Nature Recovery Toolkit Pilot Case Studies

Council type: Unitary authority since 2019
Focus: Embedding nature early in decisions and changing organisational culture
Why now: High development pressure, complex statutory environment, and growing interest in Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)

Key outcomes

• Increased confidence and permission for officers to speak up for nature
• Strong cross‑service and partner engagement
• BNG reframed as an opportunity rather than a burden
• Clear articulation of system‑level barriers that need leadership and governance

“What we did was sell the positive side of BNG — people feel like it’s a bit of a burden, but this helped them see the opportunity.”
BCP workshop participant

BCP Council operates in a dense urban conurbation with internationally important landscapes, including heathlands, Poole Harbour and coastal habitats. Alongside this sit intense pressures: housing targets, land scarcity, climate impacts and heightened public scrutiny.

Although the council already delivered significant nature‑positive activity, this work was:

• Spread across many teams and partners
• Often constrained by policy, funding and viability debates
• Heavily influenced by a perception that nature competes with growth

BCP wanted to shift both practice and culture — moving nature from the margins of decision‑making into the mainstream.

BCP used the Nature Recovery Toolkit to:

• Help officers understand how their roles connect to nature recovery
• Reframe nature and BNG as enablers, not blockers
• Strengthen collaboration across planning, highways, housing, parks, health and partners
• Build confidence and language for staff to advocate for nature consistently

The emphasis was as much about behaviour and culture change as it was about identifying projects.

BCP hosted a large, in‑person “Voice for Nature” workshop in March 2026.

Who was involved

• Officers from across planning, transport, highways, housing, parks, public health and assets
• Senior leadership, including Chief Executive‑level endorsement
• External partners including Natural England and The National Trust

How the toolkit was used

• Interactive exercises explored: 
  • What’s already working (Roses)
  • Future ambition (Buds)
  • Barriers (Thorns)
  • Practical solutions (New Shoots)
• Actions were grouped into: 
  • Fruit (quick wins)
  • Seedlings (developing ideas)
  • Seeds (long‑term ambition)

The structure created space for honest discussion while keeping momentum and energy high.

“Using nature language made it feel less corporate — people just got stuck in.”

Martin Whitchurch, Strategic Lead Greenspace & Conservation, BCP Council

Largely yes — particularly for engagement, understanding and confidence.

Participant feedback showed:

• 61% reported increased awareness of nature recovery options
• 87% said understanding of service‑level roles was fully or mostly met
• 87% said understanding of BNG and its strategic role was fully or mostly met
• 87% felt the workshop helped generate ideas for putting nature earlier into decisions

BNG proved to be a major draw, helping bring colleagues into wider conversations about nature and place

Immediately after the workshop

• Strong cross‑service networking and new relationships
• Greater confidence among officers to raise nature considerations
• Senior leadership endorsement strengthened legitimacy and momentum
• Clear shared priorities emerged, including the need to: 
  • Embed nature early in development
  • Strengthen partnerships
  • Improve communication and public engagement
  • Address funding, policy and governance gaps

Emerging momentum

• Appetite for follow‑up sessions, particularly on BNG
• Increased internal and external communications activity
• Recognition that ambition must now be matched with systems, policy and resources

✅ Visible senior leadership backing
✅ Scale of participation across services and partners
✅ Strong focus on BNG as a gateway topic
✅ Workshop design that encouraged openness and creativity
✅ Valued time and space for networking and relationship‑building

⚠️ Some exercises were too complex for large groups
⚠️ The ambition of the day exceeded the time available
⚠️ Representation from younger staff and children’s services was limited
⚠️ Clearer signals were needed on how outputs would be taken forward

If you’re thinking about using the toolkit:

• Leadership unlocks confidence — visible senior backing matters
• BNG draws people in — use it to open wider nature conversations
• Culture change is a real outcome — permission and confidence matter
• Large councils need follow‑up — workshops spark momentum, but systems sustain it

Partnerships are essential — councils cannot deliver nature recovery alone

Council type: Unitary authority since 2009
Focus: Embedding nature recovery across services
Why now: Bedfordshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy newly published; need to turn strategy into delivery

Key outcomes

• Greater awareness of biodiversity duties across the council
• Stronger cross‑service understanding of roles and opportunities
• Clear identification of governance and coordination gaps
• Early momentum, with follow‑on conversations already underway

“The overwhelming output was that people had some really good conversations. There’s a lot of people keen to take actions for nature within the council. Enabling this action is a vital next step”
Richard James, Central Bedfordshire Council

Central Bedfordshire Council had recently published the Bedfordshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS). While this provided clear strategic direction, there was a familiar challenge:

• Lots of good work already happening, but not joined up
• Limited shared understanding of who does what, beyond environmental teams
• Uncertainty about how biodiversity duties relate to everyday service decisions

The council wanted a way to bring people together and start building a shared organisational approach to nature recovery.

