By Nicola Brown, Senior Officer, Green Infrastructure
This blog explores the amazing green infrastructure work being done across the UK and Europe to ensure that our towns and cities are resilient enough to cope with the effects of climate change.
More than 85% of people in England live in towns and cities, where streets, gardens and skylines all have a vital role to play in nature recovery. The momentum behind urban greening has never been stronger.
Green infrastructure reduces air temperatures by between 2°C and 8°C, a significant gain in an increasingly warming world. But the benefits reach far beyond temperature: green spaces are the foundations of healthier, more resilient and investible communities. Growth that nurtures nature, that's what building tomorrow's cities looks like.
Learning across borders in Bristol Natural England and Bristol City Council jointly hosted a delegation of Green Infrastructure experts from the Lithuanian government for a knowledge exchange visit.When a delegation of green infrastructure experts and urban planners from Lithuania made the journey to Bristol specifically to learn from England's approach to urban greening, it said a great deal about the growing international reputation of Natural England's Green Infrastructure Framework.
Hosted by the Wessex team, the visit brought together parks, regeneration and planning professionals including Bristol City Council's Chief Planner, Simone Wilding, to explore how green infrastructure is shaping the city's future. With significant regeneration already under way across Bristol, the day highlighted a vital opportunity: ensuring new development delivers for people, climate and nature from the very outset.
Among the delegation was Ramune Baniuliene, a green infrastructure expert at Lithuania's Construction Sector Development Agency (SSVA). Reflecting on the visit, she said:
"It was helpful for us to see how Natural England's GI Framework can empower local authorities to embed green infrastructure, stressing that this must be done at the earliest design stages. Our visit helped us understand how these principles work in practice, especially regarding community involvement, budgeting, and long-term maintenance."
Governments across the world are grappling with the universal challenge of climate change, making knowledge exchange like this essential and inspiring.
European network: improving urban natureIn early May, Andy Smith, Deputy Director for People and Nature, represented Natural England at a European network meeting in Bonn, bringing together governments and agencies committed to improving urban nature and connecting people with green spaces where they live.
Over two days, delegates shared presentations and insights from across the continent. Andy presented Natural England's Strategy, the Green Infrastructure Framework, Biodiversity Net Gain and Local Nature Recovery Strategies and was delighted to find European colleagues already well-acquainted with this work.
The visit underlined the genuine respect for Natural England's approach across Europe. In particular our model of strengthening relationships with local partners and providing tools that enable local ownership of nature recovery resonated strongly and is seen by many as a promising way forward.
West London's green lung: a regional park connecting communities and nature Representatives from Ealing Council, Hounslow Council, the National Trust, the Mayor of London, the Environment Agency, and the Canal & River Trust sign an agreement to deliver a new 500-hectare nature corridor regional park in West London, at Osterley House. © Megan Taylor / Ealing CouncilEveryone deserves access to nature close to home. In early March, we joined partners to celebrate a landmark moment for west London as the Ealing Regional Park moved into the delivery phase.
In July 2025, Ealing Council was awarded a £999,595 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant through Nature Towns and Cities, the national partnership between Natural England, the National Trust and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. London's City Hall invested a further £1.5 million, bringing this major new greenspace closer to reality.
The West London Regional Park will connect 585,000 additional Londoners within a 30-minute walk of green space, enhance more than 500 hectares of habitat, and create a new 13km route linking parks and waterways across the area. On the ground, that means walking and cycling heritage trails, wetland protection and rewilding, tree planting, wayfinding improvements and spaces where sport, community life and wildlife can thrive side by side. Strategic green infrastructure that will create a greener, healthier west London for generations to come.
Greater Manchester Green SummitOn 3 March, representatives from Natural England attended the GMCA Green Summit alongside hundreds of partners. Standout sessions included young people driving climate innovation and a walking workshop on Cyan Lines, an ambitious plan to connect over 100 miles of green and blue routes across Salford and Manchester, another grantee of the Nature and Cities programme. Watch this video to find out more. Natural England had two stands at the event, and the interest from attendees was tremendous, reflecting a real appetite for urban greening across the North.
From Bristol to Bonn, west London to Greater Manchester, the first months of 2026 have shown just how much nature matters to urban communities. As this week's extreme temperatures remind us, urban areas face the greatest risks from a warming world and green spaces are one of our most powerful tools for keeping communities cool, healthy and resilient. The case for putting nature at the heart of how we plan and build our towns and cities has never been stronger.
seen at 16:46, 29 May in Natural England.