Forest 404
Forest 404 was a multi-institution arts and science collaboration.
Based around a novel podcast series, the initiative aimed to engage audiences with environmental issues and encouraged their participation in a large online study.
Our experimental approach was intertwined with the Forest 404 narrative and explored how people might respond to the diverse sounds of the natural world.
The podcast
Written by Timothy X Atack and produced by Rebecca Ripley, Forest 404 was named after the error message encountered when searching for a web page that no longer exists. The series was based around a nine-part ‘eco-thriller’, set in a not-too-distant future, where ecological trends have resulted in the complete eradication of natural environments.
Forest 404’s protagonist, Pan, was played by Pearl Mackie. The series followed Pan as she discovered ancient recordings of natural sounds. It implicitly explored how losing a connection to natural environments might impact wellbeing.
Each episode of the drama was accompanied by a fact-based talk and an immersive natural soundscape. This novel format created 27 podcast episodes that were released in April 2019. The series won accolades from Prix Europa, the UK Writers’ Guild, and the Audio and Radio Industry Awards.
Forest 404 experiment
In synergy with the format of Forest 404, our experiment used sound to examine people’s responses to the natural world. We focused on how diverse natural soundscapes might provide ‘restorative potential’, an indirect measure of nature’s ability to aid recovery from mental fatigue.
Our second focus was a simulation of people’s behaviour. We asked participants to imagine they were Pan, Forest 404’s lead character, and make decisions to ‘keep’ or ‘delete’ the sounds they heard. We interpreted these actions as an indicator of how much people ‘valued’ their soundscapes.
We were also interested in how memories might impact each of these measures. Would people react to all sounds the same, or would those who had spent more time in nature exhibit different outcomes?
Almost 7,600 people took part in the study between April and October 2019, making it the largest dataset ever collected on natural sounds and wellbeing.
We published our peer-reviewed research outcomes in the leading journal
Global Environmental Change
Forest 404: Using a BBC drama series to explore the impact of nature’s changing soundscapes on human wellbeing and behavior.
Access our findings in full and for free at:
doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2022.102497
A model for academic research
We worked with an amazing team to make Forest 404 happen. The BBC Natural History Unit and the University of Bristol were instrumental in helping to form the consortium, whilst Becky Ripley at BBC Radio 4 and Timothy X Atack brought the drama to life. We couldn’t have run such a complex experiment without the technical framework and support provided by The Open University.
Although every partner had a specific role, the project is a blueprint for collaborative, co-created, and transdisciplinary working: all team members were involved in every stage of the programme’s development.
Such an engaged design process helped to ensure the elegant integration of each of Forest 404’s interconnected strands, providing an offering which was much larger than the sum of its parts.