The Nature Recovery Toolkit was seen as a practical way to:

• Build awareness of statutory biodiversity duties
• Help services understand their own role, and each other’s
• Explore how nature recovery supports wider priorities like health, flooding, placemaking and cost avoidance
• Start conversations that could lead to longer‑term governance and action

Central Bedfordshire hosted a cross‑service workshop using the Nature Recovery Toolkit shortly after Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) publication.

The workshop brought together:

• Officers from planning, highways, housing, assets, flood & water, and other services
• A mix of senior leaders and delivery officers

How the toolkit was used

• Interactive exercises explored what’s already working (“Roses”) and where the potential lies (“Buds”)
• Barriers and enablers were surfaced honestly, including funding, capacity and governance
• Actions were grouped into: 
  • Fruit – ideas ready to progress
  • Seedlings – promising but needing work
  • Seeds – longer‑term ambitions

''This helped shift the conversation from abstract strategy to real places, services and decisions.''

Central Bedfordshire workshop participant

Yes – particularly for awareness and understanding.

Participant feedback showed:

• Increased awareness of biodiversity duty 
  • 54% fully met
  • 31% mostly met
• Better understanding of roles across services 
  • 31% fully met
  • 69% mostly met
• Service‑specific ideas for action 
  • Mostly met, but harder to fully achieve in a single session

The workshop was strongest at building shared understanding. Turning ideas into deliverable actions was recognised as needing follow‑up and governance, not just a one‑off event.

“There’s a lot of stuff already being done that we’re not capturing… people don’t know about it.”
Richard James, 

Immediately after the workshop:

• New conversations started between teams that hadn’t previously worked together
• Growing recognition that better coordination could save money or unlock funding
• Engagement began with additional services, including Flood & Water

Emerging ideas included:

• Nature champions through parish and town councils
• Better internal communication and mapping of activity
• Bringing participants back together to maintain momentum

The workshop didn’t solve everything – but it created energy and clarity about what’s missing.

✅ Timing – Running the workshop soon after LNRS publication made the strategy feel relevant and actionable
✅ Who was in the room – Cross‑service mix enabled learning and trust
✅ Practical framing – Nature recovery linked to everyday service pressures
✅ Facilitated space – Time to think beyond immediate firefighting

⚠️ Clearer governance expectations upfront
⚠️ More focus on who owns next steps
⚠️ Additional time or follow‑up to translate ideas into service plans
⚠️ A stronger internal communications plan tied to the workshop

If you’re thinking about using the toolkit:

• Choose your moment – post‑ LNRS publication is powerful
• Get senior buy‑in early – governance matters as much as enthusiasm
• Expect awareness before action – this is a foundation tool, not a magic fix
• Plan the follow‑up – momentum fades without structure
• Capture existing activity – it builds confidence and avoids duplication

Council type: Unitary authority since 1996
Focus: Embedding biodiversity duty and nature recovery consistently across services
Why now: Newly published Hull and East Yorkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) and first biodiversity duty report

Key outcomes

• Increased awareness of biodiversity duty across non‑specialist services
• Strong cross‑service engagement and honest discussion of challenges
• Clear identification of data, coordination and governance gaps
• Momentum for follow‑up sessions and deeper service‑specific working

“In six hours we made more progress than in the last three years.”

John Pemberton, Sustainable Environment Manager, ERYC

East Riding of Yorkshire Council already delivers a significant amount of nature‑positive work — through planning, Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), flood risk management, woodland creation, coastal projects and community engagement.

However, this activity was:

• Spread across many services
• Not consistently recognised as contributing to biodiversity duty
• Hard to track, monitor or report at a corporate level

With the Hull and East Yorkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) published and biodiversity duty reporting underway, the council wanted to strengthen how nature recovery is embedded across everyday decisions, projects and investments.

East Riding used the Nature Recovery Toolkit to:

• Build understanding of biodiversity duty in plain English
• Help services see how their work already contributes to nature recovery
• Identify opportunities to embed nature earlier in project design
• Improve coordination, governance, data and reporting
• Create safe space for honest conversations about risks and constraints

The aim was less about generating new projects, and more about making existing delivery more consistent and resilient.

East Riding hosted a facilitated, cross‑service workshop in March 2026.

