Open Innovation Task to Save England’s Green Spaces

January 20, 2017 By IdeaConnection

England may well be a green and pleasant land, but some of its parks are under threat.  Faced with budgetary cuts and increasing expenses, some local authorities are selling off green spaces to make ends meet.

Their actions are so worrying campaigners that they’ve launched an open innovation project to find out exactly what’s at risk.

Campaign group 38 Degrees is embarking on a people-powered investigation, inviting the general public to contact local council leaders to find out about plans for parks under their jurisdiction.

“Year after year park budgets are being cut, but too often the people who actually use them know little about the plans,” said Lorna Greenwood, the campaign’s manager at 38 Degrees, in an interview with the Guardian newspaper.

Those plans have included cuts to the number of park rangers and deals with big companies so that people now have to pay to use some parks.

Ignorance is not bliss, and according to campaigners the public needs more information about the state of the country’s parks.  There is no central record of how much money is being spent on their maintenance or how many are at risk of deals with corporate entities.

People Power

The hope is that the open innovation initiative will open the public’s eyes to what is going on, encouraging citizens to put pressure on local politicians and Members of Parliament to protect those areas at risk.

Act Now to Save Green Spaces

Members of 38 Degrees warn that many parks and green spaces could be lost forever if action is not taken now.


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Reader Comments


What is happening to public open spaces is sometimes orchestrated. I have seen this happen where cricket pitches with 100 year old grand stands have been turned into viewing platforms looking over an unregulated forest parks.
The undeniable truth is people have become introverted with their electronic toys and seeing themselves as stars on hand held screens. Councils have become insurance paranoid in case a cricket ball hits somebody or a model plane crashes into someones lunch.The fun has been taken out of the parks.Unless people realise if they dont use it they will loose it.Blame the Complainers! The abusers of the unusers!
Posted by Stephen on January 30, 2017

I agree in Totality.

Please Let me know of your line of action for we face a similar situation in India, Perticularly in Mumbai.

Where land to Open Space ratio is Lowest ( I Do not have the Figures )

Ketan P Shah ...98339 35009.
Posted by Ketan P Shah on January 25, 2017

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