Barking & Dagenham Greening Network

Over the last few years, we've seen just how important the green and blue spaces in our borough are for our physical and mental health. Parks are a great place to meet friends and family, exercise, get some fresh air, and connect to the calm of nature.

Through the Citizens' Alliance Network, we've seen just how much interest there is in projects around "greening" Barking and Dagenham.

A Greening Network

The Greening Network was created to provide a space where anyone interested in making the borough a greener place could connect with others, share their ideas, and discuss the projects they are involved with.

And maybe in time, this network could be a way of doing more? Of receiving funding? For now we're being experimental - what are your ideas?

EVENT

Join the Greening Network's second meeting of 2023 to connect and with neighbours that care about green issues in Barking and Dagenham.

We will be joined by Will Oliver from Thames 21. Thames 21 is the voice for London’s waterways, working with communities to improve rivers and canals for people and wildlife.

Thames 21 have a number of projects in Barking and Dagenham - including developing plans to restore the Gores Brook to it's former glory within Parsloes Park. This project would involve excavating a new channel for the brook within the eastern section of Parsloes Park, with associated wetland areas for people to enjoy and wildlife to flourish in. You can read more about the project here.

Will will be discussing this project along with others than Thames 21 are involved in, including efforts to support people to take action on waterways - as well as all the ways people can get involved. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and share any experience you might have of volunteering or spending time around the borough's blue spaces.

Come along to find out more! Sign up via the Eventbrite here.

How can I get involved?

  1. Follow this project - pop your email address in the 'follow project' part, on the right of this page
  2. Join the Facebook group - this is managed by the residents. Join us to get involved. Not on Facebook? Join this WhatsApp group instead.
  3. What's taking place already in your neighbourhood? Add it to the map below to help build a picture of the greening activities, groups and points of interest that are already here.
  4. Take part in litter picking events in the borough. Take a look to see what's happening near you.

To read what was discussed in previous meetings, click the news feed icon below.

The Greening Network is led by residents. If you have suggestions for what we should discuss at the next meeting, add them to the ideas board here.

Got something to share?

Use the forum tool below.

Over the last few years, we've seen just how important the green and blue spaces in our borough are for our physical and mental health. Parks are a great place to meet friends and family, exercise, get some fresh air, and connect to the calm of nature.

Through the Citizens' Alliance Network, we've seen just how much interest there is in projects around "greening" Barking and Dagenham.

A Greening Network

The Greening Network was created to provide a space where anyone interested in making the borough a greener place could connect with others, share their ideas, and discuss the projects they are involved with.

And maybe in time, this network could be a way of doing more? Of receiving funding? For now we're being experimental - what are your ideas?

EVENT

Join the Greening Network's second meeting of 2023 to connect and with neighbours that care about green issues in Barking and Dagenham.

We will be joined by Will Oliver from Thames 21. Thames 21 is the voice for London’s waterways, working with communities to improve rivers and canals for people and wildlife.

Thames 21 have a number of projects in Barking and Dagenham - including developing plans to restore the Gores Brook to it's former glory within Parsloes Park. This project would involve excavating a new channel for the brook within the eastern section of Parsloes Park, with associated wetland areas for people to enjoy and wildlife to flourish in. You can read more about the project here.

Will will be discussing this project along with others than Thames 21 are involved in, including efforts to support people to take action on waterways - as well as all the ways people can get involved. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and share any experience you might have of volunteering or spending time around the borough's blue spaces.

Come along to find out more! Sign up via the Eventbrite here.

How can I get involved?

  1. Follow this project - pop your email address in the 'follow project' part, on the right of this page
  2. Join the Facebook group - this is managed by the residents. Join us to get involved. Not on Facebook? Join this WhatsApp group instead.
  3. What's taking place already in your neighbourhood? Add it to the map below to help build a picture of the greening activities, groups and points of interest that are already here.
  4. Take part in litter picking events in the borough. Take a look to see what's happening near you.

To read what was discussed in previous meetings, click the news feed icon below.

The Greening Network is led by residents. If you have suggestions for what we should discuss at the next meeting, add them to the ideas board here.