Who was involved

• Officers from planning, estates, regeneration, flood risk, public health, destinations, culture, civil engineering and environmental services
• Both strategic and operational roles
• Many participants who do not routinely work on biodiversity

How the toolkit was used

• Short presentations clarified: 
  • Biodiversity duty and statutory risk
  • How the LNRS should inform decisions
  • Nature’s role in health, climate adaptation and placemaking
• Facilitated table exercises explored: 
  • What services already do for biodiversity
  • Opportunities to strengthen delivery
  • Barriers and risks
  • Data, monitoring and support needs

Small table sizes and dedicated facilitators ensured active participation throughout

“We’ve been trying to push on closed doors – and getting people in the room helped that door creak open a little further.”

Yes – particularly for awareness, engagement and organisational learning.

Participant feedback showed:

• 92% said awareness of biodiversity duty and support routes was fully or mostly met
• 70% said understanding of roles across services was fully or mostly met
• No respondents felt objectives were “not met”

Confidence was higher in later, service‑specific discussions than in earlier corporate‑level sessions – an important learning for future design.

Immediately after the workshop

• Strong engagement, including from initially reluctant participants
• Clear visibility of how much work already supports biodiversity duty
• Shared recognition of key challenges: 
  • Siloed working
  • Inconsistent data systems
  • Limited baseline evidence
  • Capacity pressures

Emerging momentum

• Demand for follow‑up sessions with individual teams and services
• Commitment to a comprehensive internal write‑up to re‑engage colleagues
• Using the workshop outputs to inform LNRS, biodiversity reporting and corporate conversations

The workshop was widely seen as a catalyst, opening up new internal conversations.

✅ Wide range of services represented
✅ Strong facilitation creating open, honest discussion
✅ Small group sizes preventing disengagement
✅ Clear links to ERYC’s corporate messaging
✅ Balance of learning and practical activity

⚠️ Early sessions felt rushed, particularly corporate‑level content
⚠️ Need for clearer signposting between the toolkit, LNRS and biodiversity duty
⚠️ Some participants only felt confident contributing later in the day
⚠️ More explicit outcomes and next steps would help momentum

If you’re thinking about using the toolkit:

• Councils doing “quite well” still benefit from corporate coordination
• Plain‑English explanations are essential for non‑specialist services
• Facilitated space unlocks honesty and trust
• Data and monitoring are common weak points
• Embedding nature early saves time, money and risk later

Council type: County council
Focus: Improving coordination, governance and leadership for nature recovery
Why now: LNRS delivery, Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), and the need to tackle silos

Key outcomes

• Clear visibility of widespread nature‑positive activity already happening
• Shared understanding that siloed working is a major barrier to progress
• Strong case for clearer governance and senior sponsorship
• Workshop used as a diagnostic and relationship‑building tool

Gloucestershire County Council already supports substantial nature recovery activity, including:

• Flood prevention and natural flood management
• Large‑scale tree planting and woodland projects
• Strong partnerships through the Local Nature Partnership
• Work linked to the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS)

However, nature recovery was:

• Spread across teams with limited coordination
• Often perceived as planning‑led, discouraging wider engagement
• Constrained by capacity, funding and unclear governance
• Lacking consistent access to senior leadership and decision‑making

The council wanted to understand how to move from good but fragmented activity to more coordinated, strategic delivery.

Gloucestershire used the Nature Recovery Toolkit to:

• Surface what is already being delivered and celebrate existing work
• Create a safe, neutral space for honest discussion about barriers
• Explore how nature recovery could be better embedded into governance, culture and spatial planning
• Build confidence and reduce isolation among officers working on LNRS and biodiversity

PAS facilitation was seen as particularly valuable in providing external legitimacy and reducing the internal burden of convening difficult conversations.

Gloucestershire hosted a facilitated, cross‑service workshop as part of the PAS pilot programme.

Who was involved

• Officers from climate, sustainability, planning, estates and related services
• Members of the internal Nature and Biodiversity Group
• A smaller group than hoped, but with strong engagement from those present

How the toolkit was used

• Structured discussion explored: 
  • Roses – existing strengths and delivery
  • Buds – opportunities for improvement
  • Thorns – barriers such as leadership, silos and capacity
  • New Shoots – potential solutions and ways forward
• Focus was placed on governance, leadership, culture and integration with the Spatial Development Strategy (SDS)

“The workshop helped us see how much is already happening – but also why it’s so hard to join it all up.”

Vanessa Clarke, Heritage & Ecology Team Leader, Gloucestershire County Council 

Yes – particularly as a diagnostic and learning exercise.

