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Local Places for Nature: evaluating how nature is supporting community and wellbeing

  • Writer: Endaf Griffiths
    Endaf Griffiths
  • Jul 10
  • 2 min read

Two young children and an adult gardening. The boy holds a cucumber. Sunlit garden with lush greenery in the background. Peaceful mood.

The Local Places for Nature programme (LPfN) was launched in 2020 to help communities across Wales to access ‘nature on their doorsteps’. It has focused on creating nature-supporting spaces within communities, particularly in urban and peri-urban areas, with a specific focus on areas with limited access to nature, particularly in deprived communities. The LPfN has not been prescriptive in what it should support, instead promoting an approach in which activity is ‘community-led’.


Since its inception, Wavehill have undertaken a series of independent evaluations to demonstrate the social and community impact of this programme. As part of our ongoing evaluation, we developed a theory of change to better understand how the programme is delivering benefits to local communities.


Local Places for Nature: Report findings

The report draws on a range of output data from the various schemes that make up LPfN. This includes:

  • the number of new green spaces created, such as community gardens and tree planting initiatives.

  • the number of volunteers involved in funded projects.

These figures help illustrate the scale and reach of the programme’s activities.


Engagement opportunities

LPfN-funded projects have also contributed to and enabled greater levels of social engagement. This is demonstrated through:

  • projects that have built partnerships with local organisations. This in turn, has strengthened and enhanced the impact and sustainability of these organisations.

  • participants who have reported positive experiences, particularly around community engagement and wellbeing, with many noting improvements in mental health and social cohesion.

Our analysis of project reports and interviews with delivery staff highlights that strong community ownership and collaboration are central to the delivery of projects.


As this is an interim report, the conclusions are provisional and may evolve as we continue to gather more data and insights from projects across Wales. We look forward to sharing further findings in the final evaluation.



 
 
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