“Together, We Grow”: Reflections from the Future Parks Accelerator and the Birth of the City of Nature Alliance
By the Community Facilitator for the Naturally Birmingham Future Parks Accelerator Project, Deborah Needle.
When I first stepped into the Future Parks Accelerator (FPA) project, I knew we were part of something ambitious. But I didn’t realise just how deeply it would challenge the way we think about parks not just as green spaces, but as a vital thread connecting every part of life in our city.
At its heart, the FPA project was a question: What if nature was at the centre of everything we do in Birmingham?
What if it wasn’t an afterthought—but the starting point?
We quickly realised that this couldn’t be about parks in isolation. It had to be about people. About health. About homes. About jobs, children, climate, transport, community, and culture. In short it had to be about everything. Because everything is connected. And if nature is the foundation of all we need to survive and thrive, then we must treat it as the common ground on which we all stand.
Planting the Seeds of a City-Wide Movement
That’s how the idea of the City of Nature Alliance was born not just as a working group, but as a movement. An open invitation for everyone who shares the dream of a greener, fairer, healthier Birmingham to step in and shape it.
We knew that a 25-year plan to protect and grow our green spaces couldn’t be built by one department, one organisation, or even one sector. We needed to build something rooted in deep collaboration a citywide alliance of individuals, community groups, organisations, and institutions, all aligned with a common purpose: to make nature part of daily life for every person in Birmingham, no matter who they are or where they live.
And let’s be honest this wasn’t going to be easy. We were asking people to break silos, to rethink systems, to reimagine what a park is, and to see nature not as a luxury, but as a lifeline.
From Vision to Action
Through the FPA project, we piloted this collaborative approach in five parks across Bordesley and Highgate—one of Birmingham’s most environmentally disadvantaged wards. The City of Nature Pilot wasn’t just about improvements to green space it was a test of a whole new way of working: co-designed, community-led, cross-sector, and committed to environmental justice.
We brought together people who care about biodiversity, mental health, youth work, food growing, art, active travel, trees, canals, birds, and bees. People who support others through social prescribing, through play, and through community organising. People who have been doing this work for years often quietly, often without recognition and invited them into a shared space to connect, align, and grow something bigger together.
From that, the City of Nature Alliance began to take shape.
We ran a larger pilot:
We had three workshops looking at:
Finance and Funding: https://naturallybirmingham.org/city-of-nature-alliance-finance-workshop-resources/
Involvement: https://naturallybirmingham.org/city-of-nature-alliance-involved-city-workshop/
Communication: https://naturallybirmingham.org/city-of-nature-alliance-communicating-workshop/
Where We Are Now
The Alliance today includes national charities, local CICs, grassroots volunteers, and public sector bodies—each doing amazing work in their own right, and all committed to a collective vision.
Our current members include:
🌿 Birmingham Open Spaces Forum (BOSF)
🦉 Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust
🌳 Birmingham TreePeople
🚶♀️ The Active Wellbeing Society (TAWS)
🏘️ Legacy WM
🌼 Patchwork Meadow
📚 Learning Journey
🌍 Community Environmental Trust
🚴♀️ Ecobirmingham
🎨 The Parakeet Studio CIC
💧 The Canal and River Trust
🐦 The RSPB
🏛️ The National Trust
🌱 Natural England
🌿 Field Studies Council
🌼The Springfield Project
💧🌳The WASH Project – Ward End Park
Together, we meet monthly and are collaborating on the delivery of the City of Nature Plan bringing targeted support and investment into Birmingham’s six environmental justice priority wards:
Bordesley & Highgate, Balsall Heath West, Castle Vale, Gravelly Hill, Nechells, and Pype Hayes.
We’re doing more than delivering improvements. We’re working to redefine what “green infrastructure” really means in a city like ours.
Looking Ahead: The Work Has Only Just Begun
Although the FPA project has come to an end, I see it differently. For me and for many of us it feels like we’re only just getting started.
Because now we have a shared vision. A plan. A growing alliance.
But more importantly—we have momentum. And it’s powered not just by organisations, but by individuals: our Green Champions, residents, neighbours, young people, and elders—all finding their own connection to nature and building something hopeful from it.
So what’s next? More stories. More collaborations. More listening and learning. More co-creating. More bench chats. More celebrating every little wild flower pushing up through concrete and every child planting their first seed.
That’s the future I see: one where the City of Nature is not just a plan, but a place—real, shared, and thriving. And we’re building it. Together.
Want to be part of the journey?
If you or your organisation would like to find out more or join the City of Nature Alliance, we’d love to hear from you.
📩 Contact us at: cityofnature@birmingham.gov.uk
🌿 Learn more at: https://naturallybirmingham.org/birmingham-city-of-nature-delivery-framework/
Let’s make Birmingham a city where nature is at the heart of everything. Together, we grow.
Naturally Birmingham Future Parks Project 