The GreenWay

Shanks, from Nudge Group says, “our public spaces are our civic spaces which are shared for people of all faiths cultures and ages and they should provide facilities to enable people to connect and linguae in nature.”

The Greenway Project in St Pauls, Bristol started through conversations with The Architecture Centre and community leaders within Bristol City Council. There were small pots of money to deliver infrastructure projects for the community but without the resources or the vision to deliver with impact for local people. The conversations were around how to encourage people along greener paths into and out of the city, taking routes which led them away from main roads.

An exciting new outdoor trail now connects improved public space in St Pauls and aims to encourage residents and visitors to explore the area while engaging with their local community. It goes between community hubs and has used public art and food recipes to reach outwards into the community. It celebrates residents and creates spaces to gather and engage with the local area. The project started with community workshops and events, including street side engagement with young people along ‘The Green Way’ route.

In a ‘Making it Work(shop)’ local communities joined forces to co-design ideas for meaningful public realm improvements to their neighbourhood. The Architecture Centre then led successful fundraising for the project around ‘The Green Way’ vision. Nudge Group and The Architecture centre worked alongside the community partner to launch a ‘What is Your Soul Food?’ online competition through Spring 2020 which saw over 200 people enjoying and sharing recipes with neighbours in lockdown.

This engagement from the community then manifested into street art, signage and public space improvements. Shanks says, ' We really have squeezed and pushed and pulled the budget to make maximum impact in delivery. This in turn has allowed for better surveillance and activity in the public realm with the new spatial configuration at all three sites that has been delivered.'