CCG Blooms with Three Major Awards

Connswater Community Greenway has scooped three major awards at two high profile ceremonies held in London, reaffirming its status as a ‘Living Landmark.’  The awards from The Academy of Urbanism and Landscape Institute recognised the tremendous work the project has achieved in connecting people, place and nature in a revitalised urban space as well encouraging civic pride and community engagement.

The Paul Hogarth Company, the landscape architects for the Connswater Community Greenway, received two awards from the Landscape Institute for their contribution to the ‘What’s Growing on the Greenway’ project. They scooped the Communications and Presentation Award along with the overall President’s Award, which was previously won by prestigious projects including the redevelopment of Olympic Park and Leicester Square. Sir David Attenborough was a special guest and set the tone for the evening regarding the fightback against climate change by stating 'We need to help humans see, understand and love nature.'  It was recognised that What’s Growing on the Greenway’ did exactly this by opening a dialogue between the local community and the new landscape via a blog and a book. The blog featured plant of the week which blossomed into content for a book with local people who produced photos and images capturing their favourite plant species supported by interesting facts, trivia and location.  Judges were also impressed by the Greenway’s ability to provide a positive focus for residents struggling with mental health.

Connswater Community Greenway also fought off strong competition to win the award for best place to live in the UK and Ireland from The Academy of Urbanism. The ‘Great Place’ award is one of five given out each year by The Academy. The theme of this year’s awards was inclusivity. The academy recognised Connswater Community Greenway as a model and exemplar of community integration and a high inclusivity project both in its delivery and legacy. They also acknowledged the Greenway for its positive regeneration outcomes in relation to health, volunteering and reducing anti-social behaviour.

Michele Bryans, EastSide Greenways Manager, said:

“We are absolutely delighted with these three major awards for the Connswater Community Greenway. The project has been transformational with people and places always at the heart of the project. Everyone connected to the project works hard with the local community to ensure we provide an inclusive and shared space which not only instils civic pride but connects people, place and nature. ‘What’s Growing on the Greenway’ is another example of how we continue to work with local communities to improve their health and wellbeing by connecting them to nature. We are delighted that in this new phase of delivery the Greenway is truly achieving its ‘living landmark’ status. We would like to take this opportunity to thank The Academy of Urbanism for recognising Connswater Community Greenway as a great place, the local photographers for their enthusiasm and creativity, and Anthony and Darren from The Paul Hogarth Company for their ongoing commitment and support of the project.”

Anthony McGuigan, Director, The Paul Hogarth Company, added:

“We are immensely proud of our involvement with the Connswater Community Greenway (CCG), from the earliest days through to completion of construction. This recognition for our ongoing work to encourage community engagement with their new and improved environment via the ‘What’s Growing on the Greenway’ blog and book is the icing on the cake. Thank you to the EastSide Greenways board and local community contributors for helping us to develop this connection between people, place and nature on such a large scale.”