Green Space Dark Skies participation in Scotland

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Up to 20,000 people across the UK, including over 1000 people in Scotland, are being recruited to create largescale outdoor artworks in 20 of the UK’s most outstanding landscapes for Green Space Dark Skies, part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, from April to September 2022.

In Scotland, the events will take place in some of the country's most stunning locations including the Cairngorms National Park, with more locations to be announced soon. The events will bring together local communities to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience in each place which will be captured on film.

The gatherings will be created at dusk by local participants, referred to as Lumenators. They will be guided along pathways or waterways carrying smart lights that will enable digital choreography captured on film, while also being sensitive to the night-time environment. Each short film will incorporate the stories of the people and places featured and will be broadcast online after the event. Lumenators will also be encouraged to share their own connections to the landscape and the local areas as part of their involvement.

Developed by graduate engineers at Siemens specially for this project, the lighting technology uses existing wireless programmable lights and incorporates something that's never been done before: the ability for these lights to be animated through geo-positioning, where the position of each light can be known in relationship to the others.

To protect these amazing places, the exact locations will only be revealed to the people who have registered to take part. There will be no spectators, but anyone can take part for free as long as they sign up in advance.

As well as collaborating with cultural partners, including Visit Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022, event producer, Walk the Plank is working directly with the authorities who are responsible for the conservation of each location to create the events for Green Space Dark Skies. Each event will depend on confirmation of landowner permissions, approval of event plans and local stakeholder engagement and therefore event locations and dates may be subject to change.

Green Space Dark Skies will enable people from all walks of life to forge new connections with the countryside by supporting those who face cultural and physical barriers to experience our iconic landscapes. The series of gatherings will celebrate the countryside and people’s right to explore it as well as encouraging our responsibility to take care of it for future generations.

Green Space Dark Skies places environmental and social sustainability at the heart of its design and delivery; highlighting the value of the natural environment as a core purpose and delivering significant measurable positive impact. The project will work with a diverse group of partners to ensure that each event throughout the UK is implemented with the greatest care and precautions to protect the environment and communities of the locations. With a track record of experience in managing large-scale public events, Walk the Plank aims to bring people from all different backgrounds together to enrich lives through shared creative experiences.

Keren McKean, Walk the Plank’s Producer for Scotland says, “Scotland’s landscapes are rich, unique and diverse. The country’s dramatic backdrop is globally recognised and attracts over 10 million tourists per year, but often local people and people from particular communities can feel like the great outdoors isn’t for them. Green Space Dark Skies is about engaging with communities and encouraging people to feel connected to the land, to enjoy it and to protect it.”

The Green Space Dark Skies team is working with Darks Skies representatives in many locations to explore how the project might highlight the value of minimising light pollution in our towns, cities and rural landscapes to support wildlife to flourish.