Making Parks Count
Here are a range of links to other resources that will help you use the evidence on the benefits of parks to design and deliver improvements to make your parks count. They include links other organisations who can provide support or materials to help you think about your leadership and partnership challenges, access to up to date tools and resources on understanding the value and benefits of parks and resources to help those managing parks.
Leadership and Partnership
Nesta NHLF and NLCF – Rethinking Parks
Rethinking Parks is funding and supporting organisations to develop innovative ways of managing and financing the UK’s public parks. The projects aim to make sure our parks and greenspaces are financially sustainable for the future and that they are run more impactfully for their local communities. Rethinking Parks is supported by Nesta, the National Heritage Lottery Fund and the National Lottery Community Fund.
Local Government Association (LGA) Culture and sport improvement toolkit (CSIT)
Developed to help the culture, sport, green space and tourism sectors continually improve performance based on self-assessment and external challenge through validation and peer supported improvement. CSIT aims to encourage and enable high-level, self-driven and peer-supported improvement within the culture, sport, green space and tourism sectors. It is not an external assessment scheme, an ‘award’, a ‘badge’ or a one-off initiative; the toolkit comprises flexible improvement tools underpinned by self-assessment and peer-supported improvement, which can be applied in a number of ways to a wide range of organisations and partnerships.
Local Government Association (LGA) Public health and prevention
A suite of sector-led improvement support for public health and prevention including a range of tools and support to ensure that councils and partners are taking full advantage of the opportunities presented by the transfer of public health. Good quality parks and green spaces provide essential services to improve public health.
Local Government Association (LGA) Leadership essentials
Parks need strong political leadership. ‘Leadership Essentials’ is a series of events designed as themed learning opportunities for councillors. There are specific programmes for Cultural Services Leaders and Climate Change and events concentrating on Health and Wellbeing and Sports.
Understanding the benefits and value of parks
Parks are key natural assets. Eco-systems Knowledge Network provides resources to help people manage the environment as an asset for the benefit of everyone. Includes a wide range of published guidance, reports, tools, case studies and much more.
Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) Green Infrastructure Resource Library
Parks form an essential element of the Green Infrastructure present in towns and cities across the UK. The Green Infrastructure Resource Library (GIRL) is a unique database of documents, case-studies, videos, tools and other information about green infrastructure and its benefits.
Fields In Trust Green Space Index
Access to good quality parks and green space helps places tackle health inequalities. The Green Space Index is Fields in Trust’s barometer of publicly accessible park and green space provision. It maps and analyses publicly accessible local park and green space provision as mapped by Ordnance Survey.
DEFRA Enabling a Natural Capital Approach (ENCA)
Natural Capital Accounting treats parks as natural assets revealing the benefits they provide and the value they create providing decision makers with better information. Enabling a Natural Capital Approach (ENCA) resources are data, guidance and tools to help you understand natural capital. ENCA aims to:-
- build capacity among users to assess and value the natural environment by providing comprehensive information and resources
- reduce search costs for analysts and decision makers
- provide a platform to update tools and guidance as knowledge develops
- identify new evidence and areas for development
Outdoor Recreation Valuation (ORVal)
Land, Environment, Economics and Policy (LEEP) Institute Business School University of Exeter
ORVal is map-based and allows users to explore the distribution of greenspace across England and Wales, plotting out the locations of recreation sites, be those beaches, recreation areas like parks and nature reserves, paths through the countryside or along river banks.
Natural England Access to Evidence
Catalogue providing access to evidence used by Natural England. It shows the information used to reach decisions and inform advice. Includes details about studies and site-specific information.
Managing Parks
The Fields in Trust – Knowledge Base
Provides a library of information to support landowners, managing agents, Friends of Parks groups and park users maintain their parks and green spaces.
Association for Public Service Excellence Parks, Open Spaces and Horticultural Services Portal
Access to briefings and presentations on parks, open spaces and playgrounds, grounds maintenance, amenity land services, horticulture and arboriculture as well as allotments and cemeteries and crematoria.
Parks Community UK ‘One stop shop’ of information for the Friends Groups movement
Supports Friends’ groups to feel better equipped and more confident in their active involvement with their local park. Includes a range of learning resources including ‘How to’ guides, best practice case studies and links to complementary websites.