Within Northern Ireland, there was growing awareness of the need to give people better access to greenspaces to help improve public health and wellbeing.  However, there was no single map showing all publicly accessible natural greenspaces and trails throughout the country.  Consequently, it was difficult for government bodies, local authorities and other groups to ascertain which communities had poor access to greenspaces, identify where investment was needed and monitor change over time.  

With backing from funders including the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and the Department for Infrastructure Northern Ireland, the not-for-profit organisation Outscape set out to rectify this and create the first ever country-wide map of greenspaces and trails.  

Evidence of inequitable access to greenspaces
The GreenspaceNI Map and proximity analysis conducted with ArcGIS Pro provides clear evidence of inequitable access to greenspaces in Northern Ireland.  It reveals that while 59% of people living in urban areas are within 400 meters of a greenspace, less than 10% of people in small towns and villages in rural areas have this same level of access.  “ArcGIS has given us the evidence required to demonstrate precisely where investment in more greenspaces is most needed,” says Elizabeth Annett, Communications and Training Specialist at Outscape.

Objective measurement of greenspaces targets 
The Northern Ireland Executive has set a target of achieving an annual increase in the number of people who live within 400m of a greenspace or off-road trail, and the ongoing development of the GreenspaceNI Map will enable progress to be monitored over time.  “Improving access to greenspaces has become an important policy priority,” Annett explains.  “There was no way of quantifying greenspace before, but now we can monitor whether greenspace development is heading in the right direction and hold the government to account.”

Improved local area planning and community engagement 
As the ArcGIS web app, dashboards and StoryMap are easy to use and explore, Outscape anticipates that they will prove incredibly valuable in local planning processes.  Local authorities and landowners can use them to understand the need for greenspaces in specific locations, while community groups can easily make comparisons between the provision in different areas and campaign more effectively for better access to greenspaces in their towns and villages.  

Better information for promoting healthier lifestyles 
Outscape will be adding greenspace and trails from the GreenspaceNI Map to outmoreni.com, a website that encourages people to get ‘out more’ to improve their health and wellbeing.  The organisation believes that the GreenspaceNI Map will help people to become more active, by making them more aware of the nearby greenspaces and trails that they can use for recreation, walking to school or cycling to work.