Connecting Through Nature

What is Connecting through Nature

Connecting through Nature is a three-year project, working with Durham Wildlife Trust, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Sunderland City Council, to help residents and community groups have an active role in caring for, enjoying and using green or blue spaces on the doorstep. These spaces could be the local park, open grassland, the green corridor alongside a burn or railway walk or local woodland. The Connecting Through Nature Project wants everyone in Sunderland have access to good quality green or blue spaces, which are pleasant, clean, safe, accessible, welcoming and rich in wildlife. Greenspaces where you feel comfortable and want to spend time; enjoying nature, exercising, socialising and relaxing. Some greenspaces feel unloved and could be improved for nature and people.  Connecting Through Nature provides that opportunity to support residents and coordinate activity.  

The Project’s aims include the following:

• Residents have pride in their greenspaces and recognise the advantages of being outdoors in nature for their health and wellbeing
• Engaging with communities to encourage activity, involvement and volunteering in natural greenspaces to increase social cohesion and reduce inequalities in access to nature
• Increasing biodiversity, nature recovery and resilience of the city to climate change
• Improve the quality of our Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) such as Tunstall Hills
• Create a pipeline of investable greenspaces improvement projects designed by communities

The Connecting through Nature project is an opportunity to spend time with friends and neighbours to improve a local greenspace that you care about.  Project ideas ideas that could improve local greenspaces could include:

• New areas for wildlife could be created by planting new trees and wildflowers.
• Existing wildlife areas can be cared for by picking up litter or cutting back overgrown hedges and scrubby areas to open paths, actions to make them more welcoming and better for wildlife.
• Residents can work together to encourage more people to use and enjoy them through planning activities like walks, wildlife watching, picnics or outdoor fitness sessions.

Getting involved in outdoor, nature-based projects can be an opportunity to bring people together. Plus, spending time in nature can make you feel good and help with feelings of well-being and support good health.

There is a dedicated project team based in Sunderland City Council and Durham Wildlife Trust who can support you to come up with ideas and see what is possible. Using their experience and expertise, they can answer wildlife questions, help plan activities, support with learning new skills and help with finding funding to bring your ideas to life. So, if there is a greenspace near by that you want to improve for wildlife and people, please get in touch on nature@sunderland.gov.uk.

Connecting Through Nature is part of a national programme called Nature Towns and Cities which is putting nature at the heart of communities to revitalise greenspaces for people and wildlife. Their ambitious aims are to help 5 million more people enjoy better access to green and blue space close to home and to enable 1 million more children to be able to play in nature on their doorstep. Nature Towns and Cities is a partnership between Natural England, National Trust and National Lottery Heritage Fund. Sunderland is part of this ambition, having secured funding, in 2025 and is one 19 places from across the country to do so. Nature Towns and Cities programme.