shared language," one artist, Nico, said of their project. "We all found our own connections to play by reaching back to childhood memories of nature."

One student created an animated game, revealing that the project "was really a test for me".

"I haven't done a lot of animation before," they said, explaining that they learned "how to animate a walk cycle, how to animate a hedgehog hammering and watering plants".

"It's just been really fun to see my work in a game," they explained. "I'm someone who's such a visual learner and I feel like children would enjoy playing this game and be able to learn as they play. That's the main reason that I wanted to make something like this.

"I'd love to develop this game so that there is a variety of plants that you can plant in the garden, different buildings, and different characters that you could play as. Maybe instead of playing as a hedgehog, you could play as a frog. In my game, you've actually got a pond. I'd like to develop the pond so that you can have a frog pop up and talk about why ponds are great for frogs, but also hedgehogs."

Not only have they developed their animation skills through this project, they’ve also "learned so much" about how to make their own space a haven for wildlife.

"I really hope that whoever plays this game can have fun but also learn things, educate themselves," they said. "(This project has) made me think about what I can do this summer - to plant more things in the garden, to put food out for hedgehogs, to make a shelter for hedgehogs. I hope that by people playing this game, it will inspire other people to do the same thing."

Another group created a calendar featuring "conceptual drawings of all the different spaces we could green" around Norwich.

"We wanted to think about how we could make Norwich more green or have more natural spaces in it," Milly explained. "We also have some spotting cards with local flora and fauna that show how you can spot them, a little bit about them, and why they're important."

A different project saw artists putting together a series of posters featuring less popular wildlife, in an effort to change perceptions.

"Some of the animals that are vilified that live in urban areas, people aren't always aware that they're there, or when they see them they don't like them, so we tried to make them a little bit more endearing and provide information about them," one of the group said.

"I always think that if people in an urban environment do really tiny things, but lots of them, like lots of different people do a small thing, it'll make a big change," another student added. "Even if it's just putting a few wildflowers on the balcony, or bird feeding, or something to help nature. It's also the feel-good factor that they get back from it that would encourage people to do more, I think. That would be lovely."

"The whole concept behind this one was: what if there was no nature at all?" Jake said of their project. "A city without nature was presented as what I think it is - post-apocalyptic, dead, something that's not worth living in basically.

"I grew up in the countryside and I was always surrounded by nature. Moving to university was kind of a big shock because I thought, 'Oh God, where are all the trees, the big fields and everything like that?' The main thing was some nature breaking through - weeds and moss, things like that, always find a way."

Throughout the exhibition, a love for nature was interwoven with a sense of excitement about creating something different to catch people's attention.

"It's just fun to put art and urban greening together," one student, who created a blind box, said. "It's more engaging for people, instead of just having a boring poster saying 'you need to do this to help the city', It's boring, right? We want to put something fun together, so people find it more enjoyable."

"When we found out that it was for (Norfolk Wildlife Trust), I was really happy because that's like my forte, just nature and stuff, so I thought it was quite easy to come up with ideas for it," artist Amelia said. "(Nature themed art) is currently the thing I do the most, but it's kind of given me more ideas for the future as well."

Norfolk Wildlife Trust Senior Youth Engagement Officer, Alex Day, explained that the project aimed to explore how the visual arts can "help us feel more deeply, encounter new ideas and inspire action for conservation".

"The diversity of wildlife in urban areas is ripe for a project like this – a rich pool of visual references to inspire a body of illustrations," he said. "We invited students to enact research by taking a walk outdoors together, listening to bird song, taking note of unfurling spring activity, and absorbing the joy and surprise of life around them."

With the students briefed to reimagine a city that makes space for wildlife, Alex revealed that he was delighted to see such a range of work that "celebrates the diversity of our wildlife".

"Each project showed great evidence of research into our urban ecologies and wildlife, and pushed the boat out with inventing ways we might inspire communities to take their own actions – in ways that are really site-specific to Norwich," he said.

"Thank you to all the students for embracing our topic and taking it in different directions."