Councillor Amy McNeese-Mechan, Culture and Communities Vice Convener, writes about Love Parks Week and thanks the Friends of the City’s parks:
Throughout the last 18 months, our parks and green spaces have been a vital lifeline to many of us during the pandemic (writesCllr Amy McNeese-Mechan).
As we hopefully continue to enjoy the summer weather, Keep Britain Tidy’s annual Love Parks Week provides the opportunity to send a rallying cry; to Love, Respect, and Protect our parks throughout the summer of 2021 and beyond.
With an increase in number of visitors our green spaces have been under immense pressure, I would like to use this opportunity to thank not only our parks and greenspaces team for their continued hard work but all those volunteers and friends group whose support has been invaluable.
For example, the Water of Leith Conservation Trust and team of volunteers have helped maintain the entire length of the Water of Leith Walkway.
Over the last year Friends of Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill funded and installed five picnic benches on their site and Friends of Burdiehouse Burn Valley Park have been fully redeveloping their bothy into a volunteer centre and base with facilities for groups to use.
Our friends have also helped us tackle litter. The Pentland Hills Litter Watch group was created during the pandemic when a group of local residents took it upon themselves to litter pick various locations in the Regional Park.
The Craigmillar and Niddrie Litter Busters was formed online in February and brought together a small group of local people who wanted to help inspire, advise and organise events for community clean ups whilst campaigning and promoting environmental concerns in the Craigmillar area.
They also help to co-ordinate solo or family group litter picks and tidy up local parks and streetscape areas during the COVID lockdown and ongoing pandemic. Our team support their efforts, providing equipment and advice, it’s a fantastic working partnership between the community and Council.
Friends of Little France Park are a relatively new group, but they were keen to help the parks site officer during lockdown in keeping a close eye on activities in the park and provided feedback to staff working from home.
Regular communications with staff managing the park helped hugely to allow us to be informed and manage what was happening. The passion of the communities driven by local knowledge and love of their greenspaces made this a useful and genuine partnership between council parks officers and the community connected to the park.
This week we’ll be highlighting more of this amazing work on our social media accounts but I would like to thank them all again.
I am very proud of all our award-winning parks and of those who work all year round, and in all weathers to keep our parks beautiful. The parks belong to the people of Edinburgh and we’re so grateful for the support from our citizens.
This article first appeared in Edinburgh Evening News
British Ecological Society is presenting a new digital exhibition as part of this year’s Science Festival.
They teamed up an artist with a scientist and each pair was asked to imagine a greener future for Edinburgh and demonstrate how problems like carbon emissions, drought, heatwaves and even social justice can be tackled with nature-based solutions in our most familiar green spaces.
What they’ve come up with is very impressive – Leith on Sea (rising sea levels), tree-lined Nicolson Street (the most polluted street in Edinburgh and second-most in Scotland).
These visions – as well as audience’s own ideas – will directly inform the City of Edinburgh Council plans for Edinburgh’s future green spaces: Thriving Green Spaces project (see below).
As part of this year’s Edinburgh Science Festival, the British Ecological Society (BES), in collaboration with SMASH-UK, are presenting a virtual gallery of art created by local artists and ecologists, predicting the green future of Edinburgh – these visions will directly contribute to work by the City of Edinburgh Council in envisioning the future of the city’s green spaces.
This free event, running from 26 June to 11 July 2021 transports visitors to a fully explorable 3D virtual gallery overlooking the iconic Arthur’s Seat, displaying visions for Edinburgh’s future green spaces.
Exhibition artworks include a vision of Leith, successfully defending against sea level rises and extreme rain events (now ‘Leith-on-Sea’), to a resilient and renovated tree covered Nicolson St, known to the most polluted street in Edinburgh and second-most polluted in Scotland.
Local artists have collaborated with ecologists from Scottish Wildlife Trust, the City of Edinburgh Council, Nature Scot, Architecture & Design Scotland, Forest Research and Bangor University to imagine a greener future for Edinburgh and demonstrate how problems like carbon emissions, flooding, heatwaves and even social justice can be tackled with nature-based solutions in our most familiar greens spaces.
