Celebrating Tolworth's wildlife with new wayfinding by Himali Patil

When you next make your way over Tolworth Roundabout, keep an eye out for some colourful new additions to the wooden posts...

This week, The Community Brain and 121.Collective began installing new wayfinding by Himali Patil, which aims to highlight the area's local identity through its biodiversity.

Himali, a Kingston University graduate from the Sustainable Design MA and part of The Community Brain team, has been working on a series of stunning enamel hand-painted birds, inspired from an Indian tribal artform called 'Gond art'. The birds will help lead from Tolworth Broadway towards the historical and ancient Nature reserve in the south of Kingston, Tolworth Court Farm Fields.

The Know your neighbourhood initiative highlights the rich biodiversity of the space by enhancing its local identity through its 29 characteristic birds. The intention is to engage the community with its existing yet underused green spaces and encourage them to be ecologically literate about their own neighbourhoods. To create sustainable living spaces not just for themselves but also the biodiversity that calls this space home.

London was announced as the first National Park City in July 2019 in the world, given that 33% of its land is green cover; it is only fitting that we as the inhabitants are educated about this land and the diverse creatures we share it with.

The new wayfinding signage is also designed to encourage walking and cycling to explore the area, educate on local wildlife and improve signposting to places of interest.

Why not take a picture next time you go exploring and share it with us via social media? Find us @communitybrain

The birds being installed: