Better Life Rooted in Place
A Better Life, Rooted in Place
Perhaps the biggest achievement of the Central Scotland Green Network is not something you can see on a map. It’s the quality of life that’s emerging from the green web now woven through towns and cities.
People feel safer walking. Children spend more time outdoors. Communities come together to care for their shared spaces. The mental and physical health benefits of nature are becoming part of everyday life, from walking in woodlands to gardening with neighbours.
The land is healing and so are the people.
This can be seen clearly in Lauriston Farm, Edinburgh. This 100 acre (40 hectares area, overlooking the Firth of Forth, had once been a productive farm but had fallen into low grade use. With a vision of a place for producing good food, connecting people and revitalising wildlife The Edinburgh Agroecology Coop, formed in 2020, have created a vibrant, fair, resilient urban farm.
Discover more >
Video interview with Lauriston
Fairer Places for Everyone
Social equality is important to the CSGN mission. That means making sure every community, not just the wealthiest, has access to safe green spaces, clean air, and the benefits of nature.
In areas where parks were once lacking, CSGN projects have created inclusive spaces where children can play, older adults can rest and families can grow their own food. Community organisations have led the way, ensuring projects reflect local needs and voices. This has resulted in activities such as accessible paths for disabled residents, to food growing workshops serving low-income families.
Seniors Follow the Yellow Brick Road
In North Glasgow there is a place where once clay was dug to line the Forth and Clyde canal that would shape Scotland’s industrial landscape. The site was scarred and hollowed, a working ground rather than a place to relax. Today, that same ground is a vibrant blue-green space. It is known as The Claypits, Glasgow’s only inner-city nature reserve, a hidden wild space just a short walk from the city centre. Boardwalks curve over the water, pathways weave through woodland and from the higher ground, the views stretch across the skyline. It is a place to pause, to breathe, and to feel nature close at hand. Locally, the reserve has become a meeting place, where children race down slides while walkers, joggers, and cyclists share the paths. There has been a marked increase in senior citizens making use of the site. Local people call this path ‘the Yellow Brick Road’, which certainly means they have taken it to their hearts.
Leading the charge is the Claypits Local Nature Reserve Management Group, a team of local residents who care deeply for the land. Working alongside Scottish Canals and Glasgow City Council, they protect and nurture this green space, ensuring that it remains both a refuge for wildlife and a place for people to enjoy.
From a scarred clay pit to a flourishing urban oasis, the Claypits tells a story of nature reclaiming its place and of inspired design. So much so, that World Landscape Architecture Awards 2025 have been announced, and Land Use Consultant’s Glasgow Claypits, was shortlisted in the Built Sustainability & Resilience category. Locally and globally the Claypits receives well deserved recognition.
10 minutes from Nature
Cumbernauld Living Landscape is a landscape scale conservation initiative with a vision to work with the community to achieve a greener Cumbernauld. It aims to enhance, restore and reconnect green areas of the town, helping everyone in the community to connect with the nature on their doorstep.
Cumbernauld is an incredibly green place and most people in the town live within ten minutes of a greenspace. Everyone in Cumbernauld should benefit from this, now and in the future. These greenspaces though are often disconnected from one another and many are not as good for people, or wildlife, as they should be.
Without good quality, healthy places people and wildlife cannot flourish. Working closely with the local community, creating healthy places that are at the heart of the town’s future, is the priority. The Cumbernauld Living Landscape’s long-term vision is for a green network in the town, providing clean air, water and places to retreat from the busyness of everyday life.
From Bing to Brilliant
Cumnock Memory Garden, South Ayrshire
The Cumnock Action Groups took an old Bing and turned it into something Brilliant. Artwork reveals the real history of the town. The lines of the stories told are carved into granite. Memories and the everyday lives of Cumnock’s people lead to a memory garden that is a sanctuary of calm.
The Memory Garden stands as more than a project - it is a community’s gift to itself. A place of memory, movement, and belonging, where past and present meet, and where Cumnock’s older generations can continue to feel connected, valued, and at home.
And hear first-hand from those involved.
Helen Ng of Cumnock Action Group and Sharron Kilday - Community Led Regeneration Officer (Development, Compliance and Performance), East Ayrshire Council, share their perspectives of the Cumnock Memory Garden.