Visitors to the digital exhibition will also be able to contribute their own ideas for future green spaces, which will be displayed alongside the artwork in the gallery. Their visions will also inform the Council’s plans for the future of Edinburgh’s green spaces.
Dr Chris Jeffs, Senior Education & Engagement Officer at the British Ecological Society and curator of the exhibition said: “This cutting-edge exhibition is the first-time local artists and ecologists have been brought together to envisage the future of Edinburgh’s green spaces.
“It offers a way for the residents of Edinburgh and beyond to have their say on how green spaces should look like in future, and how they can tackle environmental challenges in their local area.
“Ecologists are on the front lines in our battle against climate change, and nature-based solutions in our green spaces, like those depicted in the exhibition, offer enormous hope. We want everyone to understand the climate crisis and the role ecology and nature-based solutions can play in a greener, sustainable future.”
On the interactive element of the exhibition, where visitors can contribute their own ideas, Chris Jeffs said: “It’s important that we give people a voice in shaping their green future, so we are delighted to be working with the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the City of Edinburgh Council, giving all our exhibition visitors the chance to share their ‘visions of future green spaces’ directly with the council to help them in their ‘Thriving Green Spaces’ project.”
Donya Davidson, Ecologist and Project Development Officer at Scottish Wildlife Trust for the ‘Thriving Green Spaces Project’ in Edinburgh’ said: “Working with local artists has been incredible.
“I think communicating through the medium of art is a really impactful way to demonstrate the work we are doing as ecologists. This exhibition has opened my eyes to how beneficial and exciting it can be to collaborate with artists and those outside of the environmental sector.
“Our work at the Scottish Wildlife Trust with the City of Edinburgh Council has shown that our existing green spaces already provide so many benefits to both people and wildlife and the right interventions in the right places can improve even more areas to provide these benefits.
“The artwork I collaborated on, Leith Walk on the Wild Side, shows Leith Walk, but not as people know it now! It is thriving with wildlife and residents are out enjoying all the new greenspace they now have on their doorsteps.
“The nationally scarce northern brown argus butterfly, previously only found in Holyrood Park, now moves freely down the street from planter to planter. Although it is an aspirational vision, I hope it is something we can see in the not-so-distant future, for a connected, biodiverse and sustainable Edinburgh.”
Sarah Hannis, illustrator of ‘Leith Walk on the Wild Side’ said: “It was great working with Donya and learning about all the green initiatives in Edinburgh. At a time when so much news is negative it has been really uplifting to be involved in this project – learning about connecting up habitats in urban areas, and the small but significant ways that local residents can contribute.
“Leith Walk is currently one of the least green parts of Edinburgh so I re-imagined it totally green! Green paths with wildflower areas lie to either side.
“Building eves are lined with swift nesting boxes and each window has its own planter with pollinator-friendly plants. Nest boxes and bug hotels hang on every wall and there’s even a small pond.
“The whole street becomes a thriving green wildlife corridor, boosting biodiversity and all the human wellness benefits that come from immersing ourselves in nature and coexisting alongside it.”
Diane Cassidy, Green Spaces Development Officer for Edinburgh’s Thriving Green Spaces Project at the City of Edinburgh Council said: “We’re excited to be part of this fantastic exhibition with the British Ecological Society.
“The artworks’ inspiring visions of nature-based solutions, combined with the voices of visitors to the exhibition will be incredibly valuable to us in our ongoing ‘Thriving Green Spaces’ project which aims to improve Edinburgh’s green spaces and ultimately the lives of local people.”
BES is planning to introduce the idea in other UK cities later this year and present the exhibition as part of COP26.
Other BES events at the Edinburgh Science Festival
Alongside the virtual gallery, the BES will be hosting five other online events and contributing to an outdoor photography exhibition, all completely free to attend.
12 June – 21 July. Human Nature exhibition. Experience giant images in the photography exhibition along the picturesque location of Edinburgh’s Portobello Promenade, featuring contributions from the BES ‘Capturing Ecology Competition’.
