Timeline of a movement
The London National Park City has a longer history than you might think
Chattanooga, Tennessee becomes the first National Park City in North America, and the third in the world. Read more about it's journey here.
We launch our second publication in digital and print formats, centring on the lives, health and wellbeing strand of the Charter of the London National Park City.
Rochelle Shanthakumar joins us as Programme Manager, with overall responsibility for the management and implementation of our small grants programme.
Becky Daniels joins the team as Community Director, responsible for reimagining our current and future Ranger community.
As Chattanooga progresses its application to become a National Park City its Mayor Kelly visits London, meeting Deputy Mayor of London for Environment Mete Coban MBE at City Hall and taking a tour of Beckton Meadows with London National Park City staff, Rangers and representatives from Newham Council.
Miriam Habte Sellasie and Sadim Garvey join as our two new Communications Managers, with separate but complementary remits.
Public launch of our first ever pop-up London National Park City Visitors Centre at 109 Fleet Street.
We secured core funding from the National Lottery which puts us on a firm footing for London National Park City in 2024 and beyond.
The World Urban Parks Congress in Adelaide is held - a celebration of the importance of urban parks and green spaces for the health and wellbeing of all citizens. This was an opportunity to bring together representatives of National Park Cities around the world and to formally celebrate Adelaide National Park City as the first city in the Southern Hemisphere to achieve the status of a National Park City.
In the heart of London, a celebration of low-impact living and community action recently unfolded at the In a Field by a Bridge Festival by London Bridge. Held on the 22nd and 23rd of July 2023, the festival also marked the 4th anniversary of London becoming the world’s first National Park City. To celebrate, we hosted the #DoLondonDifferently zone, an area of the festival filled with beautiful activities and workshops delivered by our partners and Ranger community.
Over the summer JCDecaux generously supported us through their Community Channel initiative with an 8-week outdoor advertising blitz running on 96 high-profile roadside digital poster sites across London. This outdoor activity formed the backdrop for our #DoLondonDifferently campaign where we introduced 40 grassroots leaders making a difference within their local communities either as London National Park City Rangers or leading inspiring neighbourhood projects that welcome everyone to play their part.
We recruit another 50 volunteer London National Park City Rangers to share their vision for a greener, healthier and wilder London.
Over 200 countries at #COP15 in Montreal have agreed a new deal to tackle the extremes of #biodiversity loss up to 2030 Mark represents the National Park City Foundation having been invited by ICLEI to present at the Subnational Governments and Cities Action Pavilion and as part of a panel discussing Target 12.
We happily announce that Navdeep Deol is appointed to head up the board of the National Park City Foundation and London National Park City.
Four new family-friendly walking routes were launched over the summer by our friends at Footways. The trails inspire people to get out on foot to explore the variety of landscapes and wildlife you can discover across our city.
Five new Trustees, and two goodbyes as the National Park City Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of five new talented and experienced Trustees to its board.
Our third Birthday Party takes place at OmVed Gardens. London officially became the world's first National Park City in June 2019. This summer, we celebrated three years of helping make London healthier, greener and wilder at a Ranger-led event at OmVed Gardens in North London.
The National Park City Foundation and London National Park City are pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Cridge as their first Executive Director.
At the start of April 2022, we launched our first pilot London National Park City Assembly in Islington.
As part of the Designing London National Park City programme a new audio journey by There Project, with sound design by Deborah Ridley commissioned by National Park City Foundation for the London Design Festival 2020 called ‘An Audio Journey Along Regent's Canal: What, When, How and Where’ is released. Accessible 24/7 with own phone and headset via thereproject.org
London National Park City Ranger Mike, based in Waltham Forest, was inspired to launch the London Fungus Network.
On the first anniversary of London becoming the world’s first National Park City, we announced our intention to create a London National Park City Assembly, inspired by the national citizen’s assembly on climate. We showcase 100 Voices over three nights, sharing people's tales of how they're making our capital better for all.
The Ranger programme launched in May 2020 with 54 volunteer Rangers from across London. Rangers have been working on a variety of projects including greening initiatives, education projects, setting up the London Fungus Network, participating in panels and discussion forums, delivering online talks and events, and much more.
The London National Park City Launches on July 22nd 2019.
The London National Park City Festival runs from 20-28 July 2019 and will mark London becoming a National Park City and celebrate London’s amazing outdoors. Working with the Mayor of London, it will be a celebration of London's outdoor spaces involving a broad range of activities, from culture and health and fitness to wildlife and the environment. With a mix of key and community events, organisations and businesses are encouraged to get involved.
Teams of school pupils, all passionate about conservation, faced a panel of 'Dragons' to pitch their inspirational conservation projects. Action for Conservation had been working with schools across the region to help teams of pupils from Year 7 to 9 to develop their projects as part of the WildED programme. The best of the best were then invited to the exciting surroundings of the National History Museum in London to present their projects to the Dragons.
We asked our network for ideas to put to candidates and we produce 5 National Park City Commitments for the next Mayor of London and 99 What If ideas on how the next Mayor can make life in London better ready for the next Mayoral election in May 2020.
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