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, to support and encourage residents and community groups to a play an active role in caring for, enjoying and use green or blue spaces close to their home. 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 to ensure that everyone from across Sunderland have access to good quality green or blue spaces, which are pleasant, clean, safe, accessible, welcoming and rich in wildlife. All green or blue spaces should be places where you feel comfortable and want to spend time; enjoying nature, exercising, socialising and relaxing. Sadly, some greenspaces or parks 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)
• Create a pipeline of investable greenspaces improvement projects designed by communities, for their local greenspace with support from the project team

The Connecting through Nature project is an opportunity to work with friends and neighbours to improve a local greenspace that you care about and want to see improved. With support, residents and community groups can get involved in revitalising greenspaces through practical projects and activities. There are probably many ideas that resident have that could improve their local greenspaces for instance:

• New areas for wildlife could be created by planting new trees and wildflowers or digging a pond.
• Existing wildlife areas can be cared 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 meet new people in your local area. 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 guide you through the process of bringing people together to come up with ideas and see what is possible for your local park. Using their experience and expertise they can answer wildlife questions, help plan activities to encourage more people to get involved, support with learning new skills and help with finding funding to bring your ideas to life. So, if there is a park or green or blue space near by that you want to see become better for wildlife and people or there are some issues that concern you, please get in touch.

Once you contact the team, they can help you start to develop your ideas.

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.