The challenge
Nottinghamshire County Council was one of 48 Responsible Authorities charged by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to produce a Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS). Delivering this required extensive engagement with subject matter experts, key stakeholders and the wider public, as well as a period of statutory public consultation (SPC) on the draft strategy before final publication. The county council appointed Nature Positive to design and deliver this engagement programme, with the aim of not only shaping the strategy itself but also uncovering the barriers and enablers to delivery and building a supporting narrative for how the strategy could best be implemented.
What we did
- Led workshops (online and in person) with environmental non-governmental organisations (NGO), planners, parish councils, partnership groups, farmers, landowners, land managers and organisations operating at landscape scale
- Set up stalls at farming events, at public events and in shopping centres with innovative engagement techniques to encourage wide participation
- Conducted two online surveys, one for the initial engagement and a second one for the SPC using the Participatr platform, including survey questions and map-based input
- Produced two comprehensive analysis reports, synthesising qualitative and quantitative data from all engagement modes to directly inform the content and design of the strategy
The difference we made
Over 450 people participated in the formative engagement stage, with a further 700+ taking part in the SPC, including over 400 responses to the online survey and 320 participants across workshops and public events.
Nottinghamshire County Council successfully published a comprehensive LNRS, placing it among the first 15 Responsible Authorities in the country to do so.
The engagement programme was designed to go beyond simply gathering views – by surfacing barriers and enablers alongside stakeholder priorities, it gave the council a richer evidence base and a clearer narrative for how the strategy can realistically be delivered.