On the back of the visitor centre review I completed for Norfolk Wildlife Trust, the team asked me to work with them to help shape the future experience at both Hickling Broad and its new urban nature reserve - Sweet Briar Marshes in Norwich. 

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Hickling is a lovely site in the Norfolk Broads, made extra special by the emergence of beautiful Swallowtail Butterflies each spring. The plan there is to develop a second hub centred around a a pub acquisition, but it needed careful thought on how it integrated with the existing site and one how the team managed some of the inevitable challenges

 

Sweet Briar Marshes is a new reserve in Norwich. It's focus is on urban audiences living in the city and using it to encourage the local communities to use the green space on their doorstep.

 

The charity had a well-developed view of what it wanted to deliver at both sites, but needed to explore the 'why' and consider how the experience connected visitors with what they were aiming to achieve at both sites for very different audiences.

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Through a number of workshops we explored the purpose of each site - what it existed to achieve for both nature and people, and what made each special. We look at the target audiences and thought about what each needed and how they might prioritise what they offered for different groups.

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It enabled Norfolk Wildlife Trust to challenge itself on why it was developing the sites and who it was for, leading to more informed decisions about what they were going to do.

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www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk