My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
Yes
I am 18 years of age or above, by the application deadline.
Yes
My organisation is a registered UK entity and has a London-based address.
Yes
My organisation is a non-profit (e.g. school, university, or local authority) — not a for-profit, which can only join as a partner.
Yes
If there is a for-profit organisation as a partner in my initiative, they work on a cost-recovery basis only.
Yes
My solution is implemented at scale, or if not, I have a clear business plan, a minimum viable solution (prototype, pilot, or proof of concept), and evidence of work or impact in London within your coalition.
Yes
I am aware that, if I am submitting more than one application to a Challenge run by Ashoka and Go! London, only one of them is able to progress through the stages.
Yes
Are you an employee (and their children and grandchildren) of Ashoka or any of its respective affiliates and participating advertising and promotion agencies?
No
I have read and accepted the Challenge Terms & Conditions
1
First Name
Last Name
Pronouns
Email address
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Are you an Ashoka Fellow?
Are you applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow?
If you are applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow, please specify the name and organisation of the fellow below.
Initiative Title
I Can Hear the Ants Dancin’
Lead Organization Name
Three Rivers / Peabody Trust
My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
1
Year that you started/ registered your organisation
1948
Website URL(s) or Social Media Handles
www.threeriversbexey.org / @threeriversbexley
Initiative Stage
Idea (You have a solid concept and are hoping to get started in the future)
Sectors/Themes: What topic does your project most directly relate to?
Environment & Sustainability
Initiative Summary: Describe your initiative in one sentence
‘I can Hear the Ants Dancin’ (ICHtAD’) is the world’s first multi-species play programme, pioneering a ground-breaking model of collaboration between human and other-than-human life in which ‘Playworkers for the Living’ are trained to facilitate regenerative play practices that get children and families moving and develop environmental literacy through imaginative engagement with local ecosystems; it will be delivered by a unique partnership between Three Rivers, the London Borough of Bexley (Public Health, Parks & Leisure teams), Peabody and The Zoönomic Institute.
Challenge Focus: What topic does your initiative most directly relate to?
Enabling climate-resilient participation
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve and who will benefit the most from your solution? How close are you to the problem and/or community impacted?
ICHtAD’ will be delivered in Thamesmead East, Belvedere, Northumberland Heath, Erith and Slade Green, Bexley’s northern wards. Children and families in North Bexley face entrenched health and environmental inequalities that limit their ability to live active, healthy lives. In these wards, one third of year 6 children are living with obesity, contributing to a near 10-year life-expectancy gap between the borough’s wealthiest and poorest communities. In Bexley, 30% of young people are active for less than 30 minutes a day, and a survey of our parks and green spaces has shown that northern residents have poorer access to high-quality green space. Schoolchildren in this area tell us they want to be active but are held back by litter, traffic and parks that feel unsafe. ICHtAD’ will directly support children and families in these wards by providing free, regular access to green spaces where they can imaginatively play and creatively engage with unique ecosystems. Three Rivers is committed to the ecological regeneration of Bexley’s local landscapes, believing it is essential to mitigate the climate catastrophe, and has supported community-led projects that promote environmental responsibility since 2019. Bexley Public Health has established relationships in this area through close work with schools, and prioritises enabling all Bexley residents to live longer and healthier lives.
Your approach: How are you addressing the problem outlined above? How are you using the power of sport and physical activity to build awareness, shift behavior, and enable sustainable participation for all in response to the climate crisis? We'd love to know about the origin of your idea, and what was your "aha" moment" that led you to take action?
