Our resident engagement strategy at the Lancaster West Estate has been shortlisted for an Unlock Net Zero Award for ‘Engagement Campaign of the Year’.
Our work supported the estate’s ambition to become carbon neutral by 2030 and forms part of the ‘Slowing the Flow in Notting Dale’ programme, an interconnected Sustainable Urban Drainage network across the neighbourhood. networks of
Partnering with Social Place / Julia King, Make Space for Girls and the Lancaster West Neighbourhood Team we reached out to young women on the estate with the aim of making their voices central to the design process.
Three young women were chosen as "landscape ambassadors", in a nine week landscape design programme, exploring how they navigate the estate in the context of their lived experiences and mentoring them in developing their ideas and priorities for estate improvement.
The Landscape Ambassadors and their work is an outstanding example of how community engagement can make meaningful change in the journey toward net zero.
Co-design is central to LWNT’s philosophy work so far, but this campaign developed the approach by engaging a younger demographic, to share their opinions with the wider Lancaster West resident community. The intention was to gain an understanding of the needs of often marginalised groups in respect of accessibility, usage and safety within the estate’s public spaces whilst providing an opportunity for young residents to contribute directly to net zero ambitions.
This engagement campaign’s methodology—deep listening, creative documentation, and genuine co-design—sets a precedent for future climate-focused community engagement. As the world moves toward more sustainable urban development, this initiative demonstrates how equitable participation can lead to better, more resilient, and more widely accepted environmental interventions.
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