New greenspace and wellbeing guide for housing associations

Greenspace and Wellbeing: A Good Practice Guide for Housing Associations, has been published by Linc Cymru in Wales.

Housing associations are well placed to help deliver benefits from access to the outdoors and green space, and this guide is a good starting point for housing associations who want to enhance the quality of their existing green space. A wide range of case studies outlines how communities have designed-in better green space and green infrastructure for the benefit of both tenants and biodiversity. The guide uses examples from Wales and is set in a Welsh context but will be useful for any housing association.

The guide aims to signpost housing associations to the existing knowledge around green space and green infrastructure and contains ways of working to enhance it and case studies from the sector.

This guide draws on learning from the Growing Green Spaces project. Funded by the Natural Resources Wales Sustainable Management of Natural Resources (SMNR) pilot grant and working with Linc Cymru, the year long project worked with a range of partners across South Wales. Types of work spanned supporting

community led projects around green space to advising the development team on design.

The project was embedded in the Well-being of Future Generations Act, aiming to help people live healthier and more fulfilled lives through improved access to the outdoors for health and well-being, by closely working with tenants and community in a meaningful way from ideas to implementation and facilitating community led projects:

• Collaborating with expert partners, other housing associations, tenants and departments within their own organisation.

• Putting resource behind green space and designs high quality green space and green infrastructure in their new developments.