Got something to share?

Use the forum tool below.

  • 17.06.2023 Friends of Parks

    The Greening Network met at the Everyone Everyday Warehouse to discuss Friends of Parks.

    They were joined by Laura Collins from Go Parks London and Laura Toffolo from the Citizens Alliance Network. Laura Collins gave some advice for starting a friends of park group, this included;

    • Start off with some small, achievable events, such as a bake sale which can help spread the word of your group and help you raise money.
    • Register with Go Parks London who can help with promoting your Friends of group, give you access to their monthly newsletter full of tips and support such as funding or training opportunities, and give you bespoke help and advice whenever you need it. To register your group, email laura@cprelondon.gov.uk
    • Find a way to communicate with your group and supporters, such as a regular newsletter, facebook page, or WhatsApp group.
    • Provide opportunities for people to volunteer with your group, such as regular litter picks or gardening days.

    Laura Toffolo then spoke of the support that the Citizens Alliance Network could provide to Friends of Park groups. This includes;

    • Support with promoting your group on the Citizens Alliance Network website and newsletter
    • Micro-grants to support your group to run community activities/events or with other costs associated with your grant. If you are interested in applying for a grant, please complete this short expression of interest here.
  • 17.04.2023 Blue Spaces!

    The Greening Network met on the 17th of April to talk all about the borough’s blue spaces!

    Firstly, we were joined by Will from Thames 21 who shared some of the amazing things they have been working with Barking and Dagenham Residents to achieve. Including their Rewilding the Rom project to reconnect the River Rom’s floodplains so that when it rises it can flood into a new series of wetlands and create low wetland habitats. Thames 21 runs monthly volunteering sessions at the Rom, if you want to get involved take a look at there events page here.

    Will also spoke about a proposal that Thames 21 have submitted to uncover the Goresbroook River which runs through Parsloes park but was buried in the 1930s. This project would involve excavating a new channel for the brook within the eastern section of Parsloes Park, with associated wetland areas for people to enjoy and wildlife to flourish in. Thames 21 have been busy at work this year, working with people who live near or use the parts to come up with designs for how the river will look once it has been restored. Thames 21 will want to hear what the community thinks about these designs once they are complete – so watch this space!

    Finally, Will encouraged everyone to get involved in helping to look after our borough’s rivers. Thames 21 are running a training course in June to help people do just that. Their 2-3 day ‘Leading Action for Healthy Rivers’ training course gives you everything you need to plan and run safe, effective, enjoyable river improvement events and to champion healthy rivers. If you would like to take part, email will.oliver@thames21.org.uk to join the waiting list.

    See the slides from Will’s presentation here.

    We were then joined by Paul Powlesland from the River Roding Trust who dialled in live from the River Roding. Paul set sail for the river Roding in 2017 and has lived there on his houseboat since. Paul spoke about Friends of the River Roding, which was formed in the summer of 2017 as a community-led effort to restore the River Roding. Paul showed us some of the amazing improvements the Friends of the River Roding have made along the river – including some trees they have planted! The group have also removed significant amounts of Rubbish from the river and installed benches and flower beds and re-opened riverside pathways for local people to enjoy.

    If you want to get involved with the Friend’s of the River Roding you can join the Facebook page here.

  • 07.02.2023 Air Quality Research

    The Greening Network was joined by Kayla Schlute, a researcher who is working on an exciting new project which aims to generate a clearer, fuller picture of local air quality conditions across Barking and Dagenham. The project involves building a website where individuals living or working in Barking and Dagenham can ‘pin’ their experiences, perceptions, and questions about air pollution to a digital map. This is to capture the lived experience of air quality in Barking and Dagenham, and build a more representative view of local air quality. Kayla spoke about how air quality is governed at a national and local level, how air quality is monitored in Barking and Dagenham and how people can get involved in the project. If you are interested in getting involved, you can see the opportunities below:

    1. Become a Project Ambassador

    This will involve meeting 4 - 5 times over the course of the year to give feedback on how the project is progressing. Ambassadors will also be asked to help spread the word about a series of in-person events and workshops, where individuals can contribute to the map in real time. You can apply to be a project ambassador here.

