Case study Get started with... Guidance - 12-02-2025
When nature lives nearby, we all feel the benefits. Better access to high-quality, nature-rich green and blue spaces improves health and wellbeing for local communities.
Health & wellbeing - Green prescribing
©National Trust Images / John Millar
Spending time outdoors is proven to be beneficial for our physical and mental wellbeing. Champion the mutual benefits that this can bring for people and nature by putting health at the heart of your green and blue space.
Victorians first recognised that access to green space in towns and cities can support public health. Many of their parks and gardens remain at the heart of local community culture today.
More recently, the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of welcoming green space close to home – yet millions of people in urban areas still don’t have access.
It’s reflected in public policy, too. The Defra 25 Year Environment Plan calls for access to the natural environment to be woven into local Health and Wellbeing Board strategies.
This presents an opportunity for local authorities to develop new, cross-sector partnerships that not only tackle health and access inequalities but deliver benefits for nature too.
The teams at Camden and Islington Borough Councils work with partners across the health and volunteering sectors to give people and nature a helping hand. Hear their reflections on how their ‘Parks for Health’ strategy is re-framing public parks and green spaces as health assets for the whole community.
©National Trust Images / Annapurna Mellor
Ollie Jones - Director of Recreation, London Borough of Camden
©National Trust Images Rob Stothard
Cerdic Hall - Head of Recovery, Involvement & Engagement at North London NHS Foundation Trust
©National Trust Images Rob Stothard
Barry Emmerson - Head of Parks, Sports and Physical Activity at London Borough of Islington
©National Trust Images Rob Stothard
Barry Emmerson - Head of Parks, Sports and Physical Activity at London Borough of Islington
©National Trust Images Rob Stothard
Octopus Community Network member, Islington
The ten steps in this guide can help you deliver greater health benefits for communities in your parks and green spaces. They’re designed to be followed and revisited in the order that’s most appropriate for your place. Click below for a snapshot of what’s covered in each step, or download the full guide with examples via the button on the right.
When nature thrives, we all feel the benefits. Bring environment and health ambitions closer through existing policies and strategies, to help create stronger and more resilient communities, green spaces and cross-sector partnerships.
A JSNA looks at the health and social care needs of local communities. Include better access to green spaces, to give both people and nature a helping hand. Initiatives could range from green social prescribing for mental health, to nature-based interventions like community gardening.
South Tees example
NHS Infrastructure Plans deliver a 10-year strategy for NHS estates. From occupational therapy gardens to pollinator-friendly planting in hospital courtyards, plans can improve wellbeing and support nature recovery at the same time. Have you seen a great example of this?
Email us if you've seen an exampleGI strategies can help build natural features into urban environments. They’re a framework for quality green and blue spaces that address health inequalities too. Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework has advice and tools to focus efforts where access to nature is low.
Manchester’s Green Infrastructure StrategyLDPs set out a vision and framework for area development. The National Planning Policy Framework outlines key elements to include within environment and social health. Ask people living locally to feed in how access to quality green spaces could benefit their wellbeing.
Email us if you've seen an exampleBNG is a mandatory planning regulation. It presents opportunities for landowners, including local authorities and the NHS, to establish new revenue streams that create high-quality green spaces to benefit people and nature. Bring healthcare partners into the planning process to extend wellbeing benefits further.
More from Natural EnglandAn LNRS can identify opportunities to protect and restoring natural habitats, whilst also protecting and improving the health of local communities. Engage people from health and voluntary sectors, to help increase the number of cross-sector champions for wider nature recovery programmes.
West of England LNRSSocial prescribing, including nature-based activities like green social prescribing, helps improve peoples’ physical and mental health. Initiatives such as local walking groups, community gardening and park arts schemes can enhance the quantity and quality of local green spaces, and social wellbeing
Greater Manchester Integrated Care PartnershipNHS England Green Plans support the NHS’ commitment to net zero carbon emissions. NHS and environment partners can join up to plan how these spaces can support health, wellbeing and biodiversity. From hospital orchards to mini meadows on healthcare sites.
See an example