Cittaslow Mold: More Trees for Mold Project – a learning ...cittaslowmold.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CittaslowMold_LH_… · Cittaslow Mold: More Trees for Mold Project –

Cittaslow Mold: More Trees for Mold Project – a learning history


Completed December 2012

Prepared by Ruth Williams, Pathfinder Officer

With thanks to Andrea, Sophie, Geoff and Viv, and all the other Cittaslow Mold volunteers for being part of Pathfinder and sharing their time and thoughts with me.

http://cittaslowmold.co.uk/

What is the Pathfinder Programme?

Pathfinder is a Welsh Government funded programme to support communities to take action on climate change. It was delivered from 2011 to early 2013 by a partnership of Severn Wye Energy Agency and AECOM, along with Cadwyn Clwyd and Eco Dyfi. Six Pathfinder Officers, covering the whole of Wales between them, provided advice and support to groups, as well as carrying out action research with 17 case study groups who were active on issues relating to food, water, transport and energy. The aim of the research was to inform the development of future support provision along with developing learning relevant to community groups. The objectives were:

RO1 To understand the impacts of projects led by community-based groupsRO2 To understand what makes community groups flourish, and how challenges can be overcomeRO3 To understand the external support needs of community groups and projects

Detailed research questions sit under these objectives, and the questions directly relevant to this case study are presented overleaf. A summary report drawing together the learning across all 17 cases, as well as further information on the methodology is available here: Website



The Pathfinder team were inspired by the work of the Community Innovation for Sustainable Energy project, which uses a form of learning history to tell the stories of community energy projects. Drawing on this, and other projects, the methodology was tailored to the Pathfinder Programme.


What is a learning history?

Developing a learning history is about both a way of working with a group to produce shared learning through reflection and discussion, and the production of a written narrative which captures the views and learning of participants in a way which is useful for the group and others. The learning history process involves the following broad stages:

- The Pathfinder Officer works with the group to create a timeline and stakeholder map for the project and discusses with them key issues relating to the research questions

- The Pathfinder Officer then takes all of this information and attempts to synthesise it into a narrative which tells the story of the group/project and addresses the research questions

- This is then developed and finalised through discussion and negotiation with the group to create a version that all are happy with.

This is what is presented here. Participant and project anonymity has been respected where requested.

How to read this learning history

This learning history starts with an introduction to the group and project overleaf. This is followed by an overview of the timeline developed with the group. The main section of the learning history is structured around the timeline with key dates

highlighted in blue. The central narrative tells the story of the group/project, with reflections from the Pathfinder Officer in the right margin in green, and group reflections and quotes in the left margin in blue. Where learning is linked directly to the research questions this is in a red box in the central narrative. The learning history is concluded with a summary of key

learning structured around the Pathfinder research objectives.

Key date

Research question

Learning linked to a research question

Participant reflection

Participant quote

Central narrative

Pathfinder Officer reflection


Cittaslow Mold

Cittaslow is an international movement which began in Italy in 1999 to support places to develop with ‘quality of life’ at their core. The scheme is open to towns with a population under 50,000 people. To become Cittaslow accredited, towns undergo a self-audit of the 55 standard Cittaslow goals, which cover the following themes: environment, infrastructure, local produce and products, hospitality and community, and Cittaslow awareness. A town must reach a 50% score against these goals to become accredited. In the UK there are currently five Cittaslow accredited towns: Aylsham, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Diss, Mold and Perth.

Further information on Cittaslow is available here: http://www.cittaslow.org.uk/

Mold is a thriving and historic market town in Flintshire with a population of approximately 10,000 people. In 2006, Mold became the first town in Wales to achieve Cittaslow status. They used their audit process to set local priorities for projects and action, which have included a local festival, research in to local food, landscaping and community consultation. They are closely supported by the Town Council and operate through smaller themed subgroups, made up of volunteers, which develop and deliver projects within their theme. One of their volunteers, Sophie, was also the project officer for Cittaslow UK for 18 months.

Cittaslow Mold’s website is available here: http://cittaslowmold.co.uk/

More Trees for Mold

The More Trees for Mold project developed from Cittaslow Mold’s existing interests in improving the local environment, providing sources of locally grown food, and supporting local heritage species, combined with a national project from Lions International who planned to plant 1 million trees worldwide in 2012 and inspiration from a similar project in the Cittaslow town of Perth. The Mold project aims to work with local communities within Mold to plant trees, including fruit and nut trees, in schools and public spaces, and to train and support local people to look after the trees.

