Find help and local expertise
The National Education Nature Park programme's five-step process can help you to structure your thinking about improving your outdoor areas for nature. Guidance for the first set of improvements - grey to green - can be found here. Use our Nature Park resources with your children and young people to help them to understand their site and to identify what improvements would be best to make. If you're starting with a grey site, read our tips on changing grey areas to green spaces here.
Make sure that you continue to involve children and young people when it comes to making the changes. Keeping them engaged deepens their connection with nature and gives them a sense of ownership over the changes being made.
For some tasks, such as removing hard standing, digging a pond or building raised beds, you may need to bring in an external contractor or seek professional advice. There's also a vast network of local nature enthusiasts and growers who can advise you or help support your activities. This page provides some considerations to think about when finding help as well as some useful organisations. Find out more about how you can fund the improvements you want to make for nature on our Finding funding page.
Before hiring external contractors consider the following:
- Have they worked in education settings before?
- Are DBS checks required for working on site?
- Are they a community-focused, socially responsible or environmental organisation who can bring added value to projects?
- Will they prioritise designing a space that's good for nature and your students, while continuing to function as multi-use?
- Can they support teachers and young people in engaging with the build process?
- Can they support the school estate team on maintenance plans?
- Does your Local Authority have an approved supplier list?
Find charities with design experience in biodiversity solutions for education settings
- https://www.treesforcities.org/our-work/schools-programme
- Trees for Cities' programme Trees for Schools aims to transform urban school grounds into leafy green oases for the children of today and tomorrow. Their projects include playground re-design with a year of engagement sessions to ensure the sustainability of new planting. They work with schools with high levels of deprivation and a lack of access to green space across the UK, with coordinators based in London, Cardiff, Bradford and Glasgow.
- https://www.groundwork.org.uk/themes/landscape-design-and-management/
- Groundwork are a federation of charities who support communities and individuals to take practical action to create a fair and green future. Their landscape architects and community engagement teams work closely with communities, schools and health providers to identify ambitions for local greenspaces and co-design solutions which enable people and nature to thrive. For more tips and inspiration follow them on social media or visit https://www.groundwork.org.uk/greening-community-spaces/
- https://ltl.org.uk/
- Learning Through Landscapes is a network of accredited professionals including designers and environmental educators, with a range range of skills and experience. They can advise on engaging pupils (from Early Years to secondary), in the design and change process as well as support the implementation and management of changes. Depending on the scale, they may need to bring in contractors.
- https://www.froglife.org/froglife-ecological-services/
- FrogLife are a national wildlife conservation charity with a team of experienced staff that offer ecological services and deliver conservation and education projects across the UK.
Find landscape architects, garden designers, arboriculturists and ecologist
- https://www.bali.org.uk/
- The British Association of Landscape Industries represents, supports and accredits the landscaping industry. It provides a database of accredited landscape contractors, garden designers and suppliers.
- https://my.landscapeinstitute.org/directory
- The Landscape Institute is a directory of registered practices and individuals who are chartered landscape architects. This includes designers, those who manage landscapes and landscape scientists, including ecologists.
- https://www.sgd.org.uk/
- The Society of Garden Designers can be used to find an accredited designer in your region.
- https://cieem.net/i-need/
- The Chartered Institute for Ecology and Environmental Management has a directory of registered practices and individual professional ecologists across the country who are experienced in creating, restoring and managing natural habitats.
- https://www.trees.org.uk/Find-a-professional
- The Arboricultural Association can help you to find a tree care professional
Finding local expertise and networks of growers
- https://www.checkatrade.com/
- Checkatrade provides a database that includes gardeners and other trades, such as joiners for raised beds.
- https://www.rhs.org.uk/get-involved/community-gardening/find-a-group
- The Royal Horticultural Society's community groups can connect you with your local community gardening groups. Search their map for Britain in Bloom, It's Your Neighbourhood groups and Affiliated Societies local to you.
- https://www.thegardenersguild.co.uk/
- The Gardeners Guild is a national trade network for professionally qualified gardeners. Their members are self-employed gardeners who offer garden and grounds maintenance as part of their services. Go to the Find a Gardener or Find a Consultant section where you can filter for wildlife gardeners.
The Royal Horticultural Society's Guide to Buying Plants has useful information on the following:
- peat-free nurseries and information on why peat-free is better https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/peat/peat-free-nurseries
- buying plants at garden centres https://www.rhs.org.uk/garden-design/buying-garden-plants
- buying mail-order plants https://www.rhs.org.uk/garden-design/buying-mail-order-plants
- buying shrubs and trees https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/trees/buying-trees-and-shrubs
- https://www.nsalg.org.uk
- The National Allotment Association is a great way to connect with your wider community and network of growers.Find a local group that may be able to give support and advice either on site at your school or at a nearby allotment to help you gain skills and knowledge. A great way to connect with your wider community network of growers.
- https://www.farmgarden.org.uk/
- Social Farms and Gardens allows you to find local community gardens and farms to build your local network and knowledge.