The new Parks and Green Space Network – a network of nearly 50 parks and green space organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors – had its inaugural Zoom meeting on Friday 17 July
The new Parks and Green Space Network had its inaugural Zoom meeting on Friday 17 July.
The Network, hosted by the Landscape Institute (LI) and created in partnership with The Parks Alliance (TPA), comprises nearly 50 parks and green space organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors across the UK. It aims to provide a UK-wide voice for parks and public green spaces, and the people and organisations that create, maintain, invest in and use them. The Network will work collaboratively and inclusively across the sector to promote parks and green spaces at the local, regional, national and international levels.
In its first meeting, the Network:
- agreed its priorities for a post-COVID Green Recovery
- identified key leadership themes for the coming year
- signed up to develop a new Level 3 Apprenticeship Programme, aimed at young people who are underrepresented in the parks sector, to help make a parks profession fit for the future
The Network also discussed plans to extend the new Chartered Landscape Professional qualification to existing parks managers, as well as plans for a new resource to better publicise academic research into the benefits of parks and green spaces.
The Network will continue to develop over the coming months, establishing a social media presence and strengthening its links within the sector and other key stakeholders. For more information on the Network, please contact Parks Development Manager Robert Pearce.
I am interested in getting involved with the Parks and Greenspace Network. I currently chair Surrey’s Parks and Countryside Forum and would like to see how we could work together to raise the profile of the parks and greenspaces and the difficulty they have in getting enough funding, particularly in the public sector but now with COVID and the furloughing of a lot of on the ground staff and the issue of lack of income in the charity and voluntary sector the problem now exists across the whole sector.