Cittaslow Mold and Pathfinder

The project was selected for Pathfinder in December 2011 as a replacement for a group who could no longer participate in the programme. The More Trees for Mold project offered the opportunity to explore how an established and successful group delivers a new project, how the Cittaslow model works on the ground and how a group can work with their Town Council.


http://www.cittaslow.org.uk/


This learning history addresses the following research questions1:

RQ 1.5 What impacts have the projects had on their associated groups, project participants and the wider community?

RQ 2.1 What makes groups successful?

RQ 2.3 What barriers are there to groups delivering successful projects, and how are they overcome?

RQ 3.1 What support do groups need to deliver successful projects?

This learning history was produced from a workshop with Andrea, Sophie, Geoff and Viv, all volunteers from Cittaslow Mold, along with materials provided by Andrea and meeting notes and reflections made by me over the past year. I produced the main narrative from these sources, and reviewed it with the group. This final version was produced following feedback from Andrea.

1 The RQ numbers refer to how the questions sit within the wider set of Pathfinder Programme research questions – see XXX for full list


Timeline

Future planting and engagement

More Trees For Mold public meetings

More Trees for Mold idea

Projects, projects, projects

Mold awarded Cittaslow status

Idea of Cittaslow Mold is suggested Training and

planting begins (March 2012)

Feb – May 2012

Oct 2005 2013 onwards

Dec 2011Sept 2006


October 2005 - Idea of Cittaslow Mold is suggested

The story of Cittaslow Mold began when an officer from Flintshire County Council Regeneration team suggested the idea of going for Cittaslow status to Andrea, who was a town councillor in Mold at the time. Dave Heggarty, Head of Regeneration, had seen information on Cittaslow in New Start magazine and Andrea immediately thought it could suit Mold. Andrea, representing the Town Council, brought together a group of interested individuals and groups from the town to see if there was support for going for Cittaslow status. There was widespread enthusiasm for the idea, and the group went on to carry out the audit and develop new projects to support Mold’s achievement of the Cittaslow goals.

The Cittaslow process is built around a self-audit of the 55 Cittaslow goals which cover criteria about the environment, infrastructure, urban fabric, local produce and products, hospitality and community, and Cittaslow awareness within a place. Each town must reach a 50% score to achieve Cittaslow status.

Cittaslow Mold structures their activities around three smaller sub groups who pick up a selection of Cittaslow goals:

- Environment – working on Cittaslow criteria around environmental issues such as air and water quality, energy use, and light and noise pollution.

- Space and Place – working on Cittaslow criteria around infrastructure such as green space, transport, and public conveniences, and quality of urban fabric such as planting, enhancing historic features, and use of sympathetic urban furniture.

- Local Produce and Community – working on Cittaslow criteria around local produce such as supporting local growing and markets, hospitality and community such as providing a welcome to tourists and volunteering opportunities for local residents, and Cittaslow awareness raising.

These working groups enabled the bigger project to be broken down in to manageable chunks, and allowed individuals to spend their time on projects which they are passionate about.


September 2006 - Mold awarded Cittaslow status

In 2006 Mold became the first town in Wales to achieve Cittaslow status, which the group announced at the first Mold Food and Drink Festival in September. The festival had developed from a Mold Food Town meeting where the Flintshire County Council Regeneration Team had invited a speaker from Cittaslow Ludlow, who inspired further action on improving Mold holistically. The Cittaslow Mold team have a stand at the annual festival.

The Festival had developed from a meeting in February 2006 at the Beaufort Park Hotel of people involved and interested in the production of local produce to explore whether it would be possible to promote and develop Mold as a food town. One of the guest speakers was the late Graeme Kidd from Cittaslow Ludlow who inspired several influential people at the meeting to join the move to achieve Cittaslow accreditation for Mold. During the Mold Food Town meeting people agreed to form a Mold Food and Drink Festival Committee led by Greg Shankar, and others agreed to start a Slow Food group led by Ben Raskin.

The 55 Cittaslow goals gave the Mold group a guide to work from, and their audit helped them identify key priorities. The Cittaslow process provides a structure which is the same for any town going for Cittaslow across the world, but each town has the flexibility to decide which areas will be their priorities.


