Wiki Interventions
Browse the available urban greening and sustainability interventions.
Biosolar Roof
Extensive green roof combined with photovoltaic (PV) arrays for renewable energy generation and enhanced biodiversity/cooling benefits compared to standard PV. (Sources: NE GIDG 4.5, IGNITION, GI Design Guide).
Blue Roof
Roof designed specifically to attenuate and temporarily store rainwater, releasing it slowly after rainfall events to reduce peak runoff rates. Can be combined with green roofs. (Source: NE GIDG 4.5, CIRIA C753 Ch 13).
Community Farms
Establish community farms or other food-growing enterprises on accessible land, providing local food, community engagement, and skill development opportunities. (Grant: CGS) (Sources: LNRS, NE GIDG 4.14).
Community Orchards
Create community orchards with local fruit varieties on publicly accessible land, providing local food and wildlife benefits. (Sources: LNRS, NE GIDG 4.13).
Create Pocket Parks
Create small pocket parks/green spaces in unused or underutilised urban spaces (e.g., vacant plots, wide verges, leftover land), prioritising areas of green space deficiency. (Grant: CGS) (Sources: LNRS, NE GIDG 4.16, 6.4).
Extensive Green Roof
Thin layer of vegetation (<150mm substrate) on a roof, low maintenance, typically non-accessible. Often sedum or wildflowers.
Green Wall (Facade)
Climbing plants growing directly on or against a wall, potentially using a support structure. Lower cost and maintenance greening option compared to living walls.
Green Wall (Living)
Vegetation growing on a vertical module/system attached to a wall, often with integrated irrigation. Offers significant GI benefits but minimal direct SuDS function.
Hedgehog Highways
Provide homes/wild areas for hedgehogs and ensure connectivity between gardens by creating small (13x13cm) holes in or under garden fences, walls, and gravel boards. (Sources: LNRS, NE GIDG 4.9, 4.15).
Install Swift Boxes
Install purpose-built nest boxes or bricks specifically for swifts, typically high on buildings, to provide essential nesting sites for this declining migratory bird.
Install Swift Boxes
Install swift boxes on buildings and homes to provide nesting sites for swifts, which often utilise crevices in older buildings that are lost during renovation or unavailable in new builds. (Source: LNRS, GI Design Guide - Species Features).
Integrate Wildlife Boxes/Bricks
Incorporate various wildlife boxes or purpose-made bricks (for birds, bats, insects) into the fabric of new buildings or during renovations to provide roosting and nesting opportunities.
Integrate Wildlife Boxes/Bricks
Adding nest-hole bricks, bird boxes, or bat boxes/tubes to new developments or existing buildings to provide roosting and nesting sites. (Sources: LNRS, NE GIDG 4.9, GI Design Guide - Species Features).
Intensive Green Roof
Deeper soil layer (>150mm substrate), often accessible as a roof garden/park, supporting diverse planting including shrubs and trees. Higher maintenance than extensive roofs.
Natural Play Space
Play areas designed with natural features like logs, boulders, trees, sand, water, and diverse planting instead of predominantly manufactured equipment, encouraging imaginative and active play. (Source: NE GIDG 4.20).
New Allotments
Provide new allotment sites for local food growing, meeting demand and offering recreational, health, and community benefits. (Grant: CGS) (Sources: LNRS, NE GIDG 4.14).
Permeable Paving
Paving that allows water to percolate through, reducing surface runoff and providing water quality benefits. Includes permeable block paving, porous asphalt, and reinforced grass/gravel systems.
Permeable Surfaces
Surfaces that allow rainwater to infiltrate through to the underlying layers, reducing runoff and improving water quality. Examples include permeable paving, gravel, and reinforced grass.
Rain Garden
Shallow, planted depression designed to receive, temporarily store, treat, and infiltrate rainwater runoff from nearby impervious surfaces (e.g., roofs, driveways, patios). (Source: NE GIDG 4.7, CIRIA C753 Ch 18 - Bioretention, Susdrain).
Rainwater Harvesting (New Dev)
Include rainwater harvesting systems (e.g., water butts, larger tanks) in new developments to collect roof runoff for non-potable uses like garden watering or toilet flushing. (Source: LNRS, CIRIA C753 Ch 11).
Street Trees
Trees located next to or within a public road, improving local environment and contributing significantly to Green Infrastructure (GI).
SuDS (General)
Sustainable Drainage Systems like swales or filter strips to manage surface water conveyance and provide treatment.
SuDS-Enabled Street Trees
Street tree pits designed to receive and manage runoff from surrounding impermeable areas, providing attenuation, treatment, and passive irrigation.
SuDS-Enabled Street Trees
Street tree pits designed to receive and manage runoff from surrounding impermeable areas, providing attenuation, treatment, and passive irrigation, often requiring specific engineering and larger pit volumes than standard trees. (Sources: CIRIA C753 Ch 19.8.3, Susdrain Tree Pit Guidance)
Urban Park/Greenspace
Amenity areas covered with vegetation, ranging from playing fields to diverse natural landscapes. Vital Green Infrastructure providing multiple ecosystem services.
Wildlife Features (New Dev)
Strategic approach to embedding biodiversity features (e.g., native planting, ponds, nest boxes, hedgehog highways) into new developments, integrated with SuDS and Green Infrastructure planning.
Wildlife Pond
Create a pond specifically designed to maximise benefits for wildlife, including amphibians, aquatic insects, and birds, providing drinking, foraging, and breeding habitat.
Wildlife Verge Management
Improve roadside verge management with reduced cutting frequency and specific timing ('cut and collect' regimes) to enhance floral diversity and benefit pollinators and other wildlife. (Sources: LNRS, NE GIDG 6.13, Plantlife Guidance).
Wildlife-Friendly Lighting
Use colour filters, lower intensity, directionality, and controls (timers, motion sensors) on external lighting to reduce negative impacts on nocturnal wildlife, especially bats and moths. (Source: LNRS, Bat Conservation Trust Guidance).