Since 2023 Three Rivers has worked closely with landowners Peabody to support people in North Thamesmead to re-imagine Tump 39, a disused Victorian ammunitions dump hidden on their housing estate, as a new, rewilded community space for arts, ecology and play. They also established Friends of Tump 39, a team of 60+ local residents, children and young people who act on behalf of the communities that use and care for the Tump. Together Three Rivers and Friends have (e)co-created a site-sensitive community-led programme themed around multi-species communing, deep-listening and free play. In 2025 their work was internationally recognised when they became the first Zoöp in Britain. A Zoöp, developed by the Dutch Zoönomic Institute, is an organisational model and learning process providing a collaborative framework in which the interests of participating ecosystems are actively represented in organisational decision making. Inspired by the success of Tump 39, ICHtAD’ will build-on and scale-up this ground-breaking model by working with children and families to develop the first multi-species play programme in the world. This will be piloted at Tump 39 and a disused greenspace at Pearsewood Primary School in Slade Green, before expanding to three new Zoöp sites in Belvedere, Northumberland Heath and Erith. The programme will provide free weekly sessions designed to improve the physical wellbeing and climate resilience of children and families by developing easily replicable, high quality, free to access activities inspired by animal play, ranging from ants that dance to “fish that leap, juggle and tease”. This approach will directly tackle barriers to physical activity in North Bexley, offering safe opportunities for movement woven into joyful play.
Collaboration with young people and the community: In what ways does your initiative engage young people and community members closest to the problem? What role do they play in building the solution you deliver?
The idea for ICHtAD’ has been co-created with children and families from Friends of Tump 39, in partnership with London Borough of Bexley, and responds to research and development undertaken at the site by Three Rivers in collaboration with leading artists, ecologists and playworkers. To embed community voice, experience, skills and knowledge across the programme, our intervention will support five local residents living in Zoöp neighbourhoods to gain an accredited Playwork qualification and become our Playworkers for the Living. This specialist role, based on the Speaker for the Living developed by the Zoönomic Institute, places a person attuned to the interests of other-than-human life as an advisor and teacher, guiding participants through the Zoönomic Annual Cycle. This learning process asks ecological questions about how we engage with all the different elements that make up the site: plants, animals, air and water, as well as buildings and vehicles, aiming to set achievable regenerative goals and realise them through practical action. This innovative role will be developed with the Playworkers themselves through regular peer reflections and continued professional development, supported by an accredited training provider and the Zoönomic Institute. All Playworkers will be paid at the recommended rates. To ensure a child-led approach we will establish ‘Play-Groups’ at each of the five Zoöps consisting of a minimum of ten children and families. They will develop their own Zoönomic Annual Plan and elect themes and activities for play sessions in response to their unique ecosystem. Groups will meet quarterly, facilitated by the Playworkers for the Living who will deliver weekly sessions that focus on the role of play and imagination in fostering ecological literacy.
Potential for/Evidence of Impact: How do you imagine your initiative will make a difference in raising climate awareness, shifting behaviors, or reducing environmental impact or harm? If you have already implemented it, what difference have you made so far? What is the impact your initiative has had¡, and/or what impact do you envision having in the future?
Our ambition is to grow a nationally recognised regenerative play and environmental literacy movement rooted in Bexley. Our objectives are for children and families taking part to be: - More physically active - More environmentally responsible and climate resilient - Feel happier and more confident - Have better access to outdoor space To achieve this between 2026-29 we will: - Engage 300 children and family members in playful learning activities - Support 50 children and family members to join ‘Play-Groups’ and become decision-makers and co-creators. - Train 5 local residents as qualified Playworkers and support their continued professional development through regular paid employment. - Establish 5 new Zoöps by re-animating forgotten or disused public spaces across Bexley’s five northern wards. Playworkers, participants and peers will come together as a collective at an annual ICHtAD’ Play Summit. These large, deliberative events will enable the programme to extend its community, find partners, exchange knowledge and develop skills. The Summits will be informal, creative and consist of 1-to-1 conversations, round-tables, presentations and workshops. The events will be held in different borough locations and resources will be made available online. There is extensive evidence that outdoor play significantly increases physical activity. UNICEF and scoping reviews have shown outdoor play and improved play environments lead to measurable increases in activity. Adult supervision shapes play experiences, ensuring safety and enabling more diverse, active play. Our programme will break down barriers to physical activity by providing regular supervised sessions in green spaces where children can be active, confident and excited about their ecosystem.
Innovation: What is different about your initiative compared to other solutions that are already out there? How is your approach original and innovative?
