Every Tree Tells a Story : the treescape and citizen wellbeing

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Dodd, Sarah and Wilson, Juliette and Zeinali, Shahrzad and Dick, Gillian and Currie, Etive and Johnson, Michael and Bonner, James (2025) Every Tree Tells a Story : the treescape and citizen wellbeing. Ecological Frontiers. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecofro.2025.10.015)

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Abstract

Every Tree Tells a Story (EVERY TREE) is a participatory citizen science project based in Glasgow that explores the deep and multifaceted connections between urban treescapes and citizen wellbeing. Using artist-designed postcards, the project invited individuals of all ages to share personal stories and reflections about trees in their lives. Over 200 participants contributed to a growing archive of narratives, drawings, and memories, revealing multiple dimensions of human-tree interactions. Through qualitative analysis of 178 postcards, four key modes of well-being were identified: emotional (e.g., serenity, joy, grief), relational (e.g., family ties, shared rituals), physical (e.g., play, movement), and spatial (e.g., sense of place, beauty). Findings highlight the restorative infrastructure provided by treescapes, which serve not only as ecological assets but as vital components of urban health and community identity. This paper outlines how these insights can inform policy, as they did Glasgow’s new Forestry and Woodlands Strategy (2024), by emphasising the social value of trees in promoting holistic urban wellbeing and encouraging inclusive, story-based engagement in environmental planning.

ORCID iDs

Dodd, Sarah ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3140-8194, Wilson, Juliette ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4932-0473, Zeinali, Shahrzad ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1193-8635, Dick, Gillian, Currie, Etive, Johnson, Michael and Bonner, James ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0971-5227;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)