'What Not To Grow' is about
- promoting the value of green spaces to people and communities, especially where space is contested
- working with people to create softer, better planned neighbourhoods
- recognising that the environment in which we live cannot be separated from our health and well being, opportunities for education and play and relationships with people around us
- finding solutions to deliver real change in disadvantaged communities
- building active citizenship and community confidence
Here are just 3 of the reasons why we're interested and many communities are becoming interested too:
- Green spaces in neighbourhoods can: Create opportunities for people to work together; help to create a community image that is perceived as positive by both local residents and outsiders; provide a more liveable environment by controlling physical factors such as temperature, noise and pollution.
(Source: www.communitygarden.org)
- Trees and green spaces reduce the stress of urban living and have a positive impact on the incidence of asthma and skin cancer by filtering out polluted air, reducing smog formation and shading out solar radiation.
(Source: www.treesforcities.org)
- Children need to understand the link between food they see in supermarkets and the land that produces it, understand the interdependence between urban and rural environments, learn about the countryside and the wildlife and people it sustains and make informed, healthy lifestyle choices.
(Source: www.teachernet.gov.uk)
We have recently developed a 'Menu' of possible work called Connecting People and Place. We hope this will demonstrate the possibilities for work in local neighbourhoods.
For a factsheet on our team building programmes, click here.