Play exists across the animal universe, not just among such notoriously frivolous creatures as monkeys, dolphins, or puppies, but among such unlikely species as frogs, minnows, and yes, even ants. As far as we are aware, ICHtAD’ is the first programme in the world to harness this multi-species learning and use it to create a genuinely regenerative model of play where non-humans and humans are regarded as partners who affect and shape each other. It has been born out of an urgent need to deeply consider how we teach ecological literacy and underlines the necessity to move away from a human-centric worldview towards embracing a broader perspective that includes all life forms. To foster this innovative model of play in Bexley we will support children, families and Playworkers to design physical activities in response to the Zoönomic Annual Cycle . This is an accessible and practical learning process that helps people to understand their local ecosystems and is based on the following five themes and questions. Identifying: What other-than-human life lives in the spaces where we play? Sensing & Listening: What is our current relationship to these living beings? Characterising: What do they need to thrive alongside us? Focusing: How can we respond to these needs playfully? Intervening: What specific activities can transform degenerative relationships into regenerative relationships. The Zoöp approach is based on a worldview in which humans can learn to build healthy ecosystems in collaboration with other species and offers a concrete, specific, realistic, measurable and achievable process to work towards ecological regeneration and the fostering of an economy that supports the planetary ecology, while also getting people physically moving in fun and accessible ways.
Roles and Responsibilities: Describe how responsibilities are shared among your team or partners.
The Three Rivers Team will be responsible for the coordination and delivery of the programme and sits within the organisational structure and operational framework of host organisation Peabody. They will engage participants, coordinate Playworkers, and ensure all sessions are planned, executed, and evaluated on time, within budget and in line with the strategic aims of the programme. London Borough of Bexley LBB will support by facilitating access to suitable council-owned land for rewilding and regenerative play in wards other than Thamesmead, where Peabody will support as landowner. They will also support a data-driven evaluation process, provide insight into the community of children and young people in North Bexley through the School Superzone initiative and support community engagement. Peabody Trust Peabody is London’s oldest and largest housing association, currently working with local people and partners on one of the UK’s biggest regeneration projects in Thamesmead. It is the host organisation for Three Rivers and will provide continued in-kind support including access to and maintenance of Tump 39. Zoönomic Institute The Zoönomic Institute forms the root system of the broader Zoönomic Movement: a growing, thriving, and vibrant network of Zoöps across Europe that collaborate and fluidly share knowledge. They will support the programme to create the UK’s first Zoöp network by providing baseline assessments for new sites, advice for our Playworkers for the Living, expertise in the Annual Cycle for our ‘Play-Groups’, alongside the official Zoöp certification. They support excellence of ecology and engagement by building a bridge between communities and professionalised environmental practices.
Viability and Scalability: How are you setting your organization up for success, and what is your plan to ensure operational sustainability of your solution and its impact? What are your ideas for scaling your initiative to the next level?
ICHtAD’ introduces an exciting new partnership between Three Rivers, London Borough of Bexley, Peabody and the Zoonomic Institute to instigate a step-change in how physical activity, environmental responsibility and climate resilience are experienced across the borough. The programme’s operational stability is underpinned by Three Rivers confirmed funding from Arts Council England to deliver the physical infrastructure and ongoing maintenance needed to create the UK’s first Zoöp network. To do this they will continue to support the Friends of Tump 39 to create a thriving Zoöp in Thamesmead and use this learning to transform four more forgotten or at-risk sites such as abandoned gardens, playgrounds, and football pitches, into new Zoöps. Three Rivers is working closely with landowners Peabody and London Borough of Bexley to identify suitable sites and have already confirmed a partnership with Pearsewood Primary School in Slade Green to transform their disused field into a Zoop from Spring 2026. This intervention introduces Playworkers for the Living, who will be supported by newly established ‘Friends of’ groups at each site and will work alongside artists and ecologists to support residents to develop and deliver their own Zoönomic Annual Plan. In this way, ICHtAD’ will build a sustainable model that brings additional, much-needed physical into these reimagined outdoor spaces.
Upcoming Milestones: Please provide an overview of the milestones that are required for your initiative to come to fruition/ to grow.
