The Government has published its new Environmental Improvement Plan – a roadmap for restoring England’s environment, with commitments related to clean air and water, wildlife, landscapes and wellbeing.
The plan recognises the power of nature in improving health and wellbeing, and highlights the success of the cross-Government Green Social Prescribing programme. It includes a commitment to “increase people’s time spent in nature for physical activity and nature-based activities to support both physical and mental health.”
Measuring impact and ensuring funding
Among the measures announced to achieve this is the creation of a new metric on Green Social Prescribing – tracking the number of people accessing green or blue space for nature-based activity to improve health. We are delighted to be working with our partners at UCL to deliver this.
There is also a welcome commitment to creating a “nature for health investment partnership” to help fund “nature-based solutions that deliver health benefits and economic growth”.
There is now strong evidence about the benefits of Green Social Prescribing for mental health and for people living with a range of long-term conditions.
We are delighted to be working with the Government to measure the number of people benefiting from this approach, and it’s also very welcome to see the commitment to explore new ways to fund life-changing projects.
Find out more about Green Social Prescribing – including how to sign up to our Green Social Prescribing Innovation Community Green Social Prescribing - National Academy for Social Prescribing | NASP
