Outcomes and targets
When developing ideas for your project you will need to think about the outcomes it will have – that is the impact the funding will bring about and how it will fit with the outcomes that we want Access to Nature to achieve.
By 2014 we want 1.7 million people to have benefited from this grant programme through improved opportunities to experience and enjoy the natural environment.
We want to see an increase in communities’ sense of ownership of local natural places, by establishing strong partnerships between communities and voluntary organizations, local authorities and other groups. Projects will need to demonstrate how they will meet this requirement as well as the other programme outcomes. By outcomes we mean the changes that will happen because of our funding.
Access to Nature has five main outcomes that we want to deliver. We have identified these below, along with the targets we want to reach through each one. We have also given some examples to demonstrate the sorts of activities that could be funded under each outcome. This list is not exhaustive but merely intended to give you an idea of the types of activity that could be funded. Each project would have to meet Outcome 5 and at least one other outcome.
Outcome 1: a greater diversity and number of people having improved opportunities to experience the natural environment.
Target - We want at least 1 million people to have improved opportunities to actively experience and enjoy the natural environment.
Examples of the sorts of activities that might fit under this outcome:
- awareness-raising events
- themed open days
- interpretation panels/boards
- leaflets, trail guides and guided walks for new audiences
- natural play programmes
- awareness raising of the potential of green space for the promotion of health, wellbeing and enjoyment.
Outcome 2: more people having opportunities for learning about the natural environment and gaining new skills.
Target - By 2014 we want to see 125,000 people benefiting from increased opportunities to participate in learning about the natural environment. This means that 75,000 people will have a new learning opportunity related to the natural environment and 50,000 volunteers will have a new opportunity to actively participate in training and development programmes and gain new skills.
Examples of the sorts of activities that might fit under this outcome:
- identification workshops or events eg species identification
- educational packs and/or equipment
- support for educational visits to sites (as part of a wider programme of work)
- working with volunteers through training events, ‘taster’ sessions and recruitment programmes
- learning skills programmes.
Outcome 3: more people able to enjoy the natural environment through investment in access to natural places and networks between sites.
Target - We want to see investment in access links and associated networks to 130 natural places, enabling 325,000 people to benefit from better links with the natural environment by 2014.
Examples of the sorts of activities that might fit under this outcome:
- providing green infrastructure eg multi-use paths, cycle routes, trails, boardwalks etc
- creating, managing or promoting greenways, green corridors and access links between sites
- land purchase (where there is no other method of securing a site for public use/access)
- green transport links
- providing new access.
Outcome 4: richer, more sustainably managed, natural places meeting the needs of communities.
Target - We want to invest in improving the quality of 100 natural places to better meet the needs of local people and wildlife - more specifically this would mean 250,000 people benefiting from physical improvements to their local natural environment; with 5,000 people regularly participating in the care of these natural places over the lifetime of the programme.
Examples of activities this could cover:
- site or landscape management
- practical works on habitat and species management (habitat creation, restoration)
- landscape improvements
- land purchase where there is no other way of securing management
- restoration/improvement of important landscape features
- sustainable plans for future management and improvement
- improved safety provision
- reduction in visual impact of a site (reducing graffiti, litter, vandalism etc).
Outcome 5: an increase in communities’ sense of ownership of local natural places, by establishing strong partnerships between communities, voluntary organisations, local authorities and others.
Target - This means 100% of projects actively and positively engaging with local communities.
Examples of activities this could cover:
- work to bring together the community and other organisations
- support for community involvement (ie ‘friends of’ groups)
- employment of dedicated project staff
- volunteer involvement
- support for school or community visits to sites (as part of wider programme of work)
- purchase of tools, equipment and materials
- engagement of local and wider communities
- plans for ongoing site management/improvement
- empowerment/capacity building within communities
- use of green space for the purpose of improving health, wellbeing and enjoyment
- planning to secure long-term engagement with the natural environment.
