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Some of IFLI's many achievements over the last four years
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Welcome to IFLI's October 2018 eNewsletter
In this issue:
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Goodbye IFLI, hello Inner Forth Futures!
Image courtesy of Robert Trevis-Smith/IFLI
Not really goodbye! Since 2012, a partnership of eight local authorities, public bodies and charities has been working successfully together with local community groups, individuals and organisations to deliver an ambitious programme of work centred on the Inner Firth of Forth from Stirling to Blackness – the Inner Forth Landscape Initiative (IFLI).
On completion at the end of September 2018, this £4 million HLF-funded Landscape Partnership scheme had delivered 54 interlinked projects ranging from habitat creation, footpath installation and historic building conservation projects to the provision of traineeships, volunteering schemes and a wide range of skills training opportunities. By combining these with pan-landscape interpretation, events and promotion, IFLI has gone a long way to leaving an incredibly positive legacy in the area.
However the end of IFLI does not mean the end of the partnership. From 1 October 2018 the partners will continue to work together to deliver a strong legacy from the Inner Forth Landscape Initiative that maintains and builds on the success of this previous project. The new phase will oversee delivery of the IFLI management and maintenance obligations, to make sure the projects that were completed during IFLI are cared for, supported and enhanced over the coming years. The partners have appointed a new project manager, Kate Fuller, to help administer the funding that was provided as part of the HLF grant to ensure that this takes place.
In addition to helping the organisations who delivered the projects to maintain the on-the-ground works that they put in place over the four-an-a-half years of IFLI, the funding will also help to train more people to look after and monitor the area’s natural and historic heritage, through apprenticeships, workshops and courses aimed at local people and community groups.
Our communications officer, Sue Walker, will also be staying on for the time being. As there are one or two IFLI pieces of work still to complete, in particular the suite of area-wide interpretation and the Explore the Forth app that made up the Telling the Inner Forth Story project, Sue will be making sure they get the publicity and recognition they deserve once they are in place. She will also be maintaining our Facebook and Twitter feeds and website, so that our supporters continue to be the first to know what is going on as we move into the next phase.
So the message is, watch this space!
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We hope you'd like to stay in touch!
As we move from IFLI to IFF we'd like to keep you up to date with our new plans. To comply with the new data protections laws we'll need your permission to send you the new 'IFF' newsletter, which we'll be producing soon. To opt in you just need to visit our website at http://www.innerforthlandscape.co.uk/ and subscribe. We do hope you'll stay with us!
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As part of the wrapping up of landscape partnership schemes like IFLI, the Heritage Lottery Fund asks us to appoint an independent assessor to review and evaluate the work that we have done to deliver the outcomes we said we would at the start of the scheme. We are delighted to say that the report that was produced for IFLI by independent assessors Countryside Training Partnership described IFLI as 'from our observations, discussions and assessment of the information presented within this evaluation, the Inner Forth Landscape Initiative demonstrates one of the best, if not the best, example of a partnership working together that we have encountered.'
Credit for this must go to the Partners, project leads, community groups, volunteers and local people who worked so well together to help us deliver the 54 projects that made up the Initiative. If you'd like to read more of the report you can find it on our website here.
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Please help us with our next steps
Ben Andrew/RSPB Images
We need your help please!
From May 2014 to September 2018 the Inner Forth Landscape Initiative (IFLI) partnership delivered a suite of 54 projects funded by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund that would:
- turn perceptions of the Inner Forth around and increase local pride in this place,
- connect disparate habitats to create a landscape flourishing with biodiversity,
- celebrate, protect and improve access to important historical and natural features,
- train and support committed and motivated local community groups, individuals and organisations to take action to conserve their area’s heritage, and
- increase physical and intellectual access to the area’s important heritage.
Following the successful completion of IFLI projects and celebrating that we have achieved or exceeded our initial plans, there is an overwhelming desire from all partners to continue working together. This next stage of the IFLI partnership will be called Inner Forth Futures. This will have a lower scale of funding than IFLI but will build on achievements to date and will keep working at a landscape scale, with a heritage focus, around the Inner Forth (an area that we define as a loose triangle between Stirling, Rosyth and Blackness).
To help us shape Inner Forth Futures work from October 2018 it would be great if you would take a few minutes to fill in this short questionnaire, which will tell us more about how people view the Inner Forth area, what sort of things you like doing here, and what you'd like to do more of in the future. Thank you!
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Construction of beacons and markers underway!
The Beacon at Fallin Bing is now in place. James Strang Ltd
The first of our suite of interpretation 'beacons' are now in place at Fallin Bing and Kinneil Estate, with others at Alloa Harbour, Limekilns, Abbey Craig, Clackmannan Tower and Bo'ness Foreshore coming very soon (work is continuing as I write). Smaller installations, called markers, are also being installed at 11 sites around the Inner Forth. They are all designed to celebrate this unique landscape at the heart of Scotland. The beacons were designed by Bright 3D, and are the culmination of several years of planning and discussions. Our thanks go to all the partners, community groups and other organisations who have worked with us during the design and planning to make them a reality, and of course to the Heritage Lottery Fund, without whose support they would not have been possible.
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We are delighted to announce that our new Explore the Forth app is now live and ready for you to download for free from Google Play (link here) or the Apple App Store! Find it under Inner Forth Landscape Explorer. Whether you live in the Inner Forth area, or are planning a visit here, we hope IFLI's Explore the Forth app will help you to discover new things about this unique landscape at the heart of Scotland. There are lots of stories about the culture, history, and wildlife of the area, along with information and maps to help you travel around by car or public transport. It will take you to places you may not even have heard of, but which have fascinating stories to tell, great views, or havens for wildife. Some of the information is only available when you visit a site, to encourage you to discover new places, and there's even a quiz to keep you on your toes! We do hope you'll enjoy using it. Tell us what you think - and let us know if you complete your places and wildlife collections! |
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