Category Archives: Uncategorized

Notes from a Slow Time Traveller

I recently realised something that felt both obvious and oddly liberating:we are all time travellers. I time travelled from 1964 to today. It just took me 62 years to get here. When people talk about time travel, they imagine machines, portals, or sudden leaps across centuries. But in reality, most of us are moving throughContinue reading “Notes from a Slow Time Traveller”

Delivering the WMCA Nature Recovery Strategy in Birmingham: Clarity, Coordination and Collective Action

Nature recovery is no longer optional. With Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) now a statutory requirement in England, every region must move from aspiration to coordinated delivery. For Birmingham — the UK’s largest local authority, a city shaped by environmental inequalities, and one with significant natural assets — this is both a responsibility and anContinue reading “Delivering the WMCA Nature Recovery Strategy in Birmingham: Clarity, Coordination and Collective Action”

An unplanned Bench Chat

I don’t record every bench chat I have, sometimes because people don’t want me to record them. Sometimes because I don’t realise stopping for a quick catch up is going to turn into a “Bench Chat” moment. On this occasion a simple question to me – “What are you up to?” Evolved into a conversationContinue reading “An unplanned Bench Chat”

Warley Woods Bench Chat

For those of you that are new to our Bench Chat recordings, they are a simple concept which is by no means new. Choose a place with a bench, invite a friend, grab a tea or coffee or other refreshment and talk to each other. Share memories, take in the surroundings, and in this benchContinue reading “Warley Woods Bench Chat”

A journey to The Centre of the Earth

Bench Chat: Layers of Nature – A Conversation with Holly from the Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust The Centre of the Earth is the Wildlife Trust’s purpose built environmental centre in Winson Green – just 1.5 km from Birmingham City Centre. Here they specialise in teaching and learning about wildlife, the environment and sustainableContinue reading “A journey to The Centre of the Earth”

Pull Up a Seat

What I Learned from the Bench Chat Project By Deborah Needle, Community Facilitator, Naturally Birmingham Let me tell you something I’ve learned through this work: sometimes, the simplest ideas are the ones that change people the most. The Friendship Bench Chat wasn’t born in a boardroom, from a strategy paper, or after a round ofContinue reading “Pull Up a Seat”

From Seed to Roots

Reflections on Five Years of Future Parks in BirminghamBy a Community Facilitator, Birmingham City of Nature Alliance When we first set out on the Future Parks Accelerator journey five years ago, the goal felt both urgent and enormous: tackle environmental injustice, reconnect people with the nature on their doorstep, and transform the way green spacesContinue reading “From Seed to Roots”

Reflecting on my role

The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Community Facilitator Being a Community Facilitator for the Future Parks Accelerator (FPA) Project is a role filled with purpose, passion, and—sometimes—loneliness. As the final stage of the FPA project that looked at urban nature development comes to a close, I am asking those involved in the project to reflect onContinue reading “Reflecting on my role”

Green Champions – Wild at Heart

The way Birmingham City Council manages it’s parks, green and blue spaces and even some of its grey spaces has changed in line with Birmingham’s City of Nature Plan which you can read here: https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/…/our_future_nature_city… It is an ambitious 25-year plan for the whole city, but it starts in its heart with six wards mostContinue reading “Green Champions – Wild at Heart”