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A new resource for green infrastructure
The Landscape Institute has been an active supporter of the Green Infrastructure Partnership since its creation and is delighted to celebrate a significant development.
Julia Thrift
A decade ago, when the TCPA (Town and Country Planning Association) took on the management of the UK-wide Green Infrastructure Partnership, government policymakers had little interest in the subject; business leaders thought green infrastructure was a ‘nice to have’ but not at all essential; and few people working in public health saw access to parks and green spaces as particularly relevant to their work.
Now, as a new website for the Green Infrastructure Partnership is launched, so much has changed. Academic research into the evidence about the benefits of green infrastructure has proliferated, and the work of the independent Natural Capital Committee powerfully demonstrated the economic value of urban trees and green spaces. Policymakers, public health leaders and business leaders have taken notice of the evidence. England, Scotland and Wales now have strong policies supporting the creation of green infrastructure.
Despite this, at a local level, recognition that green infrastructure is both valuable to society and the economy and valued by residents seems patchy. In March, Plymouth Council’s decision to fell more than 100 mature trees in the city centre led to national headlines, followed by the resignation of the council leader. In June, Sheffield City Council published an extraordinary four-page apology for felling hundreds of healthy mature trees; ‘maligning’ residents who complained about it; and even for misleading the courts.
This gap between strong policies and widespread poor practice means that the Green Infrastructure Partnership is still needed as a way of:
– Sharing good practice, research, news and information across a diverse and fragmented sector
– Influencing key decision-makers about the value of green infrastructure
– Raising awareness of the importance of effective and wellfunded stewardship to ensure green infrastructure thrives, despite threats to funding and the effects of climate change
The partnership does all this by publishing a free newsletter ten times a year; holding an annual conference; and regularly bringing together stakeholders from the public, private and third sectors. Free to join, it has more than 2,000 members (recipients of the newsletter) as well as many more thousands of followers on social media.
The Partnership’s work is now supported by a new website, a free resource that provides a central hub of information, including:
An overview of relevant policy in the UK nations
The Green Infrastructure Resource Library – several thousand reports, articles, presentations, research papers etc. about green infrastructure – regularly updated
A calendar of green infrastructure-related events in the UK and beyond
Information about sources of funding for green infrastructure projects
Links to other green infrastructure resources, including standards and research
The partnership is supported by a small number of sponsors, including the Landscape Institute – and many of the Institute’s members have been actively involved over the years.
If you do not already get the partnership’s free newsletter, join by visiting the website and click on the link: Green Infrastructure Partnership (gipartnership.org.uk).
This year’s Green Infrastructure Partnership conference will focus on stewardship. For details see: Hope for the future: why caring for green infrastructure is vital (tcpa.org.uk).
Julia Thrift is Director of Healthy Placemaking at the Town and Country Planning Association.