Tuesday 29 June. Flea Circus: the smallest show on Earth. Dr Tim Cockerill talks audiences through the history of flee circuses, a genuine spectacle, made up of live fleas pulling chariots, riding tricycles and even fighting duels with miniature swords.
Saturday 3 July. NatureCast. A family friendly interactive broadcast where participants can take part in fun activities, they can do at home or outside, while discovering fascinating connections between nature and people.
Sunday 4 July. The Big Ecology Draw-along. Join our presenter, zoologist and science communicator Sophie Pavelle, and nature-artists Hana Ayoob and Lauren Cook to learn how to draw incredible plants, fungi and animals, following their simple step-by-step tutorials.
Wednesday 7 July. ECOmedy night. An online comedy night where audiences can laugh and learn as you watch real scientists showcase their knowledge about animals, plants, and their interactions with our planet.
Thriving green spaces project
The City of Edinburgh Council is leading on a project to create a new vision for the city’s green spaces. This will be captured in a 30-year strategy which aligns with Edinburgh’s 2050 city vision.
The project is being achieved by a £899,500 grant from the Heritage Fund and the Natural Trust. They have joined together to provide funding to local authorities to develop bold, innovative and financial management solutions for their green spaces. You can read more about this on the Heritage Fund Website or see Future Parks Initiative or National Trust
What will we do
The project will run for two years until May 2021. The funding is being used to recruit a project team and buy in professional expertise to
carry out research and studies
start pilots
gather robust baseline information
which will create thriving green spaces 2050 vision and strategy for Edinburgh.
To deliver this project we are working with our project bid partners
greenspace Scotland
Scottish Wildlife Trust
Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust
University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh green spaces forum
who are the group for the city’s various Friends of Groups.
Our work will determine how our green spaces need to change so that they play an active role in delivering greater benefits in areas such as
Plans for how over £4m will be invested in parks, green spaces and cemeteries in a programme of priority works being rolled out across 2021 and 2022 have been approved by councillors.
The Parks and Greenspace Investment report follows the allocation of additional capital budget earlier this year and provides updates on projects either planned, already under way or already completed. The approved report also outlines how funds will be prioritised to make key improvements across the city.
Parks, green space and cemetery structures across the city are being surveyed to ensure that the investment is allocated where need is greatest and to ensure that features remain safe.
As well as hearing about completed and ongoing projects, councillors gave approval to progress works that have been identified as priority rated category 1 urgent (within one year) and priority category 2 (essential within one to two years). The works include making improvements to walls, fences, gates, paths, roads, drainage, bridges and tunnels.
Culture and Communities Convener Councillor Donald Wilson said: “In Edinburgh we’re fortunate to have nearly 200 parks, including 34 with green flag status, recreational green spaces and cemeteries to visit across the city and we want to make sure that they all remain accessible, safe, sustainable and of course open to the public for generations to come.
“Through this capital investment programme we will be able to make immediate and important improvements to the places most in need. Funding will be used to help with landslips, mend walls and fences and improve accessibility.
“I’m delighted that we are able to progress with this work and following further detailed surveys will aim to ensure the spread of investment across the city.
Culture and Communities Vice Convener Councillor Amy McNeese-Mechan said: “We’ve seen over the past year just how important our parks and greenspaces continue to be and it’s so important that we invest in them – for us, now and for future generations.
“We want to make sure Edinburgh remains the beautiful green city that it is and this commitment will bring those most in need of urgent investment back to looking their best. I’m excited that work can get under way and these surveys give us a plan for the next stages, which will help keep us focused as we make improvements throughout the city.”
Progress on the programme of improvements will be reported to the Culture and Communities Committee in its regular business bulletin.
We are asking Edinburgh pupils from 5 to 18 years to take part in our local Greenpeace competition to show Edinburgh councillors how much they love green accessible spaces and what they think the future of active travel should look like.
The Greenpeace Art and Photography Competition runs until 13th February. Posters and photographs should be emailed to greenpeace-edinburgh@live.co.uk.
This competition gives younger generations the chance to have their voices heard and celebrate what they like about the changes made so far.
