About Green COMMUNITY Hubs
what makes a hub?
Green community hubs are natural outdoor spaces that are activated as a base for community activities.
They might be community gardens, allotments, parks, nature reserves, or even just a small pocket of land on a housing estate.
Whatever form they take, they become part of the social infrastructure of a neighborhood or community – the places and spaces that enable social connections to flourish.
Although each hub is unique, they often share key features and outcomes:
Connecting people
Green community hubs are fundamentally social spaces that help people to broaden their networks, foster a sense of belonging and combat social isolation.
Including everyone
The contribution of every individual is valued equally at green community hubs, no matter their starting point. Hubs bring together people from all different cultures and life experiences.
boosting wellbeing
We know that time in nature is good for our mental health, and hubs are able to combine this with other opportunities to boost the wellbeing of local people. Many green community hubs deliver activities relating to wellbeing, from garden yoga sessions to mindfulness programmes.
Enhancing prospects
Green community hubs can act as stepping stones, helping people into employment or back into education through allowing them to develop new skills and build confidence.
Enabling community
Hubs support greater community cohesion through regular events and collaboration with local infrastructure and services. The skills and knowledge of dedicated staff and volunteers play a crucial role in enabling community life in and around the hub.
greening spaces
Green community hubs help to improve the local environment on the sites themselves, creating pockets of green that boost biodiversity in urban areas. They promote a connection to nature and the development of horticultural skills so people of all ages can protect our environment for generations to come.
Building momentum
In 2022, Groundwork commissioned Wavehill to undertake an evaluation of the Northern Network pilot project. The findings of this 18-month endeavor are shared in the Phase 1 Report linked below, exploring the successes, challenges and limitations of the first iteration of the Northern Network.
“The key impacts on nature from the Green Community Hubs are multifaceted, including through habitat creation and/or restoration through activity days. Hubs have also addressed some of the indirect drivers of biodiversity loss through education, training and connecting people with nature. It is likely this activity will provide a long term positive impact on nature.”
Continuing from this pilot project, the Northern Network secured further funding to expand the project and is currently in our second phase, building momentum to co-create 30 new green community hubs, strengthening our support for already existing hubs and building the wider movement.