Grangemouth’s Zetland Park Rose Garden, which reopened this year having been transformed into a fully functioning Raingarden, has received recognition at the Green Flag Awards 2022.
Named joint winners in the ‘Best Climate Change Adaptation Project‘ category, the project was recognised for its raingarden’s scalable and sustainable approach to integrating a nature-based flooding solution into the enhancement of this existing greenspace.
Delivered in partnership between Green Action Trust, NatureScot, Falkirk Council and the Rose Garden Action Group in Grangemouth, the project received funding from the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund (NRF).
As part of the 10,000 Raingardens for Scotland campaign, the project also delivers several strands of the Central Scotland Green Network’s ‘Delivery Plan 2030’ workstreams, particularly Developing Natural Climate Solutions.
The NRF funding for the raingarden features was provided to showcase the benefits that nature-based solutions can deliver for people and nature in towns and cities. These include:
- Adaptation to climate change such as flood and drought resilience
- Creation of beauty, opportunities for recreation and contact with nature such as water, wildlife and vegetation, creating positive effects on quality of life and mental health
- Biodiversity benefits such as water quality, habitat creation and provision of food sources for pollinators, invertebrates, birds, amphibians, and mammals
- Educational value, revealing natural processes through the design and provision of on-site interpretation
In this project, the raingarden elements were carefully integrated with the Rose Garden and other design features, showing that they functioned together, rather than the raingarden simply being a drainage pond at the side of the site. This was key to show that nature-based solutions can be more than unimaginative basins hidden away at the corner of a development.
The project has resulted in the creation of an attractive, biodiverse, publicly accessible space. The flooding issues have been addressed and the Rose Garden has been given a new lease of life.
The Green Flag Awards were handed out virtually via an online ceremony. This video shows the whole event. You’ll find the section about the joint award for Best Climate Change Adaptation Project at 10:45:
The other joint winner was The Hub at Incredible Edible Porthmadog in Wales. For more details about this project, see their Green Flag Award page or visit their Facebook page.
The Zetland Park Rose Garden project is supported by the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot.
