The evaluation outlines key achievements and looks at how particular projects were implemented. It considers the impacts of the projects, and evaluates the benefits for the community groups. It also reviews the progress and operation of the Living Spaces programme. A range of project case studies is provided.

The Living Spaces programme was developed taking the view that there was a large number of small, community-inspired, environmental projects which could readily be implemented if groups were provided with the necessary funding and some technical support. It was launched in 2003 and the evaluation aimed to review the programme, both in the benefits for the communities concerned and in its administrative workings.

The evaluation draws on two streams of evaluation work: one undertaken by GreenSpace focusing on project evaluation, the second an independent assessment of the Living Spaces programme undertaken by the In House Policy Consultancy (IHPC). It is based on interviews with the organisations involved in the management of the programme, desk-based analysis of data from the community groups and in-depth interviews with a sample of community groups and case studies.

People are willing and capable of taking responsibility for the quality of their local environments given the right support and opportunities. The Living Spaces programme has given thousands of people the opportunity to get involved in improving their local environments and has achieved its aim to be a user-friendly, easy access scheme popular with community groups. It has given local people new skills and confidence and encouraged them to volunteer again in the future. It has also created over 1,000 new or improved public spaces and led to wider-reaching benefits for the local community and those directly involved in the projects.

Living Spaces
Phone: +44 845 6003196
info@living-spaces.org.uk

01/10/2006

//

GreenSpace and In House Policy Consultancy (IHPC)

research

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration

Community development