Categories are age appropriate and entries will be judged by Councillors on the Transport and Environment Committee alongside local artists and representatives from cycling and wheeling organisations in Edinburgh. The winning pictures will be used in future Greenpeace campaigns to highlight local transport improvements.
Why – Transport is the UK’s single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Greenpeace Edinburgh Local Group is calling on the local council and the Government to invest more money into walking, cycling and green public transport, rather than building new roads.
The pandemic has helped us to appreciate our city with less cars on the streets and the corresponding reduction in noise, air pollution, or danger to cyclists and pedestrians. We want children to engage with this important topic as it will shape their future living spaces.
During February half-term, we are hosting an art competition to celebrate our existing low traffic neighbourhoods, cycling paths and other active travel infrastructure. Pupils are asked to submit their ideas, solutions, or simply their favourite active-travel locations as a photo or in form of a poster.
Residents in north Edinburgh are being invited to help shape a key project to improve connections and public spaces in their local community.
The city council is asking people from across Muirhouse, Pilton, Granton and Drylaw to contribute to the future of Pennywell Road and its links to existing paths at Crewe Toll, Gypsy Brae, Silverknowes and West Granton Access Road.
Through the North Edinburgh Active Travel (NEAT) Connections scheme we’re proposing changes to Pennywell Road and the surrounding area. These include increasing space available for walking, cycling and wheeling, making it easier to access local shops and community spaces without the use of a car and working with members of the community to improve public areas and green spaces.
This will help to identify existing problem areas and opportunities for new crossings, green spaces or where other improvements could be made.
Transport and Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said: This project will create a much more welcoming, relaxed environment for those travelling on foot, bike or wheelchair.
“We’ve already seen how temporary Spaces for People initiatives across the city have encouraged people to walk, wheel or cycle and we want to see this happen long-term, with the associated benefits to health and the environment.
“Of course, we want any changes to work for all the people who live and spend time in this area, which is why we want to hear what they think and where improvements can be made. By sharing their thoughts and ideas they can help shape the final design, which will make travel to nearby schools, shops and local areas much easier and safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
Interim Head of Infrastructure Delivery for Sustrans Scotland, Chiquita Elvin, said: “Despite being close to existing walking, cycling and wheeling routes, such as the North Edinburgh Path Network, it can be challenging to access them for Muirhouse and Pilton due to the volume of traffic and the focus on roads in the original design of the area.
“We want the local community to tell us how we can make walking, cycling and wheeling easier for them, be that with new path connections, wider pavements, dedicated space for cycling or new crossings. These changes have the potential to transform how people get around North Edinburgh and every opinion matters.”
As well as benefiting local residents, changes could make it easier for travel to Craigroyston Community High School, Craigroyston Primary, Oaklands Primary, Forthview Primary and the new civic centre being developed at the former Muirhouse Shopping Centre.
In addition to the Commonplace website locals can leave their feedback on maps displayed in the North Edinburgh Arts centre café.
Separate temporary measures to make cycling safer and easier on Pennywell Road, Muirhouse Parkway and Ferry Road are currently in place and have been implemented through the Spaces for People programme.
Working in a small group with the University of Edinburgh, we are conducting research into the relationship between greenspaces and socioeconomic levels in Edinburgh.
We will be investigating a number of areas in the city including Wester Hailes, Drylaw, Trinity and South Gyle.
If you live in any of these areas or are familiar, we believe you will have a valuable opinion for our survey.
Using the surveys, we want to gain people’s perspective about the quality and access of greenspace in these areas. It is short and will take roughly 5 minutes.
Our findings are hoped to make an impact upon the greenspaces in Edinburgh, especially if any inequalities are revealed.
Thirty-four of Edinburgh’s parks have achieved Green Flags in the 2020 national competition, which recognises high quality green spaces.
The city received almost half of the 77 flags issued in Scotland. Two city parks, Saughton Park and St Katharine’s Park, received the status for the first time in 2020, joining the other 32 parks already waving their Green Flag.