Designed with Health in Mind
When the Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert was being constructed it was designed not just with the treatments going on inside, but with health in mind by improving the greenspace around it.
The woodlands have been managed and invasive vegetation removed from around Larbert Loch. A new Lochside path and a network of woodland trails, along with the installation of site furniture and signage, all make the hospital grounds more accessible for staff, patients and local people. An onsite Forestry Land Scotland Ranger leads Branching Out, a mental health programme with Cardiac Rehabilitation activities in partnership with NHS clinicians. They also host woodland family fun days and tai chi sessions in the woodland.
Wishawhill Pump track, North Lanarkshire
A place where young people are welcome, can be free to learn new skills, make new friends and feel that their place is somewhere to shout about.
Billie's Story: The Future has Two Wheels
“I’m 17, and I live in Craigneuk, just outside Wishaw. Not long ago, people didn’t come to this part of town unless they had to. The woods behind my estate – Wishawhill Wood – used to be a dumping ground. Broken glass, fly tipping, a bit sketchy, honestly.
But then something changed. They built a pump track.
At first, I didn’t know what it was. Looked like a rollercoaster made of tarmac, snaking through the trees. But once I tried it, I was hooked! The Wishawhill Wood Pump Track isn’t just any old bike path. It’s one of the best in the country. Built right in the middle of our bit, with help from North Lanarkshire Council, Green Action Trust, CSGN, and the local community council. It turned a patch of neglected woodland into a place people want to be.
The first time I went, it was quiet. Just me and a borrowed mountain bike with squeaky brakes. I could barely stay on the rhythm. I fell a lot. But I kept coming back. There was something about the way the trail flowed, it was brilliant and made me forget everything else.
Soon I was going every day after school. Then weekends. Then bringing my wee cousin. Then helping the local project guys show other kids how to ride safely.
It gave us:
- Somewhere safe to ride, right near home
- A reason to get outside and stay active
- A place to meet people from all over
- Confidence in riding, in ourselves I'm amazed at what I can do now!
It even got me thinking about what I want to do. I've started volunteering with a local cycle repair group. I’m applying for a course in outdoor sports leadership. If you'd told me that two years ago, I’d have laughed.
The thing is, the local folk helped make it happen. We got to share ideas. Local people helped clear the site. Young folk helped shape the design with Velosolutions, who built the track.
Now, it’s part of a bigger plan, to connect Wishawhill Wood to the active travel network, to get more kids into cycling, and to turn forgotten woods into community assets.
Families come here now. Not just bikers. Walkers, kids with scooters, toddlers playing in the woods. There’s a sense of pride. And the woods? They feel alive again.
Some people think big change needs big money. But sometimes, it just takes vision and a good pump track.
Wishawhill Wood has become something we never had before:
- A place to ride.
- A place to belong.
- Its given us a reason to believe that even here, in Craigneuk, the future’s looking great and it’s rolling on two wheels. It's all good!”
As a result of the change in culture associated with the Wishawhill Pump track, Police Scotland has reported a dramatic reduction in anti-social activity associated with the site. Scottish Fire and Rescue call outs have been minimised, saving in the region of £2,000 per incident. The adjacent golf club has reported a similar drop-off in vandalism on their course.
(This is a composite story made form the inputs received from people associated with these CSGN projects.)
Green Active Travel
Encouraging more everyday journeys on foot or by bike is a win for our health and planet. Putting a focus on natural assets around us, turns makes journeys more interesting and attractive. Having interconnected nature friendly corridors that are more inviting to use, can also encourage less car journeys. Having these Green Active Travel routes, means working with planners and developers to help understand local living and realise the 20 minute neighbourhood concept.
Around Denny a programme of work supported the upgrading of the 2.8km long footpath that follows the course of the former railway line between Rosepark Community Woodland and Démorham Avenue. Focusing on the travel needs of the pupils attending the new Denny High School and St Patrick’s Primary School, the work of the active travel route looked to inspire and encourage more pupils to choose sustainable transport methods to travel to school. With the installation of lighting, the route is accessible and safer all year round.
