Navigating Blue Health What do blue spaces mean to people? How well recognised is health in water policy? How can we support communities to gather data on the bluespaces (e.g.canals, rivers, lochs, coastines) that are important to them? These are some of the questions we are hoping to answer in our Navigating Blue Health project. Greenspace Scotland are working with Public Health Scotland and the University of Edinburgh supported by a grant from the FORTH2O Commissioning Fund. For many years we have been recognising the population health asset value of greenspace but have bluespaces been getting the same attention. We want to build on some of our previous work such as Lyne Burn Voices was a community storytelling and creative evaluation project led by greenspace scotland documenting the 11 year transformation of the Lyne Burn Corridor in Dunfermline. Participants in the Lyn Burn Voices projects shared their experience of and what the transformation has meant to the people who use it… “I walk past the park and over the burn everyday on the way to work and, especially on bright mornings, is a source of joy. The birds, dogs and walkers, leaves and water are so good for the soul. It is a wonderful moment spent with nature and greenery.” The Navigating Blue Health project is delivering across three themes: testing practical community tools in the Forth region, reviewing blue health policy in Scotland, and understanding public perceptions of blue spaces. We’ll be working with local community and greenspace groups across the Forth region to test two tools from the BlueHealth Toolbox, developed through the BlueHealth2020 project but not yet tested in Scotland: The Community Environmental Assessment Tool (BEAT) - a tool designed for community groups to score the social, aesthetic and physical character of a blue space, supporting citizen science, education or funding bids. The Behavioural Assessment Tool (BBAT) - a GIS-based tool that records who is using a blue space, what they're doing, and where, helping identify how different groups use a blue space and where there may be opportunities for change. We just delivered our first workshop testing these tools in Dunbar, East Lothian on 29 June. Communities in East Lothian and Clackmannanshire will continue testing the tools throughout July. If you live in the Forth catchment area you can contribute to the project too. Our mapping survey, Water and Wellbeing, is still open covering bodies of water across the catchment of the River Forth and the coastline of the Firth of Forth. https://app.maptionnaire.com/q/6em4mpd87k3a The first interactive workshop brought community members together to spend some time inside learning about the community tools, how they were developed and how they can be used. Once we had done there was insightful discussion about how get the most of the tools to get the best results and most useful feedback. Then the practical element of the workshop meant getting out to Dunbar harbour to experience using the tools on-site. Recording is done using a tablet computer and GIS software to record how people are interacting in and around bluespace so heading down to the harbour to observe people walking, working and eating around the harbour. Communities will be undertaking observation in bluespaces in East Lothian and Clackmannanshire over the coming weeks to fully test the monitoring tools and techniques. Manage Cookie Preferences