This National Poetry Day, Urban ReLeaf is celebrating its collaboration with Hot Poets Ignite, a nationwide programme bringing together poetry, science and climate education to inspire young people to engage with the environmental challenges shaping their futures.
Urban ReLeaf’s collaborative poem, Citizen Science and the Nature Detectives, features in Wonder Thunder Blunder: Planet Power Poems, a climate-focused poetry collection created as part of the Hot Poets Ignite schools programme. The project brings poets together with scientists, environmental organisations and changemakers to explore climate solutions through creativity, storytelling and poetry.
Created with support from renowned children’s author, poet and broadcaster Michael Rosen, alongside leading experts including the National Association for Environmental Education, Hot Poets Ignite aims to help children understand climate change in a hopeful and accessible way. Rather than focusing on fear or guilt, the programme encourages young people to connect with nature, become curious about their surroundings and recognise the positive actions they can take.
Since the programme began, Hot Poets Ignite has grown significantly. It is now working across 59 schools, with more than 10,000 school participations delivered or planned through workshops, assemblies and longer-term programmes. Its films have received more than 260,000 views, while social media activity has reached over 426,000 people. Nine schools, involving 787 children, have also taken part in Michael Rosen sharing sessions, alongside 183 pieces of press coverage to date.
At the heart of Urban ReLeaf’s contribution is the connection between citizen science, poetry and climate action. Citizen Science and the Nature Detectives, developed in collaboration with the University of Dundee and Hot Poets, introduces children to citizen science through the familiar setting of the school playground. The poem encourages young people to notice and record changes in temperature and biodiversity, and consider how this data can support climate adaptation in their schools and communities.
Professor Mel Woods, University of Dundee, said:
“Poetry and citizen science might seem like an unlikely pairing, but together they can inspire curiosity and deepen people’s connection with nature. Through this collaboration with Hot Poets, Urban ReLeaf is showing how creativity and participatory design can connect young people with the natural world, helping them imagine and shape greener urban futures.”
As Hot Poets co-founder Liv Torc explains:
“What I love about this collaboration is that citizen science gives children permission to become curious about climate and biodiversity impacts in their environment – and also to take action.
Working with Urban ReLeaf, we were able to turn really exciting research into a poem that asks young people to notice and record changes in temperature and biodiversity, then use that data to support adaptation in their schools and communities.
That’s exactly what Hot Poets Ignite is about: bringing poets and scientists together to give children agency over fear and bring climate solutions to life.”
The collaboration is now reaching an even wider audience as part of National Poetry Day, with 1.2 million children aged 3–18 expected to take part in activities across the UK. Hot Poets will also host a live schools assembly webinar for up to 1,000 schools, with Michael Rosen, Chris and Liv taking part in the national programme.
The Urban ReLeaf poem, film and accompanying teaching resources are part of this National Poetry Day offer, taking the collaboration from research and creative development into classrooms across the UK.