Milestone 1: Establish 5 new Zoöps by re-animating forgotten or disused public spaces across Bexley’s five northern wards. Outputs & Timeline - March 2026: Meet with all partners to update project objectives, develop principles of working together and agree Safeguarding, Equality & Diversity & Environmental Sustainability policies. - March 2026: Launch of Tump 39’s Zoonomic Annual Cycle with Three Rivers, Peabody and Friends of Tump 39. Article about the project published in The Guardian. - April 2026: Baseline ecology assessment workshop with Pearsewood Primary School and Zoönomic Institute - May 2026: Launch public open-call for community members in Belvedere, Northumberland Heath and Erith wards to nominate forgotten or disused outdoor spaces in their neighbourhoods to become new Zoöps. - August 2026: Select new Zoöp sites with representatives from Three Rivers, Bexley Public Health, Peabody and Zoönomic Institute - September 2026: Baseline ecology assessment workshop Belvedere, Northumberland Heath and Erith sites and Zoönomic Institute - October 2026 - March 2027: Develop Zoonomic Annual Cycles for all five Zoöp - April 2027: Launch of UK’s first Zoöp network. Milestone 2: Train 5 local residents as qualified Playworkers and support their continued professional development through regular paid employment. Outputs & Timeline - March 2026: Confirm Playwork Training Provider (Three Rivers is already in conversation with Hackney Play Association) - March - April 2026: Co-write brief and job description for Playworkers for the Living with Tump 39 ‘Play-Group’, Bexley Public Health and and Zoönomic Institute - April - May 2026: Recruit two Playworkers for the Living for ICHtAD’ pilot projects at Tump 39 in Thamesmead East and Pearsewood Primary School in Slade Green. - May 2026 - January 2027: Playworker’s complete Level 2 Diploma in Playwork. - June 2026: Complete ‘Playing for the Living’ training module with Zoonomic Institute. - July - Pilot play sessions take place at Tump 39 and partners and Playworkers attend awayday to develop programme based on evaluation of pilot session - September 2026: Weekly play sessions start at Tump 39 and Pearsewood Primary School. - October: Recruit three Playworkers for the Living for Belvedere, Northumberland Heath and Erith Zoöps. - November 2026 - June 2027: Playworker’s complete Level 2 Diploma in Playwork. - December 2026 - January 2027: Complete ‘Playing for the Living’ training module with Zoonomic Institute - February 2027: Pilot play sessions take place at Belvedere, Northumberland Heath and Erith Zoöps and partners and Playworkers attend awayday to develop programme based on evaluation of pilot session - March 2027: Weekly play sessions start at Belvedere, Northumberland Heath and Erith Zoöps Milestone 3: Support 50 children and family members to join ‘Play-Groups’ and become decision-makers and co-creators. Outputs & Timeline - March 2026: Work with existing Friends of Tump 39 group to establish the first “Play-Group’ consisting of 10 children and families. - March - April 2026: Co-write brief and job description for Playworkers for the Living with ‘Play-Group’ - April - May: Members of the ‘Play-Group’’ join interview and selection panel for Playworker for the Living recruitment - May 2026: Establish quarterly ‘Play-Group’ meetings and a collective manifesto for the ICHtAD’ programme - July 2026: Play-Group takes part in pilot play sessions at Tump 39 and attends awayday to support development of child-centered programme. - September 2026: Establish Play-Group at Pearsewood Primary School - February 2027: Establish Play-Group at Belvedere, Northumberland Heath and Erith Zoöps Milestone 4. Engage 300 children and family members in playful learning activities Outputs & Timeline - September 2026 - March 2029: Deliver free weekly play sessions for children and families at Tump 39 and Pearsewood Primary School. - March 2027 - March 2029: Deliver free weekly play sessions for children and families at Belvedere, Northumberland Heath and Erith Zoöps. - September 2026 - March 2029: Collaborate with an existing network of 20 grassroots groups and community services in Bexley, including foodbanks, football clubs, schools and community centres, whose members will share resources, offer advice and support engagement with those facing the toughest barriers. September 2027 - September 2028: Deliver a minimum of two ICHtAD’ Play Summits that will bring peers, participants, and playworkers from across Bexley and beyond to share best practices and distribute a set of case studies, educational materials and learning resources with other communities, organisations and play practitioners interested in regenerative play and environmental literacy.
