Visitor Economy and Experience Research Group
The Dark Matters
The Dark Matters: Understanding the impact of public engagement in a protected International Dark-Sky Reserve in the United Kingdom
Light pollution has severe consequences for biodiversity and human health, thus conserving our night sky is critical.
About the Dark Matters project
This project aims to understand how international dark-sky places can be sustained through National Park public engagement programmes. The accelerated growth of light pollution has degraded the night-sky and is a slow catastrophe that harms human health, wildlife and ecological systems. 90% of citizens in the United States and Europe live under light-polluted skies, with only 1% of this light considered useful (Foott, 2022).
Although there has been a growing global movement to ‘protect the night’ from light pollution and the importance of dark-sky conservation has proliferated (International Dark-Sky Association, 2023), our knowledge about the effectiveness of these interventions is limited. There is a lack of social, environmental, and cultural understanding about the impact of light pollution and dark-sky conservation, with little attention paid to stakeholder perceptions of dark-sky reserves and the perceived barriers to access. Raising awareness is crucial in addressing light pollution, the loss of our dark-sky and its impact on our environment.
In the United Kingdom (UK), several internationally recognized Protected Dark-Sky Places exist where the night-sky is unobstructed by light pollution. The North York Moors National Park Authority (NYMNPA) is leading the agenda for a Northern England Dark-Skies Alliance. It has established a dark-sky public outreach programme to facilitate community awareness and engagement in dark-sky conservation and environmental protection.
Taking an ecological justice approach, that recognises social justice and environmental issues are deeply intertwined, and working in collaboration with the NYMNPA and North York Moors Trust (NYMT), the aim is to understand how dark-sky conservation in protected reserves can be sustained through engaging host communities as active stewards, and the benefits this creates socially and environmentally.
The research team
Dr Jenny Hall, York St John University, UK
Dr Brendan Paddison, York St John University, UK
Emma Sunley, PGR Researcher, York St John University, UK
For more information contact: Dr Jenny Hall, j.hall@yorksj.ac.uk and Dr Brendan Paddison, b.paddison@yorksj.ac.uk.
