Great to make an appearance in Abridged magazine, with a poem inspired by litter on the banks of the River Don near Penistone. Well, there weren’t any Grecian urns to be found.
Julian Dobson
@juliandobson.bsky.social
Place, poetry, a dash of policy. Books on civic universities, urban nature, town centre futures and urban policy. Poems on anything. Imposter geographer. Also at juliandobson.net
Check out @juliandobson.bsky.social's recent Area paper on civic geographies of care, featured in last month's RGS-IBG Journals highlights ⬇️
RGS-IBG Higher Ed@rgs-ibghe.bsky.social · 2mo agoEvery month we spotlight papers from across the Society’s journals, capturing the latest in geographical research. Explore May’s highlights. 👇 Dobson: https://ow.ly/XAlo50Z5vVP Fitzmaurice: https://ow.ly/KYiX50Z5vQQ Mosso et al.: https://ow.ly/nPAE50Z5vQN Davies et al.: https://ow.ly/Ufku50Z5vQM
The early wildfire season continues up here in the English Peak District Doesn't bode well for what could be blisteringly hot summer www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Crews tackle two 'significant' Peak District wildfires in 24 hours
Fire officials says 800,000 sq m of moorland was affected and warned people to be responsible.
bbc.co.uk
Do you live or work in South Yorkshire? If so, what does the River Don mean to you? Sewage? Filth? Or recovery and the return of salmon and otters? Come and explore what it means to be an ecological citizen at one of our workshops next month: forms.office.com/e/3jS3hgAp3P
A little word of praise for independent poetry publishers. Thanks to @inksweatandtears.co.uk for taking this!
Ink Sweat & Tears@inksweatandtears.co.uk · 5mo agoJulian Dobson / @juliandobson.bsky.social on the trials of 'The small press publisher', an expressive, evocative poem that many a writer and publisher alike will understand. inksweatandtears.co.uk/julian-dobso... #InkSweatandTears #ThisPublishingLife
Lovely to be back in Stand with a couple of poems, including one about Sheffield’s own Shepherd Wheel. A little taster in the photo for you.
Julian Dobson takes to the allotment on Christmas Eve in our Christmas-winter anthology. 🎄 ❄️ @juliandobson.bsky.social www.blackboughpoetry.com/news
Brunnenmarkt, Vienna: the common good not as a benefit bestowed by planners but as emergent and fluid, generated through the everyday exchanges of some of the city’s most precarious residents.
Well, who’d have thought it? High streets do better in wealthier places. —— So we need to build wealth in the communities that don’t have it, in ways that lock the benefits into those communities. And that’s what the big-ticket investments consistently fail to do.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · last yr.As much as £5bn needed to revive UK’s struggling high streets, study finds
New Post: Can a university be civic if it fails to invest in local relationships? www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/07/07/c...
Universities risk losing focus, memory, credibility and relevance as they strip back their civic work at a time when they are being called on to better serve their communities. New research from @cresr-shu.bsky.social out now. Blogged at @hepi-news.bsky.social: www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/07/07/c...
Can a university be civic if it fails to invest in local relationships? - HEPI
The Government wants English universities to play a greater civic role in their localities. But new research shows universities are failing to invest in the people who perform this work, putting local...
hepi.ac.uk
In which my @cresr-shu.bsky.social colleague Jamie Redman and I get to grips with the question of environmental wellbeing: what environment, whose wellbeing, and what about those who cause harm? Free to read. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Environmental wellbeing: a concept and principles for research, policy and action
Environmental wellbeing is often referred to in academic literature but seldom defined. This article provides two contributions to knowledge: (1) developing an integrated concept of environmental w...
tandfonline.com
There’s nothing like turning up at the allotment at 6am just before the solstice…
Really pleased to be working with @ella-hubbard.bsky.social and @riverdonproject.bsky.social on this - a chance to understand the rich variety of relationships between people and the river than connects South Yorkshire.
Ella Hubbard@ella-hubbard.bsky.social · last yr.Exciting news! 👀 From September @juliandobson.bsky.social, @riverdonproject.bsky.social & I will be working together on the Ecological Citizen(s) Network+ funded project 'Watershed Moments'. Find out more and see the other amazing projects here: ecologicalcitizens.co.uk/ec-projects
A short poem about long Sunday mornings. Thanks to @benbanyard.bsky.social for taking this for Black Nore Review. blacknorereview.wordpress.com/2025/05/08/j...
Julian Dobson – “Sabbath”
Sabbath I’d observe a cherry tree through the arch whisking through seasons while Sunday sermons drifted over me in spent blossom. At the time I’d missed the point of boredom, which was only partly…
blacknorereview.wordpress.com
I've reviewed Robert Macfarlane's new book, Is A River Alive? for The Conversation 📚 It's a great read 🌳 It's an urgent call for new ways of relating to the natural world 😀 It’s timely inspiration for everyone who wants systems for mutual flourishing theconversation.com/robert-macfa...
Robert Macfarlane’s new book is a plea to feel the pulse of our rivers
Robert Macfarlane’s new book asks a simple question that poses a profound challenge to environmental policy and the drive for economic growth.
theconversation.com
Fascinating conversations and challenging discussions at the ‘Meeting of Rivers’ workshop in Sheffield today. Kudos to the person who picked the room.
Embracing the bank holiday spirit: Easedale Tarn, Stickle Tarn, Elterwater and Loughrigg Tarn.
It’s the sort of weekend (gloomy, ominous, unpromising) when thoughts turn to Lake District hillwalking. Here’s my take on the Kentmere round, just out in And Other Poems: andotherpoems.com/2025/04/16/a...
Plum and damson blossom against a cloudless sky. The allotment is waking up, and thirsty already.
An impressive range of responses to the River Don at the Faethm exhibition at Kelham Island, Sheffield. Industry, history, poetry, litter and the backdrop of an unfolding ecological crisis.
Perhaps my favourite starter pack: #poets with collections - finished, WiP - they want to share. Let me know if you'd like to be included. Publishers, reach out to these fine people. There's gold in here. Everyone else, please follow and repost #booksky #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #vss365
I started today’s “Putinization of America” article for the Atlantic before the Trump-Zelensky meeting was announced, but I have a bad track record when it comes to hoping I’m wrong. It could’ve been scripted by Putin, especially Vance’s attacks. Maybe it was. www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
The Putinization of America
Trump’s deference to the Russian dictator has become full-blown imitation.
theatlantic.com
Once he’s had his free banquet at Balmoral, Trump will show the same level of respect to us. The only difference is that our survival isn’t at stake, yet.
Timothy Snyder@timothysnyder.bsky.social · last yr.Russia does not want to end the war, and the Trump administration has shown no ability to induce Russia to end the war. And so, predictably, the Trump administration blames the victim, blames Ukraine.
It’s the middle of the night, it’s raining, and I’m walking across Sheffield. Here’s what it feels like. Thanks to Ink Sweat & Tears for finding a home for this today. inksweatandtears.co.uk/julian-dobso...
Julian Dobson | Ink Sweat and Tears
inksweatandtears.co.uk
This is what a free press should do. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Trump 2.0: an assault on science anywhere is an assault on science everywhere
US President Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to science and to international institutions. The global research community must take a stand against these attacks.
nature.com