A man wearing a boiler suit and wellies kneels on the ground next to a young tree to water it. Next to him, a young child sits on the ground and watches. Photo credit: National Trust Images / Rob Skinner

A Sustainable Future For Urban Green Space

Explore what we’ve learned over the past three years of working with local authority partners to redefine the role of urban green space. Read conversations with our partners, download step-by-step guides and share our impact data.

WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO

Making Quality Green Space Accessible To All

Future Parks Accelerator is a collaboration between the National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Trust and the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

By working with Local Authorities and their partners from places across the nation, our programme is designed to protect and develop natural resources in urban areas, and make sure quality green space is accessible for everyone, now and into the future.

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Global cities leading the way
Quotes

“Future Parks Accelerator is an innovative partnership which is enabling Local Authorities and communities to take a longer-term, strategic approach to urban green space, helping to create healthy, thriving, climate resilient cities and towns.”

— Eilish McGuinness, CEO, National Lottery Heritage Fund

“We need to give parks a reboot and start thinking about them as essential elements of our communities in the same way we think about housing or transport.”

— Hilary McGrady, Director General, National Trust

RESOURCES

Improve Access To Green Space In Your Community

  • A close-up of a bee on light blue and yellow flowers.

    Urban Nature Networks

    Urban habitats need to be high quality, connected and accessible for people and nature to thrive. Mapping urban nature networks helps us understand how to improve habitats, benefitting people and planet.

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  • A young boy wearing a red jumper carries a multi-coloured gardening bag and smiles up at a woman who smiles back. Photo credit: National Trust Images / Paul Harris

    Environmental Justice

    Everyone has the right to healthy places to live, work and enjoy themselves. When we improve environmental justice across our cities, we make sure everyone receives their fair share of nature’s benefits and has access to quality green space.

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  • Habitat Banking

    Habitat banking, one form of green finance, provides new finance for nature restoration and long-term funding for maintenance, giving investors a way to support the improvement of urban green spaces.

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  • A young girl wearing a yellow rain jacket stands in a park smiling playfully.

    Health In Parks

    Spending time in green spaces is proven to be good for our physical and mental health. We can maximise these benefits by putting health at the heart of parks, repurposing parks as public health assets.

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  • Two elderly women wearing winter jackets garden together.

    Communities

    Community engagement is key to almost all projects and work taking place in parks and green spaces. The key to delivering good community engagement work is to do it with people, not for people.

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