    2. Attend a co-design workshop

    This workshop will involve co-designing the project’s website. The website will include a map where individuals living or working in Barking and Dagenham can ‘pin’ their experiences, perceptions, and questions about air pollution. You can sign up to this workshop here.

    3. Stay in touch

    There will also be other, one-off opportunities to take part in the project and contribute your insight on air quality in Barking and Dagenham. If you would like to receive updates about them, you can register your email here. You can stay up to date by following the CAN page for this project here.

    Finally, we had a discussion about our experiences of air quality in Barking and Dagenham and provided feedback on Kayla's project.

  • 02.11: Let's talk trees

    This month, the Greening Network were joined by Colin Richardson: the council’s Arboriculture and Tree Preservation Officer, and Paul Powlesland: Founder of River Roding Trust. Colin presented a history of trees and how public perception of their importance has changed through the years, offering tips and guidance for how we can protect them and plant more of them to reach our aspirations of tree canopy coverage. Paul told us of his own work in preserving Barking and Dagenham’s trees and urged us to work together to show how much we care about preserving and protecting the borough’s natural beauty. Residents, community groups, and officers listened, asked questions, and showed support for working collaboratively to continue to protect our trees as infrastructure and plant many more for future generations.

    This followed with information on how to adopt trees, where to get trees to plant in your garden and tree planting days in the local area provided by Every One. Every Day and the River Roding Trust.

  • September Meeting

    The September meeting was attended by several people, and we mostly discussed 'what next' for the Greening Network. We discussed the following:

    • There is still much interest in 'green issues' in the borough, and a place where we can discuss these is really important- especially if they were topic or theme based
    • There is less interest in people wanting to meet to discuss 'the running of a network'
    • Future meetings will be arranged on a topic basis- and will try to bring together a number of different people, including the Council and other organisations
    • They will take place every 6-8 weeks, rather than every 4 weeks
    • The Facebook Group remains a useful for tool for anyone to share their events, questions and successes
    • The next topic will be on trees- tree planting, tree protection etc.

    Watch this space

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  • May meeting

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    We had hoped that some of this meeting would be in person, outdoors, but the spring weather had other ideas, so we moved the meeting to online only.

    At the April meeting, several topics were put forward for future meetings, and two of those were the focus on this meeting- air quality and climate change. We agreed that the relevant people responsible for these areas from the Council would come and outline what their role is and what's being done on these issues by the Council.

    • Chris Banks, the Air Quality officer for the Council took us through what the Council is doing on air quality. You can see the presentation here. And a recording of the presentation here.
    • Neil Pearce, Head of Sustainability for the Council took us through what the Council is doing on climate change and sustainability. You can see the presentation here. And a recording of the presentation here.
    • You can see the padlet board, where everyone could contribute in advance and during the meeting here.

    After each presentation there was a Q&A and discussion.

    Feedback from the meeting was that in future we will:

    • Have more time for Q&A
    • Have more time for the network to reflect on the information, and to consider how the network and residents want to get more involved in the topic


    The next meeting theme will be on trees. We're inviting the Tree Officer from the Council to attend- who else should be there?

  • April Meeting

    In the fourth meeting of the Greening Network, we discussed opportunities for community action as we come out of lockdown and ways in which we can learn from each other about the environment. Here’s a brief overview:

    • We should recruit council officers and independent environmentalists to talk about what’s going on in their area of expertise, in future meetings
    • We can host walks and training opportunities to learn about biodiversity and wildlife in the area
    • We want to know more about what has already been done, e.g., about the Air Quality Action Plan and tree planting that took place last year, amounting to almost 40,000 trees
    • How do we green the borough through planning? We need to get Be First involved early on and understand how we can influence decisions
    • We should all keep sharing good practice and projects going on via this project page and the Facebook group
    • We hope to hold our first in-person next month – watch this space!


    If you have thoughts or opinions on the topics above, make sure you subscribe to updates on this page to find out when our next meeting will be held and how to get tickets.

