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.

The latest phase of engagement has seen Meeting Place lead a series of webinars to engage stakeholders and the public, allowing those unable to attend in-person events to ask questions and gain a deeper understanding of the LNRS, whilst promoting the HNRP’s survey, which went live shortly before the first webinar and has since closed for feedback.

Outcome

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.

The survey achieved an impressive number of responses which will feed into the finalised strategy and Meeting Place received a glowing letter from the client at the end of the project.