Workstream: Final conference March 31st
Key Resources to support conference
Mainstreaming nature using green infrastructure final conference ALL TALKS AVAILABLE AS VIDEO
Workstream: Improving policy processes and outcomes for GI
Building with Nature Chair of Standards Board 2018-2022
Green Infrastructure Partnership Evaluation
Green Infrastructure Planning Policy Assessment Tool
Improving Multifunctionality of Green Belts
Introducing the Nature Assessment Tool for Urban and Rural Environments NATURE
Introducing The Environmental Benefits from Nature Tool
Strategic Planning Research Project: Improving Strategic Planning for Nature Conservation
Workstream: Key Research on Green Infrastructure: what is the science telling us?
EU Projects on Green Infrastructure
NERC projects and programmes relevant to Green Infrastructure
Other Academic Research on Green Infrastructure
Other Research Council UK projects on Green Infrastructure
Workstream: Policy and Practice on Green Infrastructure: What are the key lessons emerging?
Capturing Green Infrastructure Policy and Practice
Workstream: Understanding our growing environmental vocabulary & how green infrastructure fits in
Green Infrastructure Planning Policy Assessment Tool
This project has been developed with Max Hislop of Glasgow and Clyde Valley Green Network
The Finalised GI Policy assessment tool v3.4 is now available with comprehensive guidance and templates for undertaking your own GI assessment of local plans and GI policies.
This self-assessment tool, complete with guidance for local authorities to use, is free and designed to improve the design and wording of policies that address GI functions within their planning documents. The tool has been built from fusing existing research involving the NERC Building with Nature Standards, the Integrated Green Infrastructure standards from Glasgow and Clyde Valley Green Network Project and outputs from my Mainstreaming GI project. Together with planners from West of England Combined Authority and UK Green Infrastructure Partnership the matrix was developed with 26 assessment criteria covering core GI functions.
Our focus is on improving strategic and local plans and supporting green infrastructure strategies as these are the primary determinants used for planning decisions. It is our view that currently there are significant diffferences in the quality and coverage of policies for green infrastructure across local authorities and thus by strengthening these it will help deliver better green infrastructure outcomes.
The matrix has been road tested by planners developing local plans and involves the following steps.
Of particular importance is the need to move away from producing a single GI policy to develop separate but linked policies that cover the full range of functions that green infrastructure covers. Furthermore, the policies need to be in different chapters of plans thus improving the degree of mainstreaming as all too often people associate green infrastructure with environmental aspects.
This work is built on the foundation of Max Hislop's work for the Scottish Government which is also a paper in Planning Theory and Practice but develops this further with a full review of green infrastructure functions, standards, stewardship and mainstreaming components .
Using this version we have undertaken new reviews of both the National Planning Policy Framework February 2019 version and Planning Policy Wales (PPW10) December 2018
The following article in town and country planning highlights the development and potential of the tool: Scott AJ and Hislop, M (2019) what does good GI policy look like? Town and Country Planning 88 (5) 177-184
In June 2020 an expert policy brief has been published under the EU PERFECT project.
Please get in touch in you wish to discuss your own needs whether it be local plans, GI strategy or neighbourhood plans.
A Scoring template 
