A researcher at Northumbria University is part of a collaboration to create three new ‘Green Corridors’ in the North East of England, transforming 35 miles of urban, suburban, and rural areas across the region.
The pioneering £3 million project aims to connect city and town dwellers with nature, history, and culture, increase biodiversity and improve wellbeing in Gateshead, Durham and South Tees.
The project is being led by Newcastle, Durham and Teesside universities, in collaboration with Northumbria University and other partners including the National Trust, local authorities and community organisations.
Together the project team will work in partnership to deliver three North East green corridors. All green corridors are part of the National Trust’s Green Corridor programme which aims to establish, by 2030, 20 large green corridors in England, Northern Ireland and Wales providing significant benefits for people and nature.
The three North East Green Corridors are:
- The Tyne Derwent Way which opened last year. The route links attractions along the Tyne and Derwent rivers including: Gateshead Riverside Park, Dunston Staiths, the Metro Centre, the Land of Oak and Iron Heritage Centre, Nine Arches Viaduct, Thornley Woodland Centre and Gibside.
- The Durham route will stretch along the River Wear, connecting the city centre of Durham and Crook Hall Gardens with over 1,000 hectares of green and blue space. Rich natural sites sit in the corridor including Brasside Ponds, Low Newton Junction Nature Reserve and heritage sites such as Finchale Priory and Mallygill Woods. It will link to existing long distance walks in the area - Camino Ingles and Weardale Way.
- Tees to Topping will connect Middlesbrough and the Tees Estuary to the North York Moors National Park and Roseberry Topping. Threading through the heart of urban Middlesbrough to open moorland, it will better connect the region’s natural and cultural assets such as Ormesby Beck, Stewart Park, Ormesby Hall, Flatts Lane Country Park and Guisborough Forest.
Rebecca Prescott, Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship from Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University is one of the Co-Investigators on the project. She was introduced to work on Green Corridors through her current research on collaboration in the delivery of the Tyne Derwent Way and Flourish Gateshead, funded by the Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).
Dr Prescott explained: “Flourishing means creating the right conditions for people to work together, share ideas, and take action to improve their surroundings. While Flourish Gateshead focuses on the creative industries, this new Green Corridors project builds on that work by encouraging even broader collaboration across different fields and sectors. This approach helps make sure our research is useful and relevant to the public, and I hope the findings of Green Corridors North East will support the generation of shared ideas, strategies, and policies that really reflect the needs and hopes of people across the North East.”
The Green Corridors North East project is one of three funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s (AHRC) Mission Awards, which is piloting a new approach that emphasises the team over leadership by an individual researcher.
Professor Christopher Smith, Arts and Humanities Research Council Executive Chair, said: “The Mission Awards take an innovative approach to supporting research. The goal of the award is to encourage and trial radically team-based research behaviours. The projects, on highly topical and pragmatic issues, will need to succeed not just through the quality of their research, but by the example they set of how to work as teams.
“The interest in this award shows that arts and humanities researchers are embracing new ways of working and setting their own rules for teamwork. AHRC is proud to support the transformations in the sector and I am sure that lessons will be learnt that apply far more widely than the disciplines supported here.”
Other Green Corridors North East partner organisations include:
Gateshead Council
Durham Wildlife Trust
Durham County Council
Durham Castle and Cathedral
Middlesbrough Council
Tees Valley Wildlife Trust
Wear Rivers Trust
Natural England
North East Combined Authority
Image credit: A view of the River Tyne and Dunston Staiths. Adobe Stock/Graeme J Baty
