Nature- and place-based interventions, such as green social prescribing, community gardening and outdoor wellbeing programmes, are increasingly recognised for their potential to improve health, wellbeing and community resilience. However, organisations often lack practical, consistent approaches to evaluate their impact, making it difficult to demonstrate outcomes, secure funding and inform future decision-making. This project addresses that evidence gap by bringing together researchers, policymakers and community organisations to co-develop a flexible evaluation framework tailored to real-world practice.
Working collaboratively with partners including the Oxfordshire Local Nature Partnership, The Nature Effect, Oxford Brookes University, the project will use a series of co-design workshops and pilot activities to develop, test and refine the framework. The emphasis is on creating an approach that is scientifically robust while remaining practical and proportionate for organisations delivering nature-based and place-based initiatives.
The project will produce a practical evaluation framework, toolkit and case-study examples that can be adapted across different settings. By strengthening evaluation capacity and supporting evidence-informed decision-making, the project aims to improve investment in preventative, nature-based approaches while laying the foundations for future collaborative research and larger-scale funding opportunities.
Partners
