This document serves as a living workbook, which will be regularly updated as the project progresses and further work is carried out.

Place: Across the South West of England (our research indicates that these insights are playing out in other communities)

Co-ordinator: Laura Tyley

"Rural communities like ours in South Somerset are often overlooked when it comes to environmental funding and support. I am chair of an environmental action group working towards a sustainable future in a small town and raising awareness and getting people to engage is difficult. TLP has the potential to link similar initiatives so we can pool our strengths to really make a difference. Knowing Laura and how dedicated she is I know this will be of huge benefit to us and other local groups." –Janice Blackwell, chair of One Planet Wincanton

Vision

A network of thriving ecological projects that have the capacity and resources to innovate and nurture their ecosystems and engage communities in resilient ways.

Engagement, Problem, Potential Identification

Through community engagement and scoping, I identified that the resilience (the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties) of grassroots environmental projects is being undermined by a system that overlooks rural communities across the UK.

Challenges include:

• Loss of land-based knowledge: The decline of traditional environmental practices threatens rural regeneration.
• Closure of communal spaces: With fewer community hubs, collaboration and collective action have dwindled.
• Youth exodus: Young people leaving rural areas results in a lack of new energy and ideas for environmental projects.
• Overburdened grassroots efforts: Grassroots groups are stepping in where councils and public services are failing or disappearing, but they lack capacity and resources.
• Funding challenges: Local, long-term funding is scarce, and small groups struggle with long-winded application processes.
• Council support variance: Groups with supportive councils see more success, but supportive councils isn’t a given.
• Lack of admin/comms support: Grassroots groups lack the capacity to effectively strategise and connect with others.