Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Social justice and our mission for inclusive National Parks

National Parks must truly be for everyone, with equity in who visits and governs these landscapes: find out more about our work to secure changes in policy, our projects and our own equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) journey to progress this mission.  

Our organisation was born from a social movement. We have radical roots in protest, anti-oppression and activism, which, 75 years ago, resulted in our first campaign success: the founding of National Parks in England and Wales.  

The vision then was a simple one: National Parks as places where every citizen, no matter their background, could immerse themselves in the wonders of nature and spectacular landscapes. Even though society has changed so much, this vision still resonates today.  

Launched last year, our strategy purposely sets out our intentions to build on these radical roots, centre social and environmental justice in our work, and campaign to ensure National Parks are representative and relevant to the nation today. Our strategy has three goals: better, equal and more National Parks, and we are explicit that securing reforms to address the inequalities in who visits, lives in and governs National Parks is a central plank of our ongoing and future work programme. 

With National Parks at the heart of everything we do, we are here to unite, inspire and empower everyone to take action.

Our strategy to 2028

We're looking for trustees to join our board

We are looking for two new trustees who share our passion for the work we do and who can help us ensure that National Parks are representative, inclusive and relevant to the nation today.

more about the role

What are we doing inside our organisation?

Internally, Campaign for National Parks is on our own EDI journey, a process of learning and (un)learning, listening with empathy and challenging ourselves. We know social justice and EDI Diversity, equity and inclusion is a vital part of how we work and we know we can and must always do more to embed this into everything we do. We are courageous in our ambition, and intentional in progressing this agenda in our small charity. We have a way to go, and work is underway to: 

  • We are taking part in the Small eNGO Ethnic Diversity Support (SEEDs) programme run by Wildlife & Countryside Link and facilitated by Full Colour. Through this we will create a meaningful vision, changes to behaviour and culture and put in place current policies and procedures.
  • Establishment of an EDI working group made up of staff members and Trustees who drive this work forward. 
  • Adopting inclusive recruitment practices, including utilising a “Blind” recruitment process to ensure candidates are reviewed on how well they fit the job description, and ensuring we reduce barriers to entry (e.g. by not requiring years of experience or academic qualifications for any of our roles).  
  • Learning with others, for example, we welcomed our first ‘entry level’ Campaigns Assistant position under Groundworks “New to Nature” trainee scheme which enabled us to learn how to better support those early in the careers, 
  • Adopting a new flexible and hybrid working policy for all our staff, which supports staff who need workplace adjustments. 
  • We have signed up and committed to achieving the goals set out in Wildlife & Countryside Link’s Routemap which will allow us to significantly contribute to: 
    • Reducing barriers for people of colour joining, progressing and thriving in the sector.
    • Cultivating a genuinely inclusive culture in each organisation and across the sector.
    • Increasing ethnic diversity within the sector.
  • We have appointed Dr Geeta Ludhra to the steering group of our new Heritage Lottery Fund New Perspectives project to advise us and ensure equity, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of all our project activities over the next two years.  
  • We submit our organisational data to the RACE (Racial Action for the Climate Emergency) report annually – a campaign to collect and analyse data on racial diversity and inclusion in UK charities and funders working on environmental and conservation issues.

What are we doing to secure inclusive National Parks?

Campaign for National Parks exists to influence others. We work across the sector as well as with decision makers to drive change and influence policy. We also run our own projects which embed social justice and champion diversity and inclusion in National Parks. We know from our previous work, projects and evidence that people of colour are historically, and currently, marginalised within National Parks. We have a long history of championing inclusive access in National Parks. Our MOSAIC programme ran for over 15 years, and, through a community champions model, supported thousands of people of colour and young people from low income backgrounds to have their first experiences in National Parks. The MOSAIC legacy includes new organisations, Peak District Mosaic and Mosaic Outdoors, who continue this work. From working with these communities, we know that our focus now needs to shift to securing places at the table in decision making. Our New Perspectives project (working with young people) has started this. One of our key advocacy priorities is to secure Government change in legislation and policy to reform of National Park Authority governance, so that Boards are diverse, smaller and have expertise and lived experience. We believe these reforms are absolutely fundamental to securing wilder, inclusive National Parks, and are working with, and learning from, a wide range of partners and people to develop proposals.
New Perspectives Award

New Perspectives Award

Our New Perspectives Award as part of our annual National Park Protector Awards celebrates the people, projects or initiatives that champion and inspire diversity and inclusion in National Parks.

New Perspectives

New Perspectives

We offer grants to young people who want to develop their communication and storytelling skills and share their stories of National Parks. Check out their stories.

Viewpoint 85 cover

Viewpoint Magazine

This special edition of Viewpoint is made up entirely of contributions from young people. Thank you to lottery players for making this issue possible.

Future Leaders Course Dartmoor 2024

Future Leaders Course

Our Future Leaders Course is part of our New Perspectives project. This is for young people who want to make a difference – for National Parks, landscapes, nature and people. The course is varied and includes a module on social justice

Mosaic in Eryri

Mosaic

Our Mosaic projects found ways to open National Parks to those who’ve never experienced them before and connected hundreds of people with the countryside.

Moments in nature

As part of our 2021-2023 New Perspectives storytelling grants, Kwesia a.k.a. City Girl in Nature; created a film about a group of first-time visitors experiencing the South Downs National Park.

Watch the full film

Our Friends and Partners

Our Ambassadors

Meet our National Park Ambassadors and learn how to get involved.

Saira

Portrait of the South Downs National Park

Portrait of the South Downs National Park, a film and photographic series created by Saira Niazi. Saira's project explores hidden gems and unearths the stories that surround them.

Amira - behind the scenes

The Wanderlust Women Tour

The Wanderlust Women Tour, a film created by Amira Patel, documented her experiences as well as those of her tour attendees, digging into what barriers are restricting Muslim women and other people from ethnic backgrounds from visiting National Parks.