This philosophy is now included in Mold Town Partnership’s aspiration statements which were developed following public consultations in November 2010 funded by a grant obtained by Cittaslow Mold from Cadwyn Clwyd. Sophie was commissioned to organise and interpret a section of the data gathered from one consultation event held for ‘hard to reach’ community members. Cittaslow Mold were represented on Mold Town Partnership’s steering group for two years, prior to it becoming a constituted body in 2012, and they are now members.

Mold Town Partnership’s Aspiration Statements

It is the collective aspirations of Mold’s communities that by 2025 Mold is:

An attractive town with well designed public spaces and a strong sense of place

A distinctive place where locals and visitors connect with history, culture and countryside

An inclusive community with a strong sense of belonging and participation

A model of environmental sustainability, embracing change and innovation

A high quality commercial environment supporting thriving businesses and a valued local workforce

An active contributor in local partnerships with strong integrated networks across the region

http://cittaslowmold.co.uk/six-aspiration-statements

http://cittaslowmold.co.uk/six-aspiration-statements


Each subgroup decided on their priorities and identified some ‘easy wins’ to start work on. This was an intentional strategy to enable the group to get started and deliver change from the beginning. The working groups do not tend to meet together very often, mainly just at the annual AGM which is not always well attended. Many of the people involved with the various projects prefer to focus on action and do not like attending meetings. Andrea and Sophie feel this does not impact negatively on the group or its activities, as Andrea says “so long as people keep doing...”. Andrea, who was Chair of Cittaslow Mold until the 2012 AGM, keeps an overview of what is happening across the town under the banner of Cittaslow Mold. She

This is working for them at the moment, but what will happen if Andrea is no longer in this central

communication role?

Ruth, Pathfinder Officer


reports this back to volunteers and stakeholders through the newsletter, website and twitter account. The new chairwoman, Sarah Pratt, will be supported by Cittaslow volunteers, Andy Hughes and Andrea. Sarah is now responsible for reporting back to Cittaslow UK at their quarterly meetings where each town provides an update and best practice is shared. Andrea and Sophie will continue to attend Cittaslow UK meetings to maintain continuity. Andrea is also involved with Cittaslow at an international level, and is currently the vice chair of Cittaslow International.

The group is made up entirely of local volunteers, apart from a period of six months in 2007/8 when they received funding from Cadwyn Clwyd to employ a development officer. Volunteers come and go over time, with recruitment happening especially when new people move to the town or a new project gets started. There are currently more than 100 volunteers on the Cittaslow Mold database. Many of the volunteers represent other community organisations such as the Women’s Institute or the local Churches, which supports good partnership working and the sharing of information and ideas. The priorities of each working group shift as people come and go and bring with them ideas and enthusiasm for particular projects.

Sophie’s Story

One of Cittaslow Mold’s volunteers is Sophie. As someone living, working and raising a family in the town, she was concerned about local issues, particularly around the environment and community. However, she did not know how to channel her concerns to achieve change. As a performance poet, she described herself in one of her poems as “Furious Mother from Mold”, ranting about local issues, but not yet making a difference that felt satisfactory to her. A town councillor invited her to join Cittaslow Mold, and having found out more about it Sophie thought “I could really do something there”.

Sophie has been instrumental in the Bailey Hill project and festival. Bailey Hill is a public space in the town which was underused by the local community and not seen as a local resource. The Cittaslow Mold group have delivered various activities, including producing a new heritage trail with leaflet and interpretation panel, and securing grants to refurbish the gates, railings, bins and benches to help improve the Hill. Sophie saw the potential of events “as a way of claiming back the hill”. Using her skills and experience in event management and as a performer, she has established a successful annual Bailey Hill Festival arts event.

She is also active in other Cittaslow Mold activities as a volunteer, and was a part



Cittaslow is a whole town accreditation. Cittaslow Mold has successfully managed to strike a balance between having clear goals and aspirations and being flexible and open to new ideas. Provided ideas fit with the overall ambition of Cittaslow Mold, anything goes.


This means they can capitalise on available resources - the project suggestions and enthusiasm of all their volunteers. Only projects which people want to deliver are delivered. It also makes the group inclusive, open to anyone with an idea that sits under the broad umbrella of Cittaslow, which helps maintain and increase their membership and available resources. This inclusivity also means that they are responsive, driven by the needs and ideas of local people.

They have also found a way of working which suits them – with as few formal meetings and structures as possible. Their structure has enabled them to break their larger project down in to manageable bite-sized chunks, and they began by tackling some projects which would give them ‘quick wins’ and a sense of achievement from the beginning.

