Urban Nature Recovery, Bournemouth, Christchurch And Poole

Green Recovery Challenge Funding for eight more sites

Context –Pilot Parks

Back in 2021 we selected three ‘Pilot Parks’ from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) for their untapped potential to test ideas for the future management, funding and improvement of green spaces. With the funding received from Future Parks Accelerator programme we employed two experienced Parks Activators, with backgrounds in nature conservation, to join the Parks Foundation. They have worked alongside local communities to bring the Pilot Parks to life; they started regular volunteering groups, planted thriving community gardens (which donate food to local people in need), sowed wildflower meadows, and held nearly 200 fun and educational activities throughout 2021 to inspire residents about nature. We also tested opening a community café in Winton Recreation Ground which is now a thriving community hub supported by volunteers, many of whom have special educational needs and/or learning difficulties.

Nature Recovery Project –funding for a further eight sites

Our Nature Recovery Project focuses on similar themes to the Pilot Parks –increasing a space’s potential for wildlife and connecting communities with our greenspaces. The Parks Foundation and BCP Council’s ‘Nature Recovery in Urban Parks’ project was awarded a £224,000 grant from the Government’s second round of the Green Recovery Challenge Fund (GRCF), a multi-million pound boost for green jobs and nature recovery to tackle climate change. This funding will be used for work in eight further sites across BCP, and these parks have been chosen based on the Ecological Network of Dorset; the green spaces which have the highest potential to create a nature recovery network across our conurbation. We’ll be making physical improvements to the green spaces, delivering engagement activities to educate and inspire residents into nature, empowering communities by creating new volunteering opportunities and employing more staff within the environment sector.

How we got here –lessons learnt from our funding applications

Unfortunately, we weren’t successful in the first round of the GRCF. We really listened to the feedback and changed our approach in our second application so it focussed more on nature recovery rather than solely community engagement, and we also used existing research undertaken by Dorset Local Nature Partnership as the backbone for our application to demonstrate which green spaces had the most biodiversity potential. Fundamentally, our project concepts in both applications were the same, however we ensured we met the funder’s application criteria in more detail. We have confidence and belief in our community park model and know the difference it will make to both people and wildlife so we wanted to persevere with this idea, and will hopefully continue to do so once this funding comes to an end.

How is it going so far?

The funding has already enabled The Parks Foundation to employ a Nature Recovery Project Manager as well as three additional Park Activators to bring these parks to life, building on what has already been achieved in the Pilot Parks. The project will have a positive effect on fauna, as we’ll be planting bulbs, wildflowers and hedgerows to provide more habitat and food for birds, insects and small mammals such as hedgehogs. In the spirit of innovation embodied by the Future Parks Accelerator, we will continue to explore new ideas for these parks including concepts such as green roofs which are a beacon for bees and butterflies, creating a wetland garden, and planting a foraging orchard for the community to enjoy.

As a similar process of activation has already been carried out in Pilot Parks, this has helped us to hit the ground running with the Nature Recovery Project. We already had a grasp of how to work with the Council’s operations teams to create collaborative nature recovery plans that were sustainable, draw up creative plans and get those plans approved through the Council, and ways to engage the public and get their input on designs. We had the right systems in place which accelerated the upscaling, for example event booking and payment systems, tools and equipment, marketing processes etc. Our new Parks Activators have been able to work together with the two original Activators who now have experience of promoting and delivering a full year of activities and have shared their discoveries. That said, every park and community are different and what works in one place won’t always work in another. We have to listen to the residents of each local park to ensure we’re delivering something that’s bespoke to their requirements.

How has being a part of FPA enabled this work?

Through the FPA, we have also been able to access consultants with specialist expertise. For example, we worked with Rachel Jeffcoat who has helped us build communications plans for the Pilot Parks and understand messaging for the different audiences we want to engage –this is valuable learning which we can take into the eight new parks. Being a part of FPA has inspired and supported us to work in an innovative and evolving way –to dream big for what we want to achieve in our parks and greenspaces. We have strengthened our creativity, grown our skills base by working collaboratively, and have been able to utilise the project as a platform to engage local residents in nature on their doorstep. We now have a strong foundation on which we can continue to build.

Written by Cathi Farrer (The Parks Foundation) and Beccy Briley (The Parks Foundation), edited by Georgina Harvey