Leesa FawcettRielle Haig2024-05-272024-05-272023-12-31Major Paper, Master of Environmental Studies, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York Universityhttps://hdl.handle.net/10315/42060My research is focused on analyzing archival documents to highlight inclusive language and themes of disability representation. Access in this analysis is seen on a sliding scale, as nature and the natural world, when analyzed through the lens accessibility is not simply a binary with the urban. Approaching the research, I reflected on and used a critical disability-oriented lens, with a specific focus on eco-crip theory to better understand access and inclusion of disability in urban natural spaces. I am interested in how the perception of access to nature affects the dialogue surrounding representation, and as a by-product, the experience individuals with physical disabilities may have in wilderness and nature. Experience in this context is posited on, first, the representation in the environment and second, the movement and act of accessing or moving through the space. For this research, I chose to investigate archival content documenting the Leslie Street Spit, a unique urban area in Toronto, Ontario. My archival investigation involved highlighting and interpreting the key themes of access, disability, and nature, using the Spit as an example, to find representation and presence of individuals with physical disabilities. Through the research, I discuss and argue that access and inclusion ought to be interpreted on a sliding scale, particularly when attempting to integrate these themes into discussions of nature and the environment. With this in place, the use of language and representation can lead to creating more inclusive spaces in the outdoors, both physically and theoretically. I suggest an increasing need to acknowledge and promote the presence of a diverse range of beings in nature and adjust the current assumptions of access and inclusion that tend to exclude disability.enCritical disabilityPolitical ecologyEnvironmental educationAccessNatureResearch Paper