Their volunteer base includes many people who represent other local organisations, which enables strong partnership working and an easy two-way flow of information and ideas.

September 2006 onwards – Projects, projects, projects

Over the past six years Cittaslow Mold has delivered or been part of a wide range of projects, a few of which are mentioned below.


- Farmers’ Market – Cittaslow Mold encouraged Celyn Farmers’ Market to come to Mold, and the market is now held twice a month in St Mary’s Church Hall. Cittaslow Mold promotes Celyn from its monthly market stall in Daniel Owen Square, runs producer stories in the newsletter and web site, and promotes the importance of supporting local produce to decision makers.

- Flintshare – actively supporting and promoting the Flintshare Community Supported Agriculture scheme, with several Cittaslow members volunteering and signed up as Flintshare members.

- Bailey Hill – various projects and negotiations with Flintshire County Council to make Bailey Hill a resource for the local community and visitors – including running the annual Bailey Hill Festival.

- Public toilets – perceived lack of after hours access to public toilets evidenced through a questionnaire and petition delivered by Cittaslow Mold to Flintshire County Council. Cittaslow Mold has tried to support local businesses to open up their facilities to the public through the Local Authority and the Town Council, but has yet to have much success.

- Mold Spring Clean – an annual clean up event for the town which won an Association of Market Towns Award and attracts more than 850 volunteers each year.

- Mold Food Hub – project to explore the potential for establishing a local food hub in the town, which was one of the recommendations from the £20,000 Local to Mold study commissioned by Cittaslow Mold, Mold Town Council, Mold Food and Drink Festival and Flintshire County Council with Cadwyn Clwyd funding.

- Energy saving – promoting energy saving to local residents, including through a Local Energy Assessment Fund project with Parkfields Community Centre, Cadwyn Clwyd and Communities First Bryn Gwalia, to train local residents to do home energy surveys and advise people on behaviour change.


- Mold En Masse – community consultation to shape the future direction of Mold Town Partnership activities.

- Recycling and composting – various activities to increase recycling and composting rates, including selling reduced price composters at the Eisteddfod.

Not all projects have worked out as planned. Towards the beginning of Cittaslow Mold’s activities, a Slow Food group was started. However, the group quickly disbanded because the process was not working for them. According to Andrea, “it didn’t suit us [...] We were doing many of the activities anyway, like supporting Flintshare, maybe it was too soon”. Rather than seeing this as some kind of failure, the group accepted that it simply was not right for them at the time and quickly moved on to other projects. The idea is still there as something they may pick up again in the future.

The level of involvement of Cittaslow volunteers in projects varies depending on the context. Some projects are branded as Cittaslow Mold projects, whereas their involvement in other projects is more subtle. For example, Cittaslow Mold volunteers met with the County Council to speak with them about energy and street lighting, and driven by this together with the need to reduce costs and use less energy, they are now gradually switching over to more energy efficient street lighting. The Flintshare CSA is closely linked to Cittaslow and supports the Cittaslow goals, but has its own separate identity.


The Cittaslow Mold group has a confidence and maturity, quickly bouncing back from the ‘failure’ of a project. They are engaged in a wide range of projects, and have achieved a lot in just 6 years. They are very much focussed on action and outcomes rather than self promotion or having a group for the group’s sake.

Maybe it was just one group too many.

Andrea, Cittaslow Mold


The group have established a website, regular newsletter and a monthly market stall in the town to communicate their activities with volunteers, local people and other stakeholders. All meetings are advertised on their website and anyone is welcome. Meetings are usually on a specific project and attendance depends on who is interested. Project meetings are very practical, focussed on what needs doing and who will do it. As Sophie says “We’re a proactive group, people meet and get stuff done”.

Mold Town Council pay the annual Cittaslow membership fee of £1,500 plus give the group an annual grant of £1,000 for their running costs (such as newsletter production and the monthly market stall pitch). Cittaslow Mold has been very successful at being awarded grants to support their projects. For example, in 2010/11 the group were awarded nearly £35,000 from Cadwyn Clwyd and Keep Wales Tidy for a variety of projects including the Bailey Hill festival, planters for the town centre, and

an options appraisal for the food hub.

