Hear Water: Creative, technology-enhanced pedagogy for the arts and nature connectedness

AMANDA BAYLEY, BATH SPA UNIVERSITY, UK KATHY HINDE, INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTIST, BRISTOL, UK MEL MCCREE, BATH SPA UNIVERSITY, UK IAN THORNHILL, UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER, UK Introduction In children’s education, approaching sound and music collectively through nature provides an accessible and inclusive entry point, enabling participation regardless of musical training. Such practices encourage playful exploration and help to (re)sensitise children to their local environment and wider ecosystems (Rothenberg and Ulvaeus, 2009). Experiences of nature connectedness vary depending on whether children work individually or collaboratively, and on how many senses are engaged (Moreton et al., 2019). Collaborative sound-based activities support reflection on relationships between humans and more-than-human entities, fostering early ecological awareness and relational ways of learning (Kohn, 2013). Hear Water is an interdisciplinary project that piloted four training sessions in two primar