Last updated: March 2023
The field is a 3.5 hectare of grassland, grazed by horses for over 20 years. After it fell vacant in early 2011, a group of local residents (“The Field Group”) negotiated a community lease with its owners, City of Edinburgh Council, with the aims of creating an orchard, creating/restoring semi-natural habitats and encouraging its use for quiet recreation and informal education. Members can volunteer their gardening labour or donate money. They can then participate in a garden run for the community – whether to pick the vegetables, learn fruit-growing, help to keep the chickens or just enjoy the space. [ref 1, 2]
The Field Group
https://thefieldduddingston.wordpress.com/
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Community gardens and allotments
- Community gardens
- Parks and urban forests
- Other
Key challenges
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Habitat and biodiversity restoration
- Habitat and biodiversity conservation
- Green space creation and/or management
- Regeneration, land-use and urban development
- Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
- Water management (SDG 6)
- Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
- Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
- Protection of historic and cultural landscape/infrastructure
- Health and well-being (SDG 3)
- Improving mental health
- Creation of opportunities for recreation
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Maintenance and management of urban nature, Monitoring and maintenance of habitats and/or biodiversity
Project objectives
1. The advancement of environmental improvement, through the creation and management of semi-natural habitats and the sustainable production of fruit and other grown products, and the sustainable use of water and other resources.
2. The advancement of education through workshops, training and peer to peer learning related to the acquisition and sharing of the skills needed to manage semi-natural habitats and orchards with members, other groups and the public.
3. The provision of recreational facilities, or the organisation of recreational activities, with the object of improving the conditions of life for the persons for whom the facilities or activities are primarily intended, and/or members of the public at large.
4. Additionally, one of the main income streams and consequently one of the main aims for the group is the sponsorship of the Golden Apple trees in their orchard. [ref 1, 9]
Implementation activities
The group leases a 3.5-hectare field from the City of Edinburgh Council. This is managed for public access and habitat restoration. Local residents, people from further afield and groups of students volunteer to do necessary work including building and maintaining paths, planting trees and mowing the meadow. These workdays are social events with open-air lunches, and there is often also informal training. The Measured Walk (completed in 2014), has benches as rest points for older and infirm people. Regular sessions have been organised with primary school groups studying and working. Several nurseries use the field for outdoor activities. Many of the older volunteers are retired or older people. [ref 1]
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity conservation:
- Protect and enhance urban habitats
- Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
- Promote environmentally-sound development in and around protected areas
- Reduce negative impacts and avoid the alteration/damage of ecosystem
- Protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect native species
- Means for conservation governance
- Raise public awareness
- Public engagement
- Create and use scientific knowledge for conservation
Biodiversity restoration:
- Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
- Public engagement
Main beneficiaries
- Non-government organisation/Civil Society
- Citizens or community groups
- Marginalized groups: Elderly people
- Young people and children
Governance
Management set-up
- Led by non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Citizens or community group
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
- Crowd-sourcing/Crowd-funding/Participatory budget
- Dissemination of information and education
- Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
- Co-management/Joint management
- Citizen monitoring and review
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The Charity is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (a SCIO). It was registered in its current legal form on 18 November 2014. The charity was previously an unincorporated association but changed its legal form to a SCIO. The assets (value £0) of the unincorporated association were transferred to the SCIO on the 1 August 2012. It has a single tier structure and as such the trustees are the members of the charity. The management committee, which normally meets four times a year, are the charity’s trustees. Membership of the management committee is open to anyone. [ref 1]
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a national policy or strategy?
Yes
(The new allotment strategy for Edinburgh 'Cultivating Communities: A Growing Success' 2017 - 2027 has been developed in line with the requirements of legislation contained within the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. (ref 1, 7))
... a local policy or strategy?
Yes
(Key documents for green space and NBS at local level are the Local Development Plan and the Open Space Strategy. The Local Development Plan seeks to protect and enhance the environment and address the challenge of climate change. This will be partly achieved by using new development projects to enhance the green network. The Plan also identifies areas for conservation, and the different functions and benefits of urban green space are considered in terms of their contribution to the environment as well as their social and economic value. [ref 3])
Financing
Total cost
€100,000 - €500,000
Source(s) of funding
- Crowdfunding
- Private Foundation/Trust
Type of funding
- Donations
- Membership or entrance fees
Non-financial contribution
Type of non-financial contribution
- Provision of land
- Provision of goods
- Provision of labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
- Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
- Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Lowered local temperature
- Enhanced carbon sequestration
- Green space and habitat
- Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
- Increase in protected green space areas
- Increased ecological connectivity across regeneration sites and scales
- Reduced biodiversity loss
- Increased number of species present
Economic impacts
- Generation of income from NBS
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Improved access to urban green space
- Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Health and wellbeing
- Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Cultural heritage and sense of place
- Improvement in people’s connection to nature
- Education
- Increased support for education and scientific research
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
Yes
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
Yes
References
[1] The Field Group (Duddingston) SCIO (2018). Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2017. retrieved on 08/30/2020 from Source link.
[2] Sommerville, C. (2012). Gardening: Duddingston Village Community Garden is a positive sign of the thymes for gardening. The Scotsman. Retrieved 08/30/2020 from Source link.
[3] Edinburgh - NBS enhancing health, wealth and sustainability (2018). OPPLA. retrieved 08/30/2020 from Source link
[4] GREEN SURGE: Case Study City Portrait: Edinburgh. Retrieved 08/30/2020 from: Source link
[5] Wildlife Observations (2016). The Field Duddingston Wordpress. Retrieved 08/30/2020 from Source link
[6] Community Woodlands Association (2019)The Field Group Duddingston. Case study. Retrieved 08/30/2020 from Source link.
[7] Cultivating Communities: A Growing Success 2017 - 2027. Allotment Strategy for Edinburgh, retrieved 08/30/2020 from Source link.
[8] Edinburgh and the Lothians Forestry and Woodland Strategy (2012) SEA Environmental Report by LUC. Retrieved 08/30/2020 from Source link
[9] The Field Group (Duddingston) SCIO (2014). Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2014. Retrieved 08/30/2020 from Source link
[2] Sommerville, C. (2012). Gardening: Duddingston Village Community Garden is a positive sign of the thymes for gardening. The Scotsman. Retrieved 08/30/2020 from Source link.
[3] Edinburgh - NBS enhancing health, wealth and sustainability (2018). OPPLA. retrieved 08/30/2020 from Source link
[4] GREEN SURGE: Case Study City Portrait: Edinburgh. Retrieved 08/30/2020 from: Source link
[5] Wildlife Observations (2016). The Field Duddingston Wordpress. Retrieved 08/30/2020 from Source link
[6] Community Woodlands Association (2019)The Field Group Duddingston. Case study. Retrieved 08/30/2020 from Source link.
[7] Cultivating Communities: A Growing Success 2017 - 2027. Allotment Strategy for Edinburgh, retrieved 08/30/2020 from Source link.
[8] Edinburgh and the Lothians Forestry and Woodland Strategy (2012) SEA Environmental Report by LUC. Retrieved 08/30/2020 from Source link
[9] The Field Group (Duddingston) SCIO (2014). Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 March 2014. Retrieved 08/30/2020 from Source link