December 2011 – More Trees for Mold idea

The More Trees for Mold project came from the combination of different factors all coming together at the right time. Andrea had been very impressed by the Carse of Gowrie Heritage Orchards project from Cittaslow Perth which looks at assessing and improving the state of their historic

orchards. At the same time, Teresa Carberry, the then president of Mold and Buckley Lions who supports Cittaslow Mold, suggested that Lions International was promoting a project to plant one million trees across the world in 2012. The North Wales Wildlife Trust and Woodland Trust had funding for trees for schools and community projects, and the Jubilee Trust were encouraging communities to mark the Jubilee with tree planting. These factors, combined with a personal interest in and passion for trees among Cittaslow Mold members, encouraged them to develop a project around trees.

The More Trees for Mold project was initially worked up by a sub set of the Cittaslow Mold Space and Place group, made up of Andrea, Sophie, Geoff and Viv. As they bounced ideas around at a meeting with me, they began to add in other dimensions to the project such as focussing on fruit

It is good when things are all coming in the same direction


The idea really resonated [...] Ideas work when many people are pushing on the same idea

Geoff, Cittaslow Mold


and nut trees to provide a source of local food for foraging, using local heritage species to support their protection, and working closely with local people and school children to enable them to look after the trees.


Cittaslow Mold demonstrate a good awareness of the external environment - other projects, priorities and funding streams - and with their flexibility to work on a variety of projects, they are quick to take up the opportunity to develop a project which meets other people’s agendas as well as their own.

With a clear understanding of their goals, the group are able to add in extra dimensions which add value to their project.

Having identified aims for the project, the small group began to draw up a list of possible sites, partners to involve and funding streams. With their strong local knowledge, the group were able to quickly identify potential sites and who might own the land. With existing contacts in different organisations, Geoff was assigned responsibility to contact the land owners and local authority. The group divided up the local schools by who had contacts at the school which they could approach about tree planting. The group aimed to get approval for planting at key sites before going to the wider local community to encourage their involvement so they did not raise expectations unnecessarily. Although the group wanted to move quickly and wanted to involve local residents, they understood that negotiations with landowners could be lengthy and put people off participating in the project.

Actions were clearly allocated to individuals, and Viv followed up the meeting with a clear and concise set of minutes which reiterated everyone’s responsibilities. We all went away with tasks to carry out over the next month and plans to report back to each other in the New Year. Although the meeting was business-like in terms of processes, it was also creative and fun,


with ideas being developed and shared. Andrea produced an article for the next Cittaslow Mold newsletter and has provided project updates in each subsequent issue.


The group have a detailed local knowledge and strong contacts in appropriate organisations which they can draw on when developing this kind of project.

They also have a good understanding of how organisations work and how community activity works – based both on their experience as part of Cittaslow Mold and from their outside work.

The group’s internal processes are strong – clearly identifying actions and allocating them to someone capable of delivering them, and documenting meetings in a transparent way.


February / March / May 2012 – More Trees for Mold public meetings

At the start of 2012, Geoff and Andrea arranged a public meeting about the More trees for Mold project to bring together those who might be interested and engage a wider audience. The first meeting was well attended, with 13 people


representing Cittaslow Mold, Mold Town Council, Mold 2000, North Wales Wildlife Trust and Mold Gardening Club. There was widespread support for the project and several more suggestions of potential planting sites. Geoff, Andrea and Sophie provided updates on what had been explored so far, and other people committed to supporting the project, including the North Wales Wildlife Trust who would be able to supply some trees. These public meetings have continued to enable the smaller group to feed back to anyone who is interested or might want to get involved.

March 2012 onwards – Training and planting

A training day was provided in March at the Mold Community Gardens, where Ian Sturrock, a local tree expert, guided the group through planting, pruning and grafting apple trees. The training was organised and funded by the North Wales Wildlife Trust. The volunteers who attended also planted fruit trees at the community garden.

Volunteers planting at the community garden.


Some of the sites identified by the group for planting were able to be worked on immediately – others, as Geoff describes, “have been more of a slow burn”. Planting has taken place, using trees from the North Wales Wildlife Trust, the Woodland Trust and from the Jubilee Trust, at:

- St David’s Primary School – 6 fruit trees

- Mold Community Gardens – 13 fruit trees

- Mold Alun School – 16 fruit trees, 60 non-fruiting trees

- Glanrafon School – 10 fruit trees

- Total planting so far 105 trees.

Planting is proposed at:

- New Cemetery – included in the Town Council plans for the site

- St Mary’s Park

- New Street Car Park

- Business park

Without the More Trees for Mold project, the plans for the new cemetery would not have included fruit trees.

