Money Trees, Cyber Gardens and Ecological Citizens

What if your phone could help you care for the trees on your street, not just scroll past themIn this live conversation – recorded in collaboration with Open Area at Camley Street Nature Park in October 2025 – artist Rachy McEwan and technologist, guerrilla gardener and nature rights campaigner Kalpana Arias explore how art, code and community action can work together to protect and restore urban nature.From felled sycamores behind a London flat to cyber gardens and Tamagotchi-style tree sensors, they ask how we can stop seeing ourselves as just consumers online and start acting as ecological citizens – in our cities, on our streets and inside our digital worlds.In this episodeWe talk about:Money Trees – how three 100-year old sycamores inspired a multi-year art project turning threatened trees into 3D models and digital assets that fund real-world careHow London currently “values” trees – and why some are worth £1.6m while others are valued at nothingUsing photogrammetry, GIS mapping and blockchain to give community trees visibility and protectionKalpana’s journey from regenerative agriculture and farmers’ rights to guerrilla gardening and civic tech in Londonnowadays and Glitch – a cyber gardening tool that helps people map “cyber gardens”, learn green skills and connect to local species and spacesThe idea of environmental generational amnesia – and why every new generation accepts a more degraded “normal” for natureSeeing technology as part of our ecology, not the enemy – “naturalising the machine” in the age of the symbioceneTree Goji – hacking Tamagotchis and soil sensors so you “look after” a digital pet and a real tree at the same timeData, rights and forests – what it means to talk about data rights for nature as more trees and habitats are scanned and digitisedMultisensory worlds – why smell, touch and sound matter just as much as screens in how we connect with natureHow projects like Money Trees and Glitch can support children and young people, bridging gaming culture, tech and hands-on time outdoorsAbout our guestsRachy McEwanRachy is a London-based interdisciplinary artist whose work spans painting, scent, fungi, mycelium sculptures and digital worlds. Her long-term project Money Trees uses 3D scanning, animation and community participation to record threatened trees in London, increase their perceived value and channel resources into their care and protection.Kalpana AriasKalpana is a guerrilla gardener, technologist and nature rights campaigner, and a trustee of London National Park City. Through her social enterprise nowadays, she creates tools and platforms that decentralise technology and put it back in the hands of communities – including Glitch, a cyber gardening tool that helps people learn green skills, map local ecologies and act as ecological citizens.LinksOpen AreaMoney Trees – Rachy’s project mapping and modelling London’s threatened trees Glitch – cyber gardening tool developed by nowadays Camley Street Nature Park – the urban nature reserve where this conversation was filmedExplore more London National Park City Podcasts