What is the green space quality manual?

The GreenSpace Policy, Research and Information team is currently developing a generic Green Space Quality Manual. Drawing together existing approaches across the sector, it has been designed to be a guide towards setting, maintaining and improving quality standards across our parks and green spaces.

What does it aim to provide and to whom?

The Manual provides a visual guide to the different levels of desired quality outcomes relating to the maintenance operations routinely carried out in parks and green spaces. Focusing on outcomes rather than how they are achieved, it complements and supports more technically based information such as contract specifications, site management plants, British Standards or manufacturers' specific instructions. It could even have a role in supporting the Green Flag Award judging process.

The intended audience includes:

• Established green space professionals
• Inexperienced new comers to the sector hoping to become green space specialists
• Elected members and managers from broader areas of public service with newly acquired responsibility for green space management and little or no previous experience
• Voluntary and community sector organisations whose staff have varying degrees of previous involvement in green space management
• Local residents and individual community volunteers

The Quality Manual needs you…

We are now seeking comments on the latest draft framework and illustrative photographic examples from the parks and green space sector for inclusion in the final document.

Please send any comments and/or photographs to sarahm@green-space.org.uk.

The photo library

Building up a library of illustrative images is absolutely critical to the Quality Manual concept and we are reliant on our partners and all of the professionals working in the sector to provide us with their photographic interpretation of the text.

How to supply images

Any images you can provide which you feel illustrate any of the quality descriptors would be gratefully received. GreenSpace will ensure photos remain anonymous to your organisation, and they will not be credited.

We ask that when you email photographic examples that you give them a file name which makes it clear what they depict, using the descriptor and the relevant quality standard. For example, "ornamental grass_excellent".

All images need to be of at least medium resolution (160dpi) and submitted as JPG files with a file size limit of 1mb per file. If using a digital camera please ensure your settings are on at least medium – 1600x1200.

Please email illustrative photographic examples to sarahc@green-space.org.uk by 30 June 2011.

The final manual will be freely available to download on the GreenSpace website. Individual sections will also be available to enable you to create your own manual to suit your site.