Step 5 • Draft proposals

Artwork: Diana Weisner, Bogota

Develop your ideas through your proposals

To gain support for your National Park City, from the public, organisations, politicians and any relevant authorities, you’ll need to put together some proposals. Writing proposals is a good way to help you formulate your ideas and collaborate with others. They’re an opportunity to share, consult on, test and improve your thinking.

3 Types Of Proposals

Experimental Proposals

You’re likely to start by making informal and experimental proposals about your National Park City. Many of these will simply be conversations with others, asking them what they think of the idea. These will become more formal as you move on to holding meetings, forums or gatherings to ask people for their opinions. This thinking and learning will contribute towards your initial written proposal.

Initial Written Proposal

Your initial proposal should be a short document that sets out your ambition for your city to become a National Park City. Use this to capture people’s imaginations and encourage them to respond to a public consultation. This consultation should be carried out both online and in person. You can then use the findings to develop your thinking, build support and create a full proposal.

Full Public Proposal

This proposal needs to inspire people and include enough detail to persuade them to support your idea. Write in plain English and make sure it’s easy for anyone to understand. Include your draft National Park City’s Charter for people to sign up to. You’ll need to keep listening to the people you engage with, so consult on this proposal too.

Things to consider when crafting your proposals

A public consultation does not have to be complicated. It can be as simple as asking people to read your proposal and then filling in an online questionnaire to provide feedback on it. You might ask people:

If they support your aims
Things they would like the NationalPark City to achieve
If they think becoming a NationalPark City would improve your city and if so, how
For suggestions on how the proposal can be improved
If they think your local or national government should support your proposal
If they support your proposal.

Your document should be your main statement of intent which you’ll use to secure your National Park City’s mandate – the consent, agreement and authority you need in order to turn your Emerging National Park City into an Established National Park City that is officially recognised in your locality.

Your full public proposal will form part of your application to become a National Park City or a member of the National Park City Family. It should:

Be inspiring, convincing and easy to read
Include ambitions and goals that have been agreed by consensus from your community
Demonstrate how your urban area includes all of the National Park City elements
Champions individuals and organisations that are already doing things that will make your National Park City successful
Show that your urban area has projects that, if replicated, could make your city greener, healthier and a better place for nature to thrive and people to live
Demonstrate that your urban area has places and projects that you would be proud to show visitors and residents, such as nature reserves, outdoor learning initiatives or green housing.
Demonstrate that your urban area has policies in place that are in line with the National Park City vision, and that any that are counter to it are being challenged
Explain how your National Park City will be governed and resourced.

What’s The Difference Between A Vision, Proposal And Charter?

Your vision is what you want to achieve. It is what you want the world to look like in the future. Inspired by the University Charter for National Park Cities, your Charter includes your vision but also sets out your goals.

People should be able to sign-up to support your Charter. Your full public proposal tells people what you plan to do and why. Your vision and Charter will be important parts of this document.

Write, Sign And Celebrate Your National Park City Charter

Every National Park City must have its own National Park City Charter, inspired by the Universal Charter for National Park Cities. Your Charter will be an important guiding document that people in your urban area will be able to use to inspire, influence and guide action. Your Charter must be:

Co-created with people from your urban area
Inspired by and in line with the Universal Charter for National Park Cities
Distinctive to your urban area
Updated every few years
Published online so that anyone can read and sign up to it.

Have a look at the London National Park City Charter at nationalparkcity.london/charter and see how closely the wording aligns with the Universal Charter for National Park Cities.

Future versions of each city’s Charter are likely to become more distinctive to London’s character, ambitions and needs, but the structure will stay closely aligned. When you’ve published your Charter, ask the public, as well as key decision makers and influencers, to sign it to show their support. That process will help you to build momentum, community and mandate.

Your mandate is your power and authority to become a National Park City. What’s needed to achieve this will be different depending on where you are in the world.

In London the National Park City model exists outside of legislation. Its authority came by securing support from the Mayor of London, the London Assembly (which holds the Mayor to account), the majority of over 2,000 local politicians and public support as indicated by public polling. In addition, the chair of Natural England, the agency that designates National Parks in England, signed the London National Park City Charter.

The ingredients of your mandate may look very different, especially if your future National Park City can technically fit inside the legal definitions for a National Park in your country.

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