Overview
Green social prescribing is the practice of supporting people to engage in nature-based activities to improve their mental and physical health and wellbeing.
These activities can take place in greenspaces (parks, woodlands, gardens) or blue spaces (rivers, lakes, seaside) and include things like local walking schemes, community gardening projects, conservation volunteering, green gyms, open water swimming, or arts and cultural activities that take place outdoors. Activities may be ‘prescribed’ by link workers/community connectors alongside other forms of support as appropriate, such as housing or financial advice.
A national Green Social Prescribing ‘test and learn’ programme ran in 7 sites between 2021 and 2023. This improved the evidence base for social prescribing and resulted in some excellent resources (including an NHS Green Social Prescribing Toolkit) but also highlighted some key challenges, not least sustainable resourcing for provision of nature-based activities.
The social prescribing ‘landscape’ in Oxfordshire is complex. Over 50 organisations provide over 200 ‘community connector’ roles across the county, who work in a variety of settings including health services (e.g. link workers based in GP practices), local authority support services, or VCSE sector organisations working directly with communities.
What we're doing
Because of this complexity, our approach to scaling up green social prescribing is more of a movement than a structured programme. In June 2024 we brought together around 50 people from nearly as many organisations, to understand what is needed to improve access to green prescribing in Oxfordshire. This identified some shared goals, as well as mechanisms for achieving them. We have taken these back to our network and brought them together in a theory of change, both to influence what we do, and to help partners across the system see how their own actions fit into a bigger picture.
Some of the things we are working on directly include:
- Promoting local green prescribing opportunities at ‘Communities of Practice’ meetings run by OCVA, which bring together people who work with adults in the community.
- Working with local groups to make sure their activities are listed on the Livewell Oxfordshire site (aka the social prescriber’s bible)
- Working with Public Health to trial a system of micropayments, whereby small amounts of money follow an individual ‘referral’ to a nature-based activity, to improve access and by way of recognition that such activities do come at a cost.
- Making direct connections between local NHS organisations and nature-based groups/activities wherever possible.
Find out more
Key national resources for Green Social Prescribing nationally include:
- The NHS Green Social Prescribing Toolkit (National Academy of Social Prescribing)
Local resources include:
- Wild Oxfordshire’s Health and Wellbeing in Nature pages
- The Livewell Oxfordshire website (click on ‘things to do’ then ‘health, nature, and greenspaces)
Related publications
Recognitional equity in access to and planning of urban green spaces
This research by Mattia Troiano looks at how fair access to parks and green spaces in Oxford is influenced by income and community backgrounds. It finds that poorer communities often struggle to have their voices heard in decisions about these spaces, making it harder for them to shape their local environment. Even when efforts are made to include them, a lack of trust and practical barriers can stop them from taking part. Without recognizing these challenges, attempts to improve access and involvement in planning may not work as intended and could even make inequalities worse.
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