Feedback showed:

• Most participants felt the workshop fully or mostly met its objectives
• Increased understanding of existing activity and individual roles
• Greater awareness of delivery options and who to work with

Confidence grew as the day progressed, especially through seeing that many challenges were shared, not unique to Gloucestershire

Immediately after the workshop

• Clear articulation of siloed working as a key organisational barrier
• Recognition of the need for stronger senior sponsorship and clearer ownership
• Better understanding of where governance gaps sit

Emerging momentum

• Use of workshop elements in internal mini‑sessions and away days
• Review of the scope and focus of the Nature and Biodiversity Group
• Increased focus on SDS and LGR as opportunities to embed nature structurally
• Ongoing engagement with PAS networks and peer support

The workshop was valued as foundation‑building, rather than a one‑off action‑planning exercise

✅ PAS facilitation providing external credibility
✅ Safe space for honest discussion
✅ Clear, simple rose–bud–thorn framework
✅ Normalising challenges and reducing isolation
✅ Practical focus on governance and culture

⚠️ Lower attendance than hoped, linked to limited senior buy‑in
⚠️ Governance arrangements not clear enough before wider engagement
⚠️ Capacity constraints limiting immediate action
⚠️ Nature sometimes needing to “piggyback” on climate messaging

If you’re thinking about using the toolkit:

• Workshops can be valuable even with modest attendance
• Clear governance and senior sponsorship matter hugely
• Nature recovery is often a coordination challenge, not a motivation problem
• External facilitation helps unlock honesty
• Early diagnostic work avoids false starts later

Council type: Unitary authority since 2021
Focus: Building organisational literacy and coordination for nature recovery
Why now: A council with new political leadership, emerging governance, and an opportunity to embed nature early

Key outcomes

• Increased understanding of how nature already supports council services
• Strong cross‑service engagement beyond environmental teams
• Clear identification of systemic barriers (capacity, silos, systems)
• Decision to build momentum through wider internal engagement rather than rushing delivery

“It was incredibly worthwhile. We got really strong outputs – enough that we want to run it again with a wider group.”

Andra Stopforth, Biodiversity and Nature Recovery Manager

North Northamptonshire Council already has a wide range of nature‑positive activity across planning, procurement, highways, waste, green spaces, housing, education and public health. They were the second Responsible Authority in England to publish their NNC Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS)

However:

• Activity was fragmented across services
• Many officers did not recognise their role in nature recovery
• Nature was often seen as a specialist issue rather than a corporate responsibility
• Systems, capacity and governance were still bedding in

The council wanted to avoid rushing into further delivery without a shared understanding of how nature recovery fits into everyday council work.

North Northamptonshire was the first authority to pilot the Nature Recovery Toolkit.

They used it to:

• Reveal how much was already happening across the organisation
• Build shared language around LNRS, biodiversity duty and nature‑based solutions
• Increase confidence among non‑environmental teams
• Identify where systems, contracts and governance limit progress

The exploration of wider service delivery to support nature recovery was seen as a key way to ensure success and deliver nature-based solutions across the authority. 

North Northamptonshire hosted a cross‑service, in‑person workshop in January 2026.

Who was involved

• Officers from planning, waste, highways, procurement, green spaces, GIS, housing, education and community services
• A mix of strategic and operational roles
• Both environmental specialists and teams new to nature recovery

How the toolkit was used

• Structured exercises explored: 
  • Roses – how nature already supports service delivery
  • Buds – aspirations for future outcomes
  • Thorns – organisational barriers and risks
  • New Shoots – practical solutions
• Actions were grouped into: 
  • Fruit (quick wins)
  • Seedlings (projects needing development)
  • Seeds (long‑term ambition)

The approach helped participants see nature recovery as part of their own job, not an add‑on.

“A lot of this work is already happening – we just haven’t been connecting it up or called it nature recovery.”

Liam Faulkner, Head of Environment 

Yes – particularly for awareness, confidence and engagement.

Participants reported:

• Greater understanding of how their service contributes to nature recovery
• Increased confidence discussing LNRS and biodiversity duty
• Honest recognition of organisational barriers, rather than lack of ambition

The council was clear that the workshop’s main value was foundational, not immediate delivery.

Immediately after the workshop

• A large, detailed set of cross service ideas spanning planning, procurement, estates, transport, waste, health, education and community engagement
• A shared understanding that urban areas must be treated as ecosystems, not just rural spaces
• Creation of a shared teams space to collaborate on ideas and knowledge
• Sharing of contacts so that networks for projects can take place

Emerging momentum

• Decision to run a second, wider internal workshop including capital assets and estates
• Creation of a small Nature Recovery Unit to support coordination
• Early conversations within procurement about strengthening social value for nature
• Project join up across areas to deliver nature-based solutions 

Crucially, the council chose not to rush, focusing instead on building legitimacy and buy‑in, whilst maintaining delivery within service areas.

