Scheme

Meeting Place was appointed by the Hertfordshire Nature Recovery Partnership (HNRP) to carry out the engagement phase of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy.

The LNRS is a statutory requirement for all counties in England to provide a comprehensive plan for nature recovery which will be created in collaboration with businesses, charities and local communities across Hertfordshire. The strategy will identify key habitats and species in Hertfordshire that require targeted nature recovery action, areas where habitats can be created, enhanced or improved.

Strategy

We identified and engaged with targeted environmental and political stakeholders across the county, to raise awareness of the LNRS and gain their input into the strategy. Meeting Place put together an overarching engagement plan covering three phases of engagement to inform, engage and communicate with stakeholders at the beginning, middle and end of the development of the LNRS draft.

We worked closely with all District Council officers across the county and the HNRP to create a comprehensive stakeholder list, advertising the LNRS. Meeting Place then organised five in-person events which were held across Hertfordshire, displaying a suite of exhibition materials that provided background on the campaign, and a feedback mechanism for attendees.

Alongside this, Meeting Place ran an online media campaign organising online articles and print media to simultaneously promote the LNRS to the public. These events attracted over 160 attendees as well as over 200 pieces of feedback, with attendees praising the consultation and the aims of the LNRS.

Outcome

Meeting Place is currently leading the next part of the engagement with the HNRP, engaging stakeholders through a series of webinars.

This will allow engagement to those stakeholders not able to attend in-person events and continue to promote the aims and feedback opportunities for the LNRS.

The engagement has put the HNRP and the LNRS in a strong standing with stakeholders across Hertfordshire, opened up future opportunities to engage to help develop the most in-depth LNRS possible for Hertfordshire, a key aim of the engagement process.