Keep Britain Tidy have officially announced the launch of a new
International Parks and Green Spaces Resources Hub as part of their ongoing
management and development of the Green Flag Award programme.
The launch was made at the recent Virtual World Parks Congress - hosted by
World Urban Parks, and on the opening day of the conference attendees took part
in a virtual presentation that demonstrated the accessibility and content of
the Hub whilst also seeking feedback and recommendations for further
resources.
The project was developed in line with the
Green Flag Award ethos, which is to recognise and support parks and green space
professionals around the world.
By providing a free, online library of case studies, guidance documents and
management plans it is hoped the sector will be able to share information
more freely and learn from other managers and organisations in a range of
countries.
The announcement is especially timely considering the huge role parks and green
spaces have played in 2020 throughout the coronavirus pandemic - as an
important place for excercise, relaxation and respite for communities.
The Hub mainly draws on existing resources from parks organisations around
the world such as City Parks Alliance (USA), Park People (Canada) and The
Royals Parks (UK). Resources are arrange in two filters: First under the Green
Flag Award criteria headings, and second by resource type for easy searching
and filtering across the platform.
Carl McClean - International
Development Manager for the Green Flag Award programme - said: "The new Resources Hub was only made possible
thanks to a huge number of supporting parks organisations who given us
permission to host their documents on our platform.
“My thanks goes out to all of them for
their collaboration, openness and alignment with the Green Flag Award
ethos - to share best practice within the sector for the improvement of parks,
which in turn benefits the wider community."
With more than 50 resources already featured, ranging from example park
Management Plans, to Case Studies and National Studies; the Hub is set to
grow regularly as new resources become available within the sector. Keep
Britain Tidy are also encouraging users to make recommendations for future
resources which will help Green Flag Award determine any specific knowledge
gaps that they can help fill.
To explore the International parks and Green Spaces Resources Hub visit www.greenflagaward/resources
