Four Years of Planting Green Seeds

Our Green Seeds project which began in 2010 has helped local people to set up an amazing 61 community environmental projects across South , involving many hundreds of volunteers. Read our report on this project and be proud with us. With thanks to everyone who participated in interviews and surveys to make this report happen.

AfSL’s Green Seeds project builds on a simple idea that embedding sustainable practice can be achieved through community mobilisation and action. Green Seeds has aimed to bring communities in South together to improve the quality of their environment. Through training and support of Local Project Managers (LPMs), Action for Sustainable Living (AfSL) has established a range of community based volunteering projects, which have built the skills and confidence of individuals, promoted more sustainable communities and increased environmental awareness.

The project has shown that:

• A demand led model of community development can support hard to reach groups and disadvantaged communities;
• A capacity building approach can result in projects which meet local needs and not be affected by the short-termism of more traditional volunteering projects;
• Projects can be financially sustainable beyond the life of the Green Seeds project, with many providing opportunities for social enterprise;
• Green Seeds can build the confidence, skills and employability of volunteers;
• Green Seeds can encourage more people to be active in their communities;
• Projects of this nature can increase environmental awareness

Read the business case available here – Green Seeds Business Case Final