Visioning Together - A Partnership Approach

Visioning Together – A Partnership Approach, developed through the National Trust Nature Towns and Cities programme, is a practical guide for teams and organisations seeking to develop shared strategic visions for parks and green spaces through collaborative and participatory approaches.

The guide sets out a three-stage framework for visioning.

1.Start a Conversation, focuses on engaging a wide range of people through participatory methods such as walk and talks, creative storytelling, community events and place-based discussions. It encourages organisations to build on existing engagement, use local data, and consistently demonstrate how community input is being used to shape emerging visions.

2. Plug the Gap, focuses on expanding engagement to new networks and addressing gaps in participation. It highlights the importance of stakeholder mapping, demographic insight and targeted outreach, including working with VCSE organisations and underrepresented groups, to ensure a fuller understanding of local needs and experiences.

3. The Big Launch, focuses on sharing and activating the vision publicly. It explores methods such as online platforms, participatory budgeting, collaborative workshops and public events to increase visibility, build shared ownership and support implementation.

Across all stages, the guide promotes a wide range of participatory tools and techniques, supported by case studies from across the UK, to demonstrate how collaborative visioning is already being used in practice. These examples show how local authorities and organisations are combining creativity, data and community knowledge to shape long-term green infrastructure plans.

Visioning Together positions strategic visioning as an ongoing, collaborative process rather than a one-off consultation exercise, showing how stronger outcomes can be achieved when communities and partners work together to shape the future of local green spaces.

About Nature Towns and Cities, National Trust

The National Trust is a conservation charity working to preserve and protect historic places and green spaces across the UK. Through its Nature Towns and Cities programme, it supports partners to create more accessible, nature-rich towns and cities where everyone can connect with green space.