One of Dialogue Matters’ greatest achievements of 2019 was running a successful process with the Greater London Authority (GLA).
The GLA is currently supporting the London Green Space Commission in developing recommendations to help London’s borough parks services adapt to be fit for the future.
We worked with London’s Green Space Commission to run a two workshop process, exploring and prioritising ideas for action towards achieving this ambitious goal. Participants came from a range of backgrounds, with representatives from each London borough working alongside those from public health, sport, leisure, culture, housing, community engagement, regeneration and highways. The first workshop gave opportunity for them to set a collective vision for the future, discuss better cross-silo working, and suggest solutions to improve the parks and green spaces service. The second workshop then saw the prioritisation and development of potential solutions, with those taken forward to inform the Commission recommendations.
A key aim of the process was to enable cross-sectoral collaboration. Inquisitive questioning and discussion shaped ‘win-win’ solutions – for example, the idea of parks for good physical and mental health was brought to the fore, and many suggestions (such as using the practise of social-prescribing to promote healthy living, high-quality parks, and reduce pressure on the NHS), will be taken forward as the recommendations are formalised.
