Prf George Revill

Professional biography

I am a cultural-historical geographer whose work has been influential in developing new understandings of how landscapes and environments are shaped through experiences of mobility, sound, and communication. My research on the geographies of music, sound, and voice in particular has helped establish sonic geographies as a vibrant and interdisciplinary field. I bring together cultural theory, historical geography, and creative practice to investigate how people relate to the spaces they inhabit – whether through 18th-century engineering, modern broadcasting, or collaborative sound art. From folk music and railways to climate change and environmental storytelling, my work explores how culture and space intersect in shaping environmental awareness and social change.

In recent years, my work has turned toward creative and participatory practices as a way to understand and support environmental decision-making, particularly in the context of climate change. I am committed to research that connects academic insight with real-world challenges, and to making space for a broader range of voices – human and non-human – in conversations about our environmental futures.

Research

My research sits at the intersection of environmental humanities, geography, and creative practice, and is grounded in the belief that fostering more inclusive, imaginative, and participatory approaches is key to addressing today’s urgent environmental challenges. I am particularly interested in how creative methods – including sound, storytelling, and visual arts – can offer new ways of knowing and representing environmental change, while opening up dialogue between communities, policymakers, and ecosystems themselves. This includes a strong commitment to amplifying diverse environmental voices and experimenting with methodologies that build understanding across difference.

Projects: Creative Practice and Environmental Futures

Sounding Out Wells (AHRC): This project explored the intersection of heritage, wellbeing, and environmental engagement through the medium of sound. Working with communities in the historic city of Wells, the project used 'sonic postcards' to capture personal and environmental narratives, fostering deeper connections between people and place. It provided new insights into how sound can be used in participatory research to enhance wellbeing and give voice to often-overlooked aspects of everyday environments.

Sounding Out Wells - Wells Maltings

Making Sand Dunes Public (AHRC): This initiative used creative practice to engage people with the environmental and ecological significance of coastal dune systems. Through workshops, art-making, and community events, the project aimed to reframe how sand dunes are understood and valued, highlighting their importance in climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation.

Sounding Coastal Change (AHRC): An arts-based engagement project that investigated environmental and social transformation on the North Norfolk coast using sound and music. By experimenting with listening and sonic methods, the project invited communities to explore how their environments and lives are being reshaped by coastal erosion and climate change, and how these transformations could be voiced and deliberated upon collectively.

Earth in Vision (AHRC): This project explored how environmental broadcasts have shaped public understanding of environmental issues and politics. Working with students, amateur filmmakers, and community groups, we co-created new stories about the environment using archival BBC material. The project pioneered new approaches to public engagement with media archives and environmental storytelling.

Other select projects

Next Generation Paper (EPSRC): An interdisciplinary collaboration with the University of Surrey, this project examined how tourists use digital and paper-based media to navigate destinations. The research developed innovative hybrid formats for guidebooks that blend traditional print with digital interactivity, improving the accessibility and richness of visitor experiences while offering insights into sustainable tourism communication.

Postgraduate Supervision

I welcome inquiries from prospective postgraduate researchers interested in topics related to cultural-historical geography, environmental humanities, sonic geographies, mobilities, mobility history and creative practice, and landscape studies. I am especially keen to support projects that explore innovative approaches to environmental decision-making and public engagement through arts-based methods.

I have supervised a wide range of PhD students topics to successful completion and continue to work with both full- and part-time students on interdisciplinary projects.

Current PhD Students

• Fiona Brehony (Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC studentship): Reimagining Place: A Creative and Critical Intervention Exploring the Past, Present and Future of Rivers.
• Steph Gillett: Decision Making Processes in English Railway Development: Case Studies from Southwest England.
• Jodie Bettis (ESRC Grand Union Studentship): Theory and Practice of Ecocide Law in a UK Context: A Legal Geographical Analysis of the Principles of Ecocide and the Practical Implications of Defending Nature in a New Legal Paradigm.

Teaching

My teaching reflects my long-standing commitment to critical, interdisciplinary, and socially engaged geography. I have extensive experience in designing and delivering undergraduate and postgraduate modules that explore the relationships between society, environment, and spatial change. I have chaired and contributed to numerous modules at The Open University, including: Environment and Society (DD213) – a Level 2 module examining how environmental challenges are shaped by and through society; Earth in Crisis (DU311) – a Level 3 module exploring environmental policy in a global context; Investigating the Social World (DD103) – introducing students to key themes and methods in social science, Changing Geographies of the United Kingdom (D225) – a contemporary geography module examining place, identity, and spatial inequality; The Uses of Social Science (DD206) – which I contributed to with teaching materials on mobility and infrastructure. I am currently part of the team working on the new interdisciplinary environment module Dst216.

Impact and Engagement

I have also worked closely with the BBC and other media partners to develop multimedia content that supports learning and fosters public engagement. Notable contributions include acting as academic advisor to programmes such as Coast, Crossrail II, and Super-sewer.

Sounding Coastal Change included a public concert at Blakeney Parish Church, exhibitions Wells Maltings, Norfolk Wildlife Trust Cley next the Sea and National Trust Morston Quay, contributions to Norfolk Science Festival and a permanent sound installation in Wells-next-the-Sea that captured local experiences of environmental transformation. These events encouraged local engagement with environmental and social change through creative and inclusive methods.

Sounding Out Wells created a permanent public exhibition and a permanent archive of sonic postcards, housed at Wells Maltings Heritage Centre, Wells next the Sea, Norfolk, highlighting the connections between place, environmental change and awareness.