Ecosystems Knowledge Network news, events and resources.

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Dear <<First Name>>,

An environment for levelling up?

"Levelling-up" is the ongoing mantra from Westminster; seeking to narrow gaps between rich and poor around these islands.

In the media, this catch-phrase appears to be all about bricks, mortar and electric charging points. But, given what we know about the environment's role in prosperity, shouldn't we be thinking first and foremost about levelling-up in terms of access to a healthy natural environment? Starting with a plan for how the environment throughout these islands can shape places where people want to be, and where they can thrive in a world of climate change.

Our contribution to this levelling-up challenge is to enable people like you to discover the innovation and resources that connect environment, wellbeing and prosperity. Innovation, for example, in the use of games and gamification in aiding an understanding of the value of nature (see our Game On for Nature Conference). Be part of it: let us know if you have something innovative to share.

Stuart Robertson
EKN's Knowledge Exchange Specialist

Corporate natural capital accounting insight
Health research fund sponsors green prescription work
Defra introduces Natural Capital & Ecosystem Assessment Programme
West of England joins up nature and climate action
National Highways and The Wildlife Trusts collaborate
Hull Water Resilience Partnership
Welsh & English greenspace £25 billion

Go to news

Game On for Nature Conference 2022
Financing UK Nature Recovery Recommendations and Roadmap launch
Data for 20 minute neighbourhoods
Natural Capital Finance & Investment Conference 2022

Go to events

Wholescape Approach to Marine Management (WAMM)
25 Year Environment Plan local delivery
Nature-Based Finance Learning Hub
Learning in Local Greenspace Project

Go to resources

News

Corporate natural capital accounting insight

Measuring the state of natural capital assets

Corporate Natural Capital Accounting involves identifying, measuring, recording, summarising and reporting changes in the state of the natural environment and the associated value to business and wider society. A new working paper prepared by eftec and partners shows how this can be applied by organisations, transforming their reporting of impacts and dependencies on nature.
Access the Time to Take Stock paper here.

Major heath research fund sponsors green prescription work

Steps towards a Randomised Control Trial

Exeter and Plymouth Universities have been awarded funds by the National Institute for Health Research to clarify whether prescriptions for engagement in the natural outdoors are effective in protecting and improving the mental health of participants with diagnosed conditions such as depression and anxiety. The work is a vital step towards a full Randomised Controlled Trial; a type of study that has the capacity to bring about large-scale changes in healthcare practice. The team will work with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, and Newquay Orchard.
Read more here.

Defra introduces Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment Programme

Plan for more up-to-date, accessible evidence

The ambition for a £5 million Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment was announced in 2020. Defra has now provided an outline of the ambitions for this programme. It includes "support for the environmental land management reforms by scoping and commissioning a combined mapping and remote sensing, citizen science and professional field survey approach". There is also to be "a user-friendly database for natural capital evidence" for the marine environment.
Read more about the Assessment here.

West of England joins up nature & climate action

New Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy and Action Plan (CESAP) approved

Responses on climate and nature are often separate. The West of England Combined Authority has changed this in approving a joint action plan for these twin challenges. It highlights five priority areas where action is needed, including Nature Recovery, Low Carbon Buildings and Places, and Renewables. The plan is focused on achieving net zero across the West of England by 2030, utilising a £50m Green Recovery Fund in its ambition for a Green Transition.
Read the Plan here.

National Highways and The Wildlife Trusts collaborate

New £6 million programme

National Highways is working with with The Wildlife Trusts to launch a new £6 million 'Network for Nature' programme that aims to improve habitats across England. The projects will help create, restore and connect places for wildflowers, trees and wildlife where the environment has been impacted by activities from previous road building. Increased use of natural 'solutions' such as wetlands and reedbeds will help filter run-off from roads.
Explore the projects here.

Hull Water Resilience Partnership

'Living with Water' partnership featured on New Climate Action Podcast

Hull's 'Living with Water' was featured on a recent episode of climate charity's Carbon Copy's Copy This podcast. In the 'Blue Green City of the Future' episode, representatives from the Living with Water partnership explain why Hull and East Riding in Yorkshire are at such high risk from flooding, and how their partnership approach can help in mitigating and adapting to this.
Listen to the podcast here.

