Last updated: October 2021
The Edinburgh Living Landscape (ELL) is a partnership between the Scottish Wildlife Trust, the City of Edinburgh Council, Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust (EGLT), the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Green Surge and Edinburgh University, it aims to help make Edinburgh a city fit for the future by fashioning healthy and beautiful environments that are resilient to climate change as well as being highly valued and accessible to people. It is made up of a range of projects that will create, restore and connect green areas of the city to make attractive and biodiverse landscapes that are enjoyed by residents and visitors. One of the examples is the Holyrood park. Naturalisation was tested in Holyrood Park, where a once regularly mown grassland is now cut only once per year. It benefits both wildlife and public amenity and also reduces maintenance costs for the site, with the potential to spend elsewhere on greenspace maintenance. This is a part of the ongoing Edinburgh Living Landscape Case Study which aims to make Edinburgh a city with healthy and beautiful environments, resilient to climate change. A range of similar projects will create, restore and connect green areas of the city to make an attractive and biodiverse landscape (ref 2, 3).
Holyrood Park
Crown Copyright HES, retrieved 08/24/2018 from Historic Environment Scotland (HES)
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Parks and urban forests
- Large urban parks or forests
Key challenges
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Habitat and biodiversity restoration
- Green space creation and/or management
- Regeneration, land-use and urban development
- Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
- Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
- Effective management
- Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
- Economic development: industry
- Economic development: service sectors
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Maintenance and management of urban nature, Protection of natural ecosystems
Project objectives
Edinburgh Living Landscape project aims to help make Edinburgh a city fit for the future by fashioning healthy and beautiful environments resilient to climate change as well as being highly valued and accessible to people. Through working in partnership across the city it aims to achieve the following objectives:
1. Improved ecosystem health in Edinburgh.
2. Having measurable socio-economic benefits for the city, particularly in areas of deprivation.
3. More people engaged in caring for their local green spaces.
4. More people making use of Edinburgh’s connected network of green and blue spaces.
5. New developments are planned to create low carbon, walkable neighbourhoods, and workplaces containing high-quality green infrastructure.
6. Naturalisation in Holyrood Park aims to :
1. Benefit both wildlife and public amenity.
2. Reduce maintenance costs for the site. (ref 1, 2, 3)
Implementation activities
The Edinburgh Living Landscape project involves a range of measures:
1. Reducing the frequency of grass cutting in some areas and allowing natural grassland to thrive. 2. Mowing walkways through areas of the meadow so they can still be explored and enjoyed. 3. Increasing use of herbaceous perennial planting. 4. Tree planting and creating woodlands in the longer term. 5. Sowing flowering plants and reducing the grass cutting frequency, to allow habitats to develop more naturally. 5. The city of Edinburgh Council has created some naturalised grassland sites and meadows. One example of this approach was tested in Holyrood Park as a pilot but more targets are planned to be achieved in the coming years. A multiple scale approach will be used to make functional connections between different ecosystems using the three principles of nativeness, habitat complexity and connectivity. The more connected and coalesced fragments of habitat become, the more resilient to change they become. A good example is pollinators such as bees and butterflies, which thrive better when there is a connected patchwork of suitable habitat. At the other end of the scale, improving the connectivity and quality of green and blue networks will mean they increasingly deliver a range of ecosystem services to city residents. (ref 2, 6, 8)
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity restoration:
- Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
- Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
- Public engagement
Main beneficiaries
- Local government/Municipality
- Citizens or community groups
Governance
Management set-up
- Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Local government/municipality
- Private foundation/trust
- Researchers/university
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The Edinburgh Living Landscape (ELL) is a partnership between the Scottish Wildlife Trust, the City of Edinburgh Council, Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust (EGLT), the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Green Surge and Edinburgh University (ref 2)
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Yes
(It is aligned with the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy, particularly with the target: 'Better protection and restoration of ecosystems and the services they provide, and greater use of green infrastructure' (ref 2))
... a national policy or strategy?
Yes
(The Edinburgh Living Landscape is relevant to Scottish Planning Policy which states that : "Planning should protect, enhance and promote green infrastructure, including open space and green networks, as an integral component of successful placemaking." (ref 2))
... a local policy or strategy?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
- EU funds
- Public national budget
- Public local authority budget
Type of funding
- Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Enhanced carbon sequestration
- Environmental quality
- Improved soil quality
- Green space and habitat
- Reduced biodiversity loss
- Increased number of species present
Economic impacts
- Reduce financial cost for urban management
- Attraction of business and investment
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Improved access to urban green space
- Education
- Increased support for education and scientific research
- Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
- Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts, Achieved impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
References
1. Clark. C.D., Grant L. and Biagi L. (2015) Edinburgh living landscape case study. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 2nd September, 2020.
2. Central Scotland green network. (no date) Edinburgh Living Landscape Case Study. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 2nd September, 2020.
3. City of Edinburgh Council. (no date) Edinburgh Living Landscape. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 2nd September, 2020.
4. Edinburgh living landscape. (2016) Education Resource Pack. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 2nd September, 2020.
5. Historicenvironment Scotland (no date) Holyrood Park. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 2nd September, 2020.
6. Edinburgh Living Landscape (no date) Available at: Source link. Accessed on 2nd September, 2020.
7. Edinburgh Living Landscape. (no date) Nature in your Neighbourhood. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 3rd September, 2020.
8. Historic Environment Scotland (no date) Investigating Holyrood Park. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 3rd September, 2020.
2. Central Scotland green network. (no date) Edinburgh Living Landscape Case Study. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 2nd September, 2020.
3. City of Edinburgh Council. (no date) Edinburgh Living Landscape. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 2nd September, 2020.
4. Edinburgh living landscape. (2016) Education Resource Pack. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 2nd September, 2020.
5. Historicenvironment Scotland (no date) Holyrood Park. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 2nd September, 2020.
6. Edinburgh Living Landscape (no date) Available at: Source link. Accessed on 2nd September, 2020.
7. Edinburgh Living Landscape. (no date) Nature in your Neighbourhood. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 3rd September, 2020.
8. Historic Environment Scotland (no date) Investigating Holyrood Park. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 3rd September, 2020.
Holyrood Park
Crown Copyright HES, retrieved 08/24/2018 from Historic Environment Scotland (HES)