Edinburgh Living Landscape is a partnership with a long-term vision to ensure that nature is at the heart of the city.
It will demonstrate that investment in the natural environment makes economic sense as well as increasing biodiversity and creating healthier urban ecosystems. To do this we need to integrate nature into the urban landscape of our city.
It will reinforce and expand existing green networks and reconnect the people of Edinburgh to their natural environment. Edinburgh Living Landscape will work to benefit local people and wildlife with an aim to make the city one of the most sustainable in Europe by 2050.
Edinburgh Living Landscape is a group of organisations working in partnership to connect green infrastructure at multiple scales, from window boxes, green roofs and street trees through to large parks and urban woodlands. It is about making the links between a healthy environment, a healthy economy, people’s well-being and ultimately the prosperity of Edinburgh. It is also about bringing together a group of people and organisations who are all seeking to achieve similar common goals so they can be achieved more efficiently and effectively.
The Living Landscape is creating positive change across the city, bringing wildlife into people’s gardens and integrating green infrastructure into Edinburgh’s biggest networks. In densely populated urban areas, it is working with communities and developers to enhance the natural environment. In the green areas of the city, the Living Landscape will make sure these areas are sustainable and resilient. For parks, this will mean changes to how some of the outdoor spaces look, with the creation of meadows and more natural areas that can be explored and enjoyed. For new developments, nature will be seen as an asset and natural features will be built into the infrastructure.
Edinburgh Living Landscape is a landscape-scale partnership led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, The City of Edinburgh Council, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust, The University of Edinburgh, Butterfly Conservation Scotland, RSPB, NatureScot and TCV. Working in partnership, these organisations aim to improve the ecosystem health of Edinburgh for the benefit of local people and wildlife.
A huge number of people, organisations, and businesses have been supported to improve the ecosystem health of Edinburgh for its residents, economy, and wildlife. Highlight impacts have been through flagship projects – Nature in Your Neighbourhood, Square Metre for Butterflies, Pollinator Pledge, Grey to Green Shoreline, Tree Time, and the Edinburgh Nature Network. Much more has been done behind the scenes to work with policy makers to improve the green infrastructure in our built-up areas, and researchers are gathering evidence of the benefits. The graphic below presents the outputs from the first few years of the Edinburgh Living Landscape, and more detail can be found in the report here.
Published in 2014 the programme plan sets out the partnerships vision for how to deliver a Living Landscape at the city scale. It and brings together the views and aspirations of the partners and sets out indicators to measure success.
