What we do / Nature Together
Nature Together
Supporting communities in every Bristol ward to take action for nature and benefit from its return.
Supporting communities to take action for nature and benefit from its return
Nature Together is led by Bristol City Council, and brings together colleagues from Parks, Sustainable Cities and Community Development teams, along with key partners Avon Wildlife Trust, Your Park Bristol and Bath, the Natural History Consortium and Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership.
The project addresses barriers in skills, investment, and disadvantage to turn ideas into action. Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Nature Towns and Cities programme, Nature Together aims to create change for an accessible, nature-rich city where all communities benefit, through fostering collaboration and building community and organisational capacity.
Building on our Community Climate & Nature Action Project, and the West of England Local Nature Recovery Strategy, the project partners are working together to remove barriers to green spaces, support volunteering and community-led action, and work towards Nature Towns and Cities Accreditation for Bristol.
Image © Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust
Community partnerships
Successful solutions for climate and nature need communities at their heart, so the project team are working with three community partner organisations; Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust, Eastside Community Trust and Bristol Older People’s Forum. Over two years each partner will receive £100,000 of funding to work with local people, develop their neighbourhood nature plans, and start to put them into action, to support biodiversity and wellbeing.
Building on the community priorities that they developed as part of the Community Climate & Nature Action Project and working with Avon Wildlife Trust’s Community Ecologist, they are developing these ideas into a pipeline of fundable nature projects, allowing them to continue this work after the project ends in December 2027.
Image © Eastside Community Trust
Green permits
Inspired by cities like Hull and Paris who have developed green permit schemes, and working with communities to ensure processes are easy to use, the council are co-designing and trialling a new process for residents and groups who want to make changes to green spaces in their neighbourhoods.
Through Nature Together, people all over the city are improving the spaces that matter to them, increasing space for nature, and for everyone to enjoy, without some of the difficulties such projects have previously faced. This asset-based community development approach enables collaboration across communities and organisations, fostering a “yes for nature culture” that delivers change.
Image © Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust
Inclusion and equity
Bringing together knowledge and research from across the project team, Nature Together centres inclusion and equity in the ways of working and in the outcomes generated. It is well-known that access to green spaces has a big positive impact on health and wellbeing, and that this is currently not equally experienced across Bristol. Nature Together is committed to ensuring its activities contribute towards a just transition.
Your Park have done some research into accessible green spaces.
Image © Age Positive Library
Related news
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Three community groups selected to receive £100,000 each from Bristol’s Nature Together project
Eastside Community Trust, Bristol Older People’s Forum, and Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust have each been awarded £100,000 to deliver their plans for nature as part of Bristol’s Nature Together project.
How can councils accelerate work on community climate and nature action?
Mark Leach from Bristol City Council shares insights on the council’s involvement in five years of the Community Climate & Nature Action Project in Bristol.
Project funder