✅ Participation beyond environmental services
✅ Practical, accessible workshop structure
✅ Space for honest discussion about constraints
✅ Recognition of existing work, boosting confidence
✅ Value of being the “pathfinder” shaping the toolkit

⚠️ Limited capacity for immediate follow‑up
⚠️ Some service gaps in the first workshop 
⚠️ Need for earlier clarity on governance and ownership
⚠️ Mixed confidence using AI‑generated outputs

If you’re thinking about using the toolkit:

• Early workshops should build culture, not chase delivery
• Nature recovery is often already happening – just not connected
• Procurement and social value are powerful levers
• Time spent building buy‑in strengthens later action
• Even small coordination teams can unlock council‑wide progress

Council type: Unitary authority since 2023
Focus: Coordination, communication and LNRS delivery post‑LGR
Why now: Local Government Reorganisation and a newly published LNRS

Key outcomes

• Stronger cross‑service connections in a newly formed authority
• Clear visibility of the scale of existing nature delivery
• Shared understanding that coordination—not ambition—is the main barrier

Appetite for follow‑up focused on LNRS delivery and responsibilities

“Because of LGR we’re now really big, and lots of teams still haven’t connected. The workshop helped bring people together who wouldn’t normally interact.”

Piran Borlase-Hendry, Environment Design Manager (Ecology)

North Yorkshire Council is England’s largest unitary authority, created through Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). While the new council inherited significant nature‑positive delivery—from flood risk and coastal work to National Landscapes, farming and habitat programmes—this activity was:

• Spread across many teams and legacy structures
• Poorly understood outside specialist services
• Difficult to coordinate at scale

At the same time, the council had just published its Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS), raising an important question: how does a large, newly reorganised council actually deliver on this ambition in practice?

North Yorkshire used the Nature Recovery Toolkit to:

• Bring staff together across new organisational boundaries
• Help people see what is already happening for nature
• Improve understanding of who does what, and where gaps sit
• Start practical conversations about how LNRS priorities are delivered

The workshop also offered something rare in a post‑LGR context: structured time to reflect, connect and think strategically across services.

North Yorkshire hosted an in‑person cross‑service workshop, facilitated by PAS.

Who was involved

• Officers from environment and sustainability, flood risk, coastal, planning, highways, GIS and other services
• Participants deliberately mixed across tables to avoid legacy silos

How the toolkit was used

• A short opening exercise grounded participants in places that mattered to them
• Structured discussion explored: 
  • Roses – what’s already working well
  • Buds – where the council could go further
  • Thorns – organisational and system barriers
  • New Shoots – practical solutions
• Actions were grouped into: 
  • Fruit (quick wins)
  • Seedlings (medium‑term improvements)
  • Seeds (longer‑term ambition)

This helped balance realism and ambition, particularly in a complex organisation.

“I didn’t realise there were so many nature‑related duties. It really showed how many levers we actually have as a council.”

Although a technical issue meant live Slido feedback wasn’t captured, qualitative feedback was consistently positive.

Participants highlighted:

• High engagement and energy throughout the day
• Strong value in meeting colleagues they rarely interact with
• Increased awareness of the breadth of nature delivery across the council
• Clear agreement that coordination and communication are the main constraints, not lack of activity

The workshop was widely seen as well‑timed, working particularly well in the post‑LGR consolidation phase.

Immediately after the workshop

• New connections formed across services
• Greater confidence that North Yorkshire is already doing a lot for nature
• Shared understanding of priority challenges, including: 
  • Siloed teams and data
  • Unclear responsibilities
  • Stretched GIS and IT systems

Emerging momentum

• Strong appetite for follow‑up focused on LNRS delivery
• Recognition that biodiversity duty reporting could help map who does what
• Agreement that external facilitation helped surface issues hard to address internally

✅ Timing after initial LGR bedding‑in
✅ Mixing tables to force cross‑service conversations
✅ Simple, intuitive rose–bud–thorn framework
✅ External facilitation creating space for honest discussion
✅ Recognition and celebration of existing delivery

⚠️ Duties exercises were too complex without prior information
⚠️ Corporate priorities were too broad to drive focused discussion
⚠️ Colour‑coding confused some participants
⚠️ Greater focus on mapping responsibilities would strengthen outputs

If you’re thinking about using the toolkit:

• Post‑reorganisation is a powerful window once teams have stabilised
• Coordination is often the real problem, not lack of ambition
• Make responsibilities visible to unlock collaboration
• Keep exercises simple, especially for non‑specialists
• External facilitation adds value in large, complex authorities