Planning outdoor activities - 'Kayaking and Creativity: Paddling, Poems and Pictures'

By Kayla Parker, Lecturer in Media Arts, University of Plymouth 

Kayla reflects on developing a creative outdoor event – including what to do when things don't go to plan!

Key Information

University of Plymouth

Could you tell us about your event, and the objectives involved? 

Our project is focused on the River Plym and responds to the environment of the river. We wanted participants in our Being Human event to learn something new about the estuary, the ecosystem and its histories, and about the impacts of climate change to this at-risk environment. We wanted our event to combine two key aspects of our research – kayaking and responding through creative media to experiences on the water. As such, our event was an introduction to the art of kayaking with two parts: a workshop with indoor and outdoor activities at the Mount Batten Watersports and Activities Centre, and a film screening 3 days later in a 360˚ dome cinema at the Market Hall, Devonport. 

Our research outputs are short film poems, in addition to our new live-action film, Flow + Cadence, for which we explored the river and its estuary, filming our journey around this complex tidal waterway from kayaks using a 360˚ camera and sound recording. We wanted participants to gain insights into our research and working practices, through a shared adventure on the water in a kayak and capturing their experience of the day in images and poetry. 

An image of a kayak on the water from the perspective of the person on the boat.
Image Credit: Stuart Moore

For our workshop, we introduced ourselves and our research, and explained the technical and creative processes involved in the film-making aspect of project – essentially, ‘why and how we did it’. Unfortunately due to the weather the planned kayaking could not take place, but we had back-up plans for a guided tour around the Mount Batten peninsula so we could quickly adapt our activity on the day! 

After the outdoor activity, it was time for the participants to ‘get creative’ and express their artistic side to capture the essence of their experience of the environment in a circular drawing and write a short poem, a haiku, which we recorded them reciting. 

After the workshop, Stuart scanned the circular drawings and created a short digital film that would be mapped around into the 360˚ dome cinema for the second part of our public engagement activity, which took place on the other side of Plymouth. The screening event was sold out and we had an audience of over 70 people of all ages. After a brief introduction to our research, we talked about the new 360˚ film, Flow + Cadence, two of our short film poems and the compilation of the workshop participants’ ‘film poems’.

How did you go about choosing your venue? 

We wanted to offer a workshop that provided the opportunity for an introductory 2-hour kayaking session with experienced instructors on the same waterway where we had filmed ‘all round views’ of this tidal waterway from our kayaks. We’re familiar with the Mount Batten Watersports and Activities Centre to the east of Plymouth as it is close to a public slipway which we use to launch our kayaks for journeys in Plymouth Sound – and the manager and his staff responded positively when we contacted them with our unusual request for a workshop to combine kayaking with being creative! 

Part two, the film screening, took place a few days later in the 360˚ immersive dome on the western side of the city run by Real Ideas, a social enterprise company we’d worked with earlier that year on a research project about children’s understanding of the sea.

Did you face any challenges in running the event, and if so, how did you deal with them? 

Our main challenge was the weather… as Being Human Festival takes place in November, and we wanted to provide an outdoor kayaking activity for our participants! 

The first part of the workshop took place on the first floor of the Centre in a room with a grand view across the estuary – we watched as the wind speed started to build and the waves got bigger and splashier as the storm approached. 

In the end, even Plan B – a gentle kayak in the usually calm water of nearby Hooe Lake – was too dangerous, so we had to adopt Plan C. The kayaking instructors kitted everyone out with waterproof jackets and salopettes and we all headed off into the squall for a guided tour around the Mount Batten peninsula. As well as learning about the histories of this place, which has been used as a port for trade with Europe since the Bronze Age, we had a rare opportunity to explore the Artillery Tower, a historic landmark feature that is closed to the public. 

I think it’s important to plan alternative versions of public engagement events, especially those that are weather-dependent. Although our workshop participants weren’t able to have their kayaking experience, the outdoor activity we provided was a close ‘second best’; the Centre staff were brilliant and the café provided extra cakes for everyone once we were safely back inside.

An image of someone taking a photo on an outdoors tour
A participant on the Mount Batten tour

Are there any outputs or legacies from the event? 

The première of our film was brilliant and the response from the audience was very positive. It was the first time we’d seen the film ‘properly’ in the dome, so it was great to see that people enjoyed it – and were interested enough to want to watch the film a second time! 

The following discussion with the audience was really helpful – people were so interested and wanted to know about the background to the film, about our research project and the River Plym and estuary. One participant said it made them want to make 360˚ films and others wanted to try their hand at kayaking! We had provided some contextual information, but it was clear that we needed to have an exhibition with maps and other material, along with a website to share the research narrative. This is something that we will adopt. We also plan to create a documentary film which includes reflective narration.

An audience watch a film of a person kayaking
The 360˚ film screening

Do you have any top tips or advice for future event organisers? 

  • Devise a workable and attractive Plan B and Plan C in case of inclement (B) and atrocious (C) weather; make this clear on the booking page. 
  • Ask people whether they have any accessibility requirements or health issues during the booking process, then liaise with the participants and venue about ways to manage and support the person to facilitate their safe participation in the event.
  • Produce and submit robust risk assessments ahead of the event. It’s vital to liaise closely with venues to identify potential hazards and agree the protocols for risk management, so all activities are safe and accessible. Participants’ accessibility requirements were critical considerations for our kayaking workshop and we were able to accommodate these following discussion with the Centre manager. I followed my university’s guidance to prepare a risk assessment for the workshop day and the 360˚ film screening and submitted these, along with the venues’ own risk assessments for the relevant activities, to my University’s Research Office before the event. 
  • Keep on top of event management, legal issues and permissions. This included photography and filming permissions, which Being Human provided guidance on. We needed a licence to obtain the workshop participants’ permission to use the drawings and the haiku poems they made, as they are original artistic and literary works, the intellectual property of the person who created them and are protected by copyright. The licence gives us permission to use participants’ creative works for the 360˚ screening and other forms of dissemination. 
  • Look into the possibility of additional funds from your university – in our case we were able to source some funds for hot drinks and snacks for participants, which was particularly welcome after an outdoor activity in November! 
  • Produce accessible copy that is clear and unambiguous, and provide answers to questions on the event page and booking form.
Flow + Cadence captures the film-makers’ kayaking expedition in late summer 2023 as they film their exploration of the lower tidal reaches of the River Plym and its estuary, which flows to the east of the port city of Plymouth on Britain’s southwest coast.
Flow + Cadence
Taster for the 13-minute 360˚ film Flow + Cadence by Kayla Parker and Stuart Moore

Take part

This event was supported with a Small Award for the 2023 festival. If you would like to be part of the festival, please visit our ‘Get involved’ page.

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