As well as a physical impact on the ground, the project has led to the development of skills and confidence among the schools and volunteers involved about how to grow and manage trees in technical areas such as planting, pruning and grafting.


More Trees for Mold has provided a platform to promote the importance of trees and enable a debate about their role in the town, now and in the future. This then gives Cittaslow Mold the information to talk with various departments at Flintshire County Council and Mold Town Council when decisions are being made about trees.

The project has enabled Cittaslow Mold to contribute to the Lions target of planting 1 million trees, strengthening the relationship between the two organisations and others in the town. Andrea highlights that the project also allowed them to link in to the Pathfinder Programme, which both supports their profile raising work, and provides an evidence base for future work. Cittaslow Mold

and Cittaslow UK are skilled at making the most of research opportunities for learning and profile raising, and in partnership with Newcastle University they have secured funding for PhD research project on Cittaslow.


So far the group have planted 105 trees across 5 sites. Alongside these physical impacts, the project has led to an increase in technical skills, knowledge and confidence, both within the group and with project participants. It has supported the community debate about the role of trees in the town and encouraged stronger partnership working.

The More Trees for Mold group have strong community development principles – particularly through Viv who comes from the community development profession. This is demonstrated in their approach to the St Mary’s Park site.

All academic work is relevant to inform our direction at a time when funds and support are going to be harder to find



St Mary’s Park was identified by Geoff at the outset of the project as having several areas which could be suitable for planting. As the land is owned by Flintshire County Council, Geoff arranged to meet with their arboricultural officer on site to discuss options. The Council were supportive of planting more trees, as was Iwan from North Wales Wildlife Trust. The land is surrounded by relatively affluent households and there is not a key local group or association which Geoff could approach to discuss the potential for tree planting. However, for Geoff and the More Trees for Mold group, getting community engagement in and ownership of the project was vital:

“Planting trees is the easy bit [...] The most important part is the group that will look after it. The trees are almost an offshoot.”

Sophie, Geoff, Viv and other volunteers did a leaflet drop to every house surrounding the park to gauge interest in the project and ask people to come forward to get involved. So far they have had 15 people come forward to participate and one resident is already looking in to sources of funding for planting. The next stage will be for the More Trees for Mold group to organise a meeting for all those who are interested to come along, start to work as a group and decide what they want to do. It will be up to the local residents to decide what they want to plant and where.

The group recognise that it might have been quicker to just deliver the project themselves, but that this would have reduced its sustainability. As Viv says:


The group are always prepared to start small and see what happens. The tree project has developed, and continues to develop, incrementally. As Sophie says:

“It is not like, if we can’t plant 10,000 trees it is not worth it. We start small, and then the next thing you know it is a full on project.”

This community development approach is reflected in the wider work of Cittaslow Mold. When I asked them what they felt their achievements had been, Andrea in particular focussed on the community cohesion and empowerment aspects of their work:

“It is people working together. For the flower festival, all but one of the local churches and chapels worked together. For the pancake races – it is run by the Town Council

and the Rotary Club, and local businesses donate the prizes. For the Spring Clean we get 850+ volunteers. [...] Coming together is so important... it is democracy in action, empowering.”

Do you think you’ll be able to step back and the plates will keep spinning?

Viv, Cittaslow Mold


There is an ethos of getting projects started and enabling other people to keep them going. Viv used the analogy of spinning plates to describe the work of Cittaslow Mold – that the core groups and partners get projects started and spinning, and then they are able to step back and the plates will stay spinning by themselves.

The Cittaslow Mold group also works hard to be inclusive to all parts of their community. They encourage anyone to put forward ideas, including children. The group have supported new volunteers to develop new skills - such as the confidence to promote the project on the Cittaslow Mold market stall. Volunteers who are infirm or have mental health difficulties are supported to be stewards at the Bailey Hill festival. “Community is all those people” says

Sophie. The festival is run on a shoe string, and grants are used to ensure costs are kept low enough to allow the gate charge to be kept to a minimum so that as few people as possible are excluded on the basis of cost.


Although difficult to evidence without speaking to the residents around St Mary’s Park or participants and organisers from other projects, it seems to me very likely that this community development approach is a key skill within the group and it will have enhanced community ownership of these Cittaslow Mold projects and increased the potential that they will be self-sustaining.

Future plans for More Trees for