Improving public engagement for maximised benefits of forest and woodland expansion and creation

Project Outcome:

Enhancing Public Engagement for Sustainable Growth

This project bridges the gap between researchers, practitioners, policymakers and local communities. By pooling insights from four previously funded UK Treescapes Projects – TreE_PlaNat, Branching out, Connected Treescapes and Treescapes Fellow, Dr James Levine – this initiative developed inclusive communication methods that put stakeholders centre stage. Outcomes from this project are being shared with the Forth Climate Forest (FCF) for integration into woodland planning.

How?

The team engaged local communities around FCF through participatory workshops and storytelling sessions which captured personal stories with themes of history, family and home. Additionally, mapping based discussions yielded large amounts of detailed local knowledge on expectations and desires relating to woodland creation.

This led to co-produced recommendations for woodland expansion and ecosystem service provision and a co-produced ArcGIS Storymap that integrated personal stories into treescape maps.