The project team led by Cunnane Stratton Reynolds was appointed to prepare action plans for the sustainable development and management of the parks and green areas of the five Park Atlantic partner cities, with the overall objective of improving citizens’ quality of life. The action plans were to be informed by the Parks and Green Areas Study of the five cities (conducted by French consultancy CRP Consulting in 2011), which studied the spatial resources and management policies and practices of the various city councils.
The project team analysed the parks and green area resources and the management structures of each of the five cities in the form of a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) and conducted site visits and interviews with local authority staff to identify best practice in parks and green areas management as well as any weaknesses in the cities’ policy and practice. This work was supplemented by research into international practice, and a theoretical toolkit of best practice in local authority parks and green areas management was prepared.
The toolkit addressed policy areas such as green infrastructure, sustainable urban drainage (green streets, green roofs, etc.), urban landscape character and legibility, promotion of good landscape and urban design, the urban forest, urban agriculture, community participation, economic valuation of parks and green areas, resources and funding for development and management, etc. Each policy area is discussed and references to good practice and further reading are provided. The five cities were then evaluated against the toolkit of best practice and any requirements or opportunities for improvements in parks and green areas policy and practice were identified in the form of an action plan. The action plan for each city is divided into strategic, medium and short term actions, with the responsible parties identified along with monitoring indicators against which to measure the actions’ success over time.
Please see the continuation of the Park Atlantic 2014 Project - Economic Value Of Ecosystem Services at the link below
https://www.csrlandplan.ie/project/park-atlantic-economic-value-of-ecosystem-services
