Accreditation frequently asked questions
Getting started
If you’re thinking of applying, we suggest taking some time to read what’s involved in both level one: Foundation and level two: Advanced. You’ll need to achieve Foundation level before you can apply for Advanced level.
This tool offers a detailed perspective on your place’s strengths and areas to improve. It’s useful in guiding conversations between departments and with partners across a few topics:
- Metrics: introduces you to a few open data sources to start to better understand your current baseline and think about environmental justice in your place. The list of metrics is guidance and should be supplemented with local knowledge and community/public engagement. This data can provide a snapshot of the current picture in your urban area.
- Enablers: helps you assess your town or city’s capacity and readiness to plan and deliver ambitious, transformational change.
- Reflections: gives you prompts to explore your town or city’s priorities, reflecting on the results of sections one and two.
You might consider re-doing the evaluation in the future to measure the progress you have made.
Apply for Foundation level using the form here. You’ll need to register on our website to access the self-evaluation tool and application form. Make sure you have had a conversation with your partners, as they will need to be listed on your application. Decide who will take the lead for submitting the application and uploading the evidence, and make sure you’ve got the relevant local authority involved as a partner. You can view the application form in full to help you prepare your answers.
Think about who can contribute to the transformation in your place. Think broadly about partners from across different sectors, themes and types of organisation e.g. health, transport, economic regeneration, universities, youth skills and employability, climate, ecology, wildlife trusts, community groups, businesses etc.
This partnership toolkit may help guide your thinking.
We are looking for evidence that you have some senior buy-in and support for the vision you have set for your place. This will likely involve getting their support right at the beginning, before you go out to co-design the vision, keeping them updated throughout its development, seeking their input, and getting their formal support when it is finalised. Evidence may be in the form of a written statement within the vision itself, a piece to camera, a blog post etc.
Strong applications will show that you have support from senior sponsors both within and outside of the relevant local authority e.g. the Leader of the council, the mayor if applicable, Chief Executives of local trusts and other voluntary sector organisations, heads of other public sector bodies e.g. health, transport, police, universities.
Support
There is plenty of support available for those working through accreditation.
- Accreditation tools and resources: self-evaluation tool, workbook, guides to visioning together, partnership working
- Free resource library: inspiration, case studies, templates and toolkits, conference and webinar recordings
- Accreditation support sessions once per month, where you can bring your questions and talk your application through with a member of the team.
The capacity building grants were awarded in July 2025. Accreditation is open to all, not just grant recipients.
Accreditation should provide a helpful framework to review existing policies, strategies, workplans, project plans and delivery. For example, you have existing green infrastructure strategies, this might prompt you to review, update and add supplementary material before submitting it for accreditation. The key activities suggested will both help those new to this work and provide useful prompts for those already underway.
You don’t need to stop delivering planned activity. Accreditation is about fitting existing work together into one coherent bigger picture, using the framework to think more strategically about your place’s future vision and building on existing partnerships and delivery.
The Green Infrastructure Framework features as the standards of best practice. The framework, standards and principles can be particularly helpful when developing your green infrastructure strategy, and for showing how this has been developed in an evidence-led way.
How long will it take?
Applications are now open to places in England for accreditation level one: Foundation. You can apply here. Accreditation level two: Advanced will be coming soon.
This will vary. Some places will have the right things in place to quickly gain Foundation level accreditation and move on to Advanced level. Others may need longer and more support to reach the Foundation level milestones. The self-evaluation tool can help you understand your current position, and get an idea of how close you are to Foundation level as a starting point.
There is no fee to apply, it just requires people’s time.
Accreditation is awarded to a place for three years. Each accredited place will receive reminders to evidence progress as part of light touch annual reviews. After three years, there will be a more formal process of re-accreditation which may include peer review.
No, there is no time limit. We are open to applications now from places in England and will run regular decision-making panels throughout the year so we can get back to you promptly with the decision and feedback.
Who can apply?
Applications can be made by partnerships made up of organisations working in a town or city together: the local authority, VCSE organisations, private sector, and other public sector stakeholders. The application does not have to be led by the local authority, but they do need to be involved to make sure plans can be embedded at the town, city or borough scale, with support from senior leaders.
One partner will be the lead applicant, responsible for coordinating the application and getting sign-off from partners. Licensing agreements will be made individually between Nature Towns and Cities, and organisations wishing to display the accreditation mark.
Accreditation is currently available in England only. We are in conversations with government agencies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and hope to make the scheme available across the UK. The rest of the Nature Towns and Cities programme is open to all.
There is no defined geography or population size, so long as the place is an urban area. Places can work as individual urban areas, with neighbouring towns, cities or boroughs or across combined authorities.
Yes, there are no restrictions on applying if a local authority is under special measures.
The evidence you’ll need to provide will work at different scales, from small towns up to combined authorities. We do accept applications from combined authorities, but we would suggest starting small and building up. Individual towns or cities may be better equipped to apply first as it may be easier to do the work required at a smaller scale, and then scale up to the regional level, joining together multiple towns and cities under shared visions and operating models. However, if you are used to operating at the regional scale and are in a good position to apply as a combined authority, we would encourage that as well.
Similar to the above, we would suggest starting small and building up, as it’s easier to gain consensus at the smaller scale, however, if you wish to partner with a neighbouring town, city or borough and write shared visions, strategies and create a large partnership, then that would be encouraged. After all, we are striving for widespread, ambitious transformation across whole landscapes.
Yes, the accreditation evidence required can be applied to a London borough. In this case, the borough would receive accreditation with the wording “X, a Nature Borough”. We also encourage London boroughs to apply together if possible.