The Green Flag Award is the UK’s national standard for parks and green spaces and is administered in Scotland by Keep Scotland Beautiful. To make sure the Capital’s parks are kept to a high standard, each year the Council checks all its parks and gardens using Green Flag Award criteria. This inspection is carried out by formal Green Flag judges along with other Council officers, Council partners and members of the public. From this assessment, each park is given a parks quality score.
Culture and Communities Convener, Councillor Donald Wilson, said: “The awards are given to those parks that give everyone access to a safe, clean and pleasant green space where they can relax, play and exercise and I’m delighted that so many of our parks have achieved this important and much sought after recognition.
“The quality of Edinburgh’s parks continues to improve in spite of these challenging times. I am very proud of all our award winning parks and of those who work all year round, and in all weather to keep our parks beautiful.”
Culture and Communities Vice Convener, Councillor Amy McNeese-Mechan, said: “This is fantastic news, parks have proved to be real havens this year and my thanks to our hardworking parks staff for their continued care for our much-loved parks through challenging times. My thanks also to dedicated Friends of Parks groups for everything they do. I would encourage everyone to explore our parks this Autumn.”
The Council has been taking part in the Green Flag Award scheme since 2007, when two Green Flags were achieved.
Edinburgh based Community interest Company Edible Estates is launching a new community growing project in Leith and is inviting everyone to join in to grow food and community in Leith.
Edible Estates is building on it’s ‘Leith & Lochend Home Grown’ initiative over the past 6 months to launch a new community growing and green space project in Leith.
In partnership with the Leith Walk Police Box, Out of the Blue, Foundation Scotland, Port of Leith Housing Association and Action Earth the ‘Lets Grow a Garden Here’ initiative aims to encourage community growing projects led by local people this autumn and winter.
The project has also been supported by Ocean Outdoor (advertising) to promote the project on the big screen on Leith Walk and expect that to encourage local people to want to get involved. The advertisement is live until 11th October.
Patrick Dunne, who is co-ordinating the Lets Grow a Garden Here project, wants to see as many people as possible sign up, join in and develop a new grassroots, local, urban food growing initiative including everything from edible streets and doorstep planters to skill sharing and community meals over the next year.
Patrick explained: “We are really excited to have a chance to develop an emergency Covid response into a new and exciting opportunity for community growing in Leith.
“We hope to be a part of the local food networks and community activity in the winter. Leith has so many great ideas and resourceful and creative people and is full of interesting projects. We are really proud to be a part of it ”
If you are keen to grow your community, learn new skills, improve your local environment and have fun, contact patrick@edibleestates.co.uk to get involved.
The city council is leading on a project to develop a new vision for the Capital’s green spaces which will ensure their ongoing enhancement, protection and care – and they want your views.
The Thriving Green Spaces project will shape an ambitious new vision for Edinburgh’s natural environment and produce a 30-year strategy and action plan to deliver that vision.
The next stage for the project team is to ask residents and visitors how they use our parks and green spaces and, importantly, what their aspirations are for them. Launched yesterday, the team have three short, interactive surveys for anyone who lives or works in Edinburgh.
These surveys have been developed with the help of a number of masters students from the Landscape and Wellbeing programme at the University of Edinburgh, one of the partners working with the Council on this project.
The project has been made possible by a £899,500 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) and the Natural Trust (NT), who have joined together to provide funding to local authorities to enable them to develop bold and innovative financial and management solutions for their green spaces against a backdrop of financial uncertainty.
Alongside the Council, bid partners are: Greenspace Scotland, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust, University of Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Green Spaces Forum (the umbrella group for Edinburgh’s friends of parks groups).
City of Edinburgh Council Parks Leader and Project Champion, Amy McNeese Mechan, said:“Edinburgh is already a wonderfully green city – the UK’s greenest, in fact – and we want to ensure it remains that way for generations to come.
“Thanks to this much-sought-after funding we’ve been able to get to work on our approach to this challenge. I’m excited that we are ready to launch this stage of the project and open dialogue with the public, together with our partners, to explore what it means to be a thriving green city.
