The wildlife in Bristol's neighbourhoods...

Off to a meeting about progressing the Wild City initiative in the local area tonight, with fellow members of the Northern Slopes Initiative. I'm hoping that the Open University's new iSpot website will be relevant and useful in some way. The site enables both casual observers of wildlife and green, natural spaces and experienced naturalists alike to create and share photos and other information and expertise with like-minded people.

The iSpot site is open for use by anyone that wants to but is also well complemented by a great new Open University course called Neighbourhood Nature (S159). This course aims to allow anyone with an interest in nature to develop their scientific and observational skills, whether they live in a city like Bristol or in a rural area. The course involves: introducing habitat types and the various animals/plants; fieldwork to be carried out in a local public open space; entering data colleced onto the iSpot site. No previous scientific experience is needed for doing this course.

[This of course also a shameless plug for my employer, the Open University, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Its perhaps the biggest achievement of Harold Wilson's Govt. I dont teach the Neighbourhood Nature course - I'm involved in Environmental Decision Making: A Systems Approach and Environment: journeys through a changing world, which are also superb courses to take...if you are interested.].