How can we make sure that large parks and green spaces are accessible to communities who may currently face barriers to using them?
This was one of the questions at the heart of the Abundance Project’s co-design work on parks and green spaces. Working with Community Hubs, Community Voice Champions and partners, we explored how large parks could become more accessible and welcoming to ethnically minoritised, refugee and asylum seeker communities.
The Royal Parks was part of this co-design process, and our work together has continued as they have developed their inaugural Community Access Scheme. More recently, our Community Voice Champions and members of our Community Hubs had the opportunity to hear about how The Royal Parks listened to their feedback and designed its inaugural Community Access Scheme in response to this, alongside feedback received by other underserved communities. Abundance Community Voice Champions were also invited to review the proposed scheme and core implementation principles and offer further feedback on those from their lived experience perspective.
From co-design to action
The Royal Parks were in the process of developing their inaugural Community Access Scheme when invited to join the Abundance co-design workshops. Their involvement created an opportunity to bring emerging ideas into conversation with the experiences and perspectives of the Abundance Community Voice Champions, community organisations working with underserved communities, and other stakeholders taking part in the co-design process, such as representatives from Local Authorities, VCSE sector and Integrated Care Boards /NHS.
The co-design team explored how barriers to accessing and navigating large parks and green spaces could be addressed, generating ideas around awareness, trust, navigation, safety, welcoming spaces and the role of community leaders. The discussions also brought the health and wellbeing dimension of access to the foreground, drawing on our wider research with social prescribers and input from Integrated Care Board representatives about barriers to connecting people with community and green assets.
Royal Parks Access and Engagement Manager May Webber said: “The Abundance project, and the communities you work with, have been incredibly helpful with shaping the inaugural Royal Parks’ community access scheme”.
The scheme has four core elements:
- Community Leader training and support
- Tools to support independent visits
- Practical support to reduce barriers
- Ongoing relationships and opportunities
The Royal Parks Access team colleagues explained that these elements were informed by three core sources of input: its own listening workshops conducted with twelve community groups, research conducted by Westminster City Council and the research and co-design work undertaken through the Abundance Project. Webber described the scheme as having “organically flourished” from these different inputs, highlighting in particular the contribution of the Abundance Project in bringing health and wellbeing aspects to the foreground.
This is an example of how co-design as a research method can move research beyond the confines of academia and contribute to real-world change. In this case, ideas and insights generated through the Abundance Project have helped to shape an approach that will create new opportunities for underserved communities to access and navigate the Royal Parks’ green spaces.
Bringing community voices into the conversation every step of the way
In June, Community Voice Champions and members of the Abundance Project Community Hubs came together at Richmond Park to hear how their contribution helped co-shape The Royal Parks’ inaugural Community Access Scheme and share their feedback on the scheme and core implementation principles. The workshop was an opportunity to bring the experiences and perspectives of the Abundance Project communities back into the scheme’s development.
It was also an opportunity to celebrate a significant achievement for all involved, as community members felt empowered to witness the impact of their contribution. Community Voice Champions were able to see how the stories, experiences and testimonials they had collected from their communities, and the ideas and opportunities they had contributed through co-design workshops, significantly influenced and helped co-shape the design of The Royal Parks’ first ever Community Access Scheme, facilitating access to parks for underserved communities beyond their own.
Participants were enthusiastic about the proposed scheme and happy to feel that their voices had been heard by The Royal Parks’ teams. They also highlighted a range of practical and social factors that could influence whether people feel confident using the parks: Participants talked about the importance of awareness, trust and feeling welcome. Members of underserved communities may not know that the Royal Parks are free spaces or what opportunities are available within them. Participants suggested proactively reaching underserved communities through trusted community organisations, libraries, community centres, GP surgeries and faith organisations rather than relying on people to find out about the parks themselves.
Navigation was another important theme. Participants described some of the larger parks as difficult to navigate, particularly for first-time visitors, and suggested clearer signage, maps, multilingual information and better wayfinding. They also emphasised that welcoming people into parks means thinking about how information and signage communicate who the parks are for.
Safety was also central to the discussion. Participants raised concerns about racism and discrimination, dogs and children’s safety, and stressed the importance of building confidence as well as providing clear information about what to do if an incident occurs.
The importance of trusted Community Leaders
The proposed Community Leader model, whereby training is offered to trusted community leaders, received particularly strong support. Participants saw Community Leaders as trusted bridges between The Royal Parks and local communities, who could help people become more familiar with the parks, build confidence and encourage others in their communities to make use of them. They suggested that training could include practical knowledge about the parks, such as facilities, seasonal activities, visitor guidance and rules around the responsible use of the parks and protection of wildlife, alongside skills in leading groups and facilitating walks. Participants also highlighted the importance of ongoing support, suggesting that Community Leaders could stay connected through peer networks, mentoring and regular updates after their initial training. There was also interest in recognising their contribution through accreditation or other forms of formal recognition.
This emphasis on trusted relationships is closely connected to the Abundance approach. Communities already have knowledge, networks and relationships that can help open up access to resources and opportunities. The Community Access Scheme offers an opportunity to build on those existing strengths rather than relying solely on conventional forms of outreach.
Looking towards the initial trial
The workshop was also an important opportunity to think about what success could look like beyond participation in the scheme itself.
Community Voice Champions felt that the longer-term goal should be for people to become confident using parks independently, so that visiting green spaces becomes part of everyday life rather than something that only happens through an organised activity. They also highlighted the potential for ‘snowballing’ through participants encouraging friends, family and peers in their communities to visit.
This is particularly exciting as we look towards the initial trial of The Royal Parks’ Community Access Scheme, which is expected to begin next year. There is the potential for communities involved in the Abundance Project to be part of this initial phase, creating a further link between the co-design work and its implementation.
This would mean that the journey does not end with communities contributing ideas or providing feedback on the proposed scheme; they could also have the opportunity to experience it, learn from it and help shape what happens next.
Co-design that continues beyond the end of the project’s lifespan
The value of community involvement is not simply in gathering views at a particular point in a project. It is about creating relationships through which community knowledge can influence decisions, shape interventions and contribute to what happens afterwards.
Our work with The Royal Parks has developed over time: from the co-design process, to the development of the Community Access Scheme, to bringing Community Voice Champions and Community Hubs back into the conversation to respond to the proposed scheme. The possibility of communities taking part in the initial trial next year offers another step in that journey.
For us, that is something worth celebrating. It shows how community voices can travel beyond the research process and help shape the places and spaces that communities use. And it demonstrates that co-design does not have to end when an intervention is developed. It can continue through implementation, learning and adaptation, with communities remaining at the heart of those conversations along the way.
Dr Silke Zschomler, Research Fellow, UAL