  • March Meeting

    In March’s Greening Network meeting, we discussed the vision, mission, and aims of the network as well as the River Roding, and how to create identity and participation. To see the full ideas board, click here.

    Here is a brief overview of what was discussed:

    • We should aim to incorporate greening into the Becontree celebrations
    • Evaluating what land can and should be built on and looking into a borough-wide Tree Protection Order
    • How should we increase sense of identity? Find ways to make involvement and participation fun with points and competitions
    • How to increase diversity – should we find representatives for each area of the borough?
    • Whilst climate change often seems to be all doom and gloom, we have a platform to make greening fun and make it accessible - we should make the most of this!

    If you have thoughts or opinions on the topics above, make sure you subscribe to updates on this page to find out when our next meeting will be held and how to get tickets.

  • 2nd Meeting: 8th February

    The second Greening Network meeting took place on the 8th of February, with attendees discussing how we should make decisions, how the network should operate, and ideas for projects and topics. To see the full ideas board, click here.


    How should the network operate?

    • Loose and experimental for now: a platform to share projects and events
    • Collaboration with the council to find out what their plans are for the protection of green spaces
    • Opportunity for sharing petitions, open letters, and campaigning
    • Sharing volunteer opportunities with those who want to get involved and connect across the borough
    • Provide a gap analysis of the green sector
    • Put children and young people at the heart of the network, give them a sense of ownership, e.g., through art projects


    Tree planting and “pocket parks”

    • Create more pocket parks along the river, with benches, trees, and flowers
    • Decade-long vision of creating a River Roding Park and making it a place to celebrate
    • Environmental youth projects
    • Need to think about involving less able-bodied in planting trees etc.


    Other projects and topics

    • Litter education and behaviour change
    • Make litter picking fun!
    • Focus on the positive in messaging to encourage people


    To keep up-to-date on the latest from the Greening Network, sign up to receive updates by clicking the “stay informed” button on the right of this page, and check out the group’s Facebook page.

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  • Greening Network: First Meeting

    On the 11th January, a group of 30 residents, with a shared passion for greening the borough, met online to discuss what they wanted from a ‘greening’ network. A chance to meet like-minded individuals and get the conversation started, the meeting saw lots of ideas raised on how we can come together to create and grow the network. To see the full ideas board, click here.

    What do you want from a ‘greening’ network?

    • Increased awareness of the groups and individuals working on green issues in the borough
    • Bringing the community together
    • Online platform to share resources, skills, and knowledge. See the CAN Greening Network page to read more and add comments and photos of activities already going on
    • Increased diversity in green space use
    • Sustainable, collaborative funding
    • Good news stories shared


    What do we need to get there?

    • Social media platform. Take a look at the network’s Facebook page.
    • Database of groups and individuals
    • Links with schools and colleges to engage more young people
    • Shared accountability and trust
    • Map to show organisations and land ownership. Add your group and ideas to this borough map.
    • Clear strategy, measurable targets, and vision
    • Clear leadership
    • Increased promotion of Greening Network meetings
    • Facilities to reduce, reuse, and recycle


    What next?

    • Set out the network’s aims and objectives
    • Develop social media platform
    • Arrange the next meeting
    • Organise practical workshops, online or in-person


    Links of organisations doing great work in the borough:

    River Roding Trust

    Every One Every Day

    Roding Rubbish

    Sustainable Transport in Barking and surrounding areas

    Barking & Dagenham Cycling Campaign

    Land of the Fanns – a 5-year programme seeking to restore, discover and celebrate one of the last remaining landscapes of London

    Company Drinks – community space and social enterprise, bringing people together through picking and reconnecting with local green spaces and nearby countryside

    Greening the Fiddlers

    Barking Station Parade – restricting unauthorised traffic outside Barking Station

    Roding Beam and Ingrebourne (RBI) Catchment Partnership Work

    Precious Plastics

    Other useful links:

    https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/

    https://imsewlondon.wordpress.com/

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Page last updated: 28 Sep 2023, 01:47 PM