Projects

Scottish National Nature Reserve access audits

Client: Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH)

Summary:

We devised and carried out a full audit to assess the physical, sensory and intellectual accessibility of the National Nature Reserves (NNRs) in Scotland.

The problem:

As part of their work to create opportunities for people to enjoy, learn about and get involved with their heritage SNH want as many people as possible to be able to enjoy Scotland’s NNRs, they also want to meet the requirements of the DDA.

In order to measure how well they were doing SNH needed a methodology to assess the accessibility of the reserves.

Our input:

We developed a system for assessing the physical, sensory and intellectual accessibility of NNRs in Scotland. The system was based on national guidelines, but tailored to meet the specific needs of SNH.

We audited every reserve.
We drew up detailed reports showing how access could be improved, and costing the works.
We made recommendations on how the works should be prioritised.
we trained staff in the audit methodology.

The result:

SNH know what they need to do to improve accessibility of their reserves.
Anyone can find out which reserves they can access, and what barriers they'll encounter.
National Nature Reserves in Scotland are already much more accessible to everyone.