Promote Project To Neighbours
To set up a community backgreen project you will need to contact your neighbours and get them interested in your idea for the backgreens. You don't need an army of people to establish a community backgreen, but you do need to let eveyone know what your proposing and give them a chance to voice their concerns, support and ideas.
At this stage, we are not looking to get 'permission' for your project (as you will need to work with your neighbours to define what and where it is), but rather to gauge interest and support. There are several methods we use to raise awareness around the site and to keep folk talking. We have covered the basics below, download the information handout for more advice.
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Handout: Community Engagement >
This leaflet is packed full of advice and information for promoting your project to your neighbours, whether it is a start up or an existing one. Door to door surveys, designing posters etc.
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Prepare A Short Project Proposal
You will need to prepare a short project proposal which describes what it is you would like to do. You will use the information you bring together when preparing stair posters and a leaflet for the door to door survey. It will be useful if you include a wee map to explain which tenements and backgreens you think could be involved and what form the project would take. You can prepare the report as a word document or even a handwritten report.
Stair Posters Its a good idea to prepare a wee poster to put on the back of all the tenement stair doors around your site. It's best not to put anything on it which will 'date', we recommend having the addresses for the ECBA website and the groups 'Ning' website. See more info and download template posters
here > Door to Door SurveyWe've found that the best way to raise awareness about the project and get folk involved is to knock on doors, tell them all about it and get their contact details. It's best if you take leaflets with you which you can put through the letterbox if folk aren't in. We have prepared a wee leaflet about the project which gives a quick introduction to the Edinburgh Community Backgreens Initiative with a web address for further information. It is always better to do door to door in pairs. The key goals of the door to door survey are to:- raise awareness and gather contact details (name, address, phone, email).
Community MeetingOnce you have done the stair posters and door to door survey you will hopefully have gathered the contact details of all the folk around your site who are supportive, or at least would like to be kept informed about the project. It is for you to now decide whether there is enough support to continue, if so you should invite everyone to a community meeting to discuss the project further. We will discuss this further in the next section on
setting up a Community Backgreen Association >Community WebsiteYou should set up a 'Ning' website for your project, they just cost $15 for one year. A Ning site is a social networking tool and a great way to get a group communicating and working together. You should invite everyone that has given you an email during the Door to Door survey (see below). Your Community Backgreen Mentor can give training in how to administer Ning sites. See here for more information about
setting up a Community Website >