“The data gathered in these surveys will be key information which we will use to inform the new 30-year strategy for the Capital’s parks and greenspaces. It will determine how we change and adapt the ways in which we manage our outdoor spaces, to make sure that they continue to play an active role in delivering benefits in areas such as health and wellbeing, active travel, biodiversity, recreation and social cohesion.
“I would encourage everyone to learn more about the project through the website and share your views in our surveys.”
Dave Gorman, Director of Social Responsibility and Sustainability at University of Edinburgh, said:“The Covid19 emergency has demonstrated in the most tangible way possible the vital importance of nature and green space for everyone’s health and wellbeing.
“We are delighted to support this ground-breaking project as it moves into its public dialogue phase. I’m particularly pleased to see that our students and staff are supporting the work and urge people to take the chance to give their views.”
Simon Bell and Catharine Ward Thompson, of the OPENspace Research Centre at University of Edinburgh, said:“We are very pleased that we can contribute, especially to the three surveys being launched today which are also part of research being carried out by masters students on our Landscape and Wellbeing programme.
“We want to help ensure that the health and well-being of the citizens of Edinburgh and those who work and visit here can be promoted through the provision of the best green and blue spaces the city can offer in the long term.”
John Kerr of Edinburgh Green Spaces Forum said: “There is an army of volunteers across the city who work alongside the Council to support our parks, green spaces and cemeteries.
“They are passionate about our green spaces, and now, as more people begin to realise how important these green spaces are to the health and wellbeing of all our residents and visitors, they look forward to this project creating a sustainable long term environment for managing and supporting our green spaces into the future.”
Culture and Communities Convener Cllr Donald Wilson says too many people are currently unable to make the most of one of Edinburgh’s finest greenspaces.
“Princes Street Gardens is one of our city’s greatest green assets and quite rightly holds a special place in the hearts of Edinburgh residents and visitors.
“Our ambition is for this to be a place for people of all ages to enjoy, now and in the future. We are clear that the Gardens will remain a publicly owned and managed treasure for generations to come.
“However, if you’re a wheelchair user or pushing a pram, access to West Princes Street Gardens is currently extremely difficult from most entrances, meaning untold numbers of residents and visitors are effectively excluded from spending time in this magnificent green space.
“The Ross Theatre is no longer fit for purpose and there is too much concrete and not enough greenery. Community use of the facility, meanwhile, has dramatically reduced from its peak in the 50s and 60s.
“Rather than continue with patchwork improvements to West Princes Street Gardens on our own, we welcome the Ross Development Trust’s (RDT) support and funding approach, which allows us to set our sights much higher. It’s important to stress that while the Trust leads on delivering the project and sourcing funding, executive control and governance remain with the Council.
“Edinburgh has long benefited from the philanthropy of generous benefactors – the Ross Theatre and nearby Usher Hall being prime examples of this – and the Trust’s philanthropic giving fundraising strategy for the Quaich Project is looking to harness these benefits to continue this fine tradition.
“The project has already seen the Ross Fountain returned to its 19th Century glory alongside the complete renovation of the Gardener’s Cottage and, should the Trust reach its fundraising target, West Princes Street Gardens would again be transformed into a space for everyone to enjoy in the heart of the city.
“We share residents’ desire to reduce the disruption of the gardens due to major events and have already announced a cap on the number of event days in West Princes Street Gardens. It’s worth remembering, of course, that income raised through events already supports the maintenance of our green spaces and other important Council services.
“In line with our Development Agreement with the Trust, councillors and officers have been closely involved with the Project throughout and the model of seeking donations has underpinned the Project since it began, with councillors agreeing this approach in June 2016.
Any significant corporate donation proposals would of course be subject to the Council’s policy on advertising and sponsorship and would have to be sanctioned by the Council through our committee process – just as the initial £5m contributed by Norman Springford was.
“And to be absolutely clear: there are no proposals to sell off any part of the gardens or for sponsorship deals which impact negatively on Common Good Land, and there never will be.
“The Quaich Project is providing us with an outstanding opportunity to invest in and enhance one of the most stunning settings in Scotland. We look forward to continuing our support for this – and the huge benefits it could bring to the people of Edinburgh and beyond.”
