Design Commission for Wales

At the age of eight we know a patch of ground in a detail we will never know anywhere again. In Welsh it is called 'y filltir sgwar' 'the square mile' and it exists in the Welsh psyche as one of a series of cognitive maps around home and locale.
'Professor Mike Pearson, University of Wales, Aberystwyth'
My Square Mile was initiated by the Design Commission for Wales and is endorsed by the Landscape Institute Wales, to encourage the use of the local built environment as an educational resource. It has provided a focus for artist-residencies in primary schools.
Directed by Carolyn Davies and Lynne Bebb, the programme was first piloted in 33 primary schools in Swansea in 2005. In 2006, Sophie Hadaway joined the team to help support six schools across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Swansea. In the first year, the one-day residencies prompted explorations of the local area. In the second year, pupils and teachers worked with artists on residencies lasting five days, and an architect visited each school.