Snake Park: Collaborative transformation of urban green space

Reclaiming “Snake Park” was a collaborative effort between local communities and researchers, in order to develop a participatory design proposal and carry out a physical transformation of a green space, next to the Coventry Canal. Despite being one of the few green areas in Foleshill, “Snake Park” is under-utilised by local inhabitants because of its neglected condition and lack of safety.

In this project, researchers made their technical expertise available for the diverse local community to design and materialise a transformation of the area and foster a collaborative culture of care for the urban environment. Storytelling also played a key role in the unfolding of the participatory process and created bonds among participants that will be reflected in the creation of a collective memory archive.

This project was led by Dr Sergio Ruiz Cayuela (Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University), Tulika Gadakari (Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities, Coventry) and Dr Leon Sealey-Huggins (Department of Sociology, Warwick).