The UK’s premier green space management organisation, the Land Trust, is celebrating 20 years of delivering social, environmental and economic impact across its growing portfolio of sites across the country.
To mark the occasion, the organisation has developed an in-depth report looking at the key expected trends in relation to the Trust’s main areas of interest – society and community, physical and mental health and the environment.
Titled ‘Tomorrow’s World – What does the future hold for community, health, the environment and the Land Trust?’ the report was launched last Thursday, 7 November, to an audience of almost 100 partners, members, clients and contacts at a celebration event held at the House of Commons.
Alan Carter, Chief Executive at the Land Trust said: “We know that the future will bring continued rapid change: social inequality, climate change, and an overburdened healthcare system are just a few key issues. We wanted to understand what these changes may look like and then develop a long-term plan which aims to address these challenges by promoting sustainable, accessible green spaces for community benefit.
“The next 20 years represent a pivotal opportunity for property developers, and all others who are involved in the development industry, to shape the future by integrating sustainable green spaces into their developments. As societal needs evolve, green spaces will be at the heart of tackling health disparities, climate change, and social cohesion.”
Janet Dugdale, Chair of the Land Trust added: “The publication of this report is the first step in a series of collaborative efforts to get ahead of the curve and weave these learnings into the Land Trust’s operations as they evolve in the decades ahead. Of course, green space is not a ‘silver bullet’ that can solve all the issues outlined in this report, it is just one part of a much larger puzzle.
“Intersectionality is key here, and there will need to be direction from policy to fully realise these benefits. However, the fact remains that public open space is a cost-effective, widely beneficial and relatively simple step in improving the quality of people’s lives – creating better outcomes for society and supporting nature recovery. This has been evidenced time after time via the multiple sites the Land Trust has taken on over its history and remains at the core of its offering.”
Read the full report here: The-Land-Trust-Future-Scoping-Report-Tomorrows-world.pdf
The Land Trust was developed from a pilot by English Partnerships (also formerly the Homes and Communities Agency, now Homes England) with Groundwork UK to create a new organisation, which could take on the ownership and provide a long-term sustainable land management solution for derelict land which could not be used for redevelopment.
Previously known as The Land Restoration Trust, in 2009/10, the HCA received final approval for the organisation to become fully independent. The Land Trust has grown in both the scale and range of the green open spaces it owns and manages with a growing portfolio of almost 90 sites across England.