Welsh & English greenspace valued at £25bn

Outputs from greenspace valuation tool

Parks and green spaces provide around £25.6 billion of ‘welfare value’ to the health and wellbeing of adults in England and Wales each year, according to a review of a tool that calculates the economic value of outdoor recreational spaces. The Outdoor Recreation Valuation Tool (ORVal), developed by the University of Exeter, assesses the value provided by each park, wood, riverside walk, country path and beach across England and Wales. While practical responses to this latest valuation are unclear, the new study highlights how the location of greenspace is a major factor in determining value.

Events

Game On for Nature Conference 2022

16^th June 2022

Secure your place at our pioneering event next month exploring the potential for games and gamification to improve the stewardship of land, water, and nature in the UK and beyond. The event is free for delegates so please share widely within your network. Alongside Tony Juniper CBE, Chair of Natural England, we are pleased to announce our second Keynote Jude Ower MBE, Founder and Chief Executive of PlayMob and Co-founder of the Playing for the Planet Alliance.
Register for the event here.

Financing UK Nature Recovery Recommendations & Roadmap

Online launch, 7th June 2022
More than 300 industry leaders from the farming, land management, business, finance, and environment sectors have contributed to the Recommendations and Roadmap for what is needed to scale up high-integrity environmental markets to deliver nature recovery across the UK. On 7th June, the report will be launched in a free online event. Experts from business, environment, and agriculture will be at the event to discuss the report, share insights, and answer your questions about what it will take to accelerate private investment in nature recovery across the UK. Register here.

Data for 20 minute neighbourhoods

Free webinar, 21st June 2022
20 Minute Neighbourhoods are about ensuring people can meet their everyday needs within a short walk or cycle of their home. This webinar – the latest in a series of TCPA webinars about 20-minute neighbourhoods – will explore ways to gather baseline data to shape, inform, achieve, and evaluate the implementation of 20-Minute Neighbourhoods in England. It will include an overview of available data sources and tools, as well as presentations from two local authority areas progressing the principles of 20-minute neighbourhoods in their areas. Register here.

Natural Capital Finance and Investment Conference 2022

Conference, 19th-20th October 2022
Now in its fifth year, the Natural Capital Finance & Investment Conference is a unique forum that brings together representatives from financial services and stewardship of the natural environment to catalyse the emerging nature-based arena in the UK.
Pre-register to be notified when registration first opens.

Resources

Wholescape Approach to Marine Management (WAMM)

The Rivers Trust and Coastal Partnerships Webinar

The Coastal Partnerships network offers a platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing, working to strengthen and support Coastal Partnerships, encouraging greater representation of the value of their work. This webinar outlines how the WAMM approach can enhance collaboration between these partnerships, ultimately helping to advance a 'wholescape' approach which connects the marine environment to the terrestrial and freshwater components upstream. The webinar also presents a 'Roadmap to Collaborative Delivery', and case study examples. Watch the webinar here.

25 Year Environment Plan local delivery

Research for Defra now published

HM Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan sets out the key steps for achieving the goal of improving the environment within a generation. A study carried out in 2018 and 2019 sought to understand how the Plan can best be delivered at the local level. It centred on local leadership, governance, collaboration and integration across different sectors. The report identifies that significant differences exist in the status and role of local organisations in the health, economic development and environment sectors.

Nature-Based Finance Learning Hub

The Nature-Based Finance Learning Hub has recently been launched as an online platform to facilitate shared learning on the topic of finance and investment in environmental restoration across the UK. The Hub is designed to help you discover the topic of finance and investment for environmental restoration across the UK. It is the new open-access format for the Natural Capital Finance & Investment Forum that we have provided since 2018. The Hub is also provides a first glance at EKN's upcoming website re-design.
Explore the new Hub pages here.

Learning in Local Greenspace Project

Enhancing childrens' interaction with greenspace

Run by NatureScot as part of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Route Map 2020, this outdoor learning project directly targeted 115 schools in disadvantaged communities to access and use their local green space. As a result, this enhanced teachers' understandings of nature, as well as students' engagement and connection with nature. Read the full report here

Good things to share?

Send us your news - do you have project news or reports you want to share, new tools or other resources? Let us know via info@ecosystemsknowledge.net

An award winning hub for shared learning!

Ecosystems Knowledge Network is delighted to share that it has won the 'Best Practice - Knowledge Sharing' award in the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management 2021 Awards. Thank you for the part that you play in our unique UK-wide knowledge-sharing work. Read more about the awards here.

The Ecosystems Knowledge Network is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, registered with the Charities Commission for England and Wales (No. 1159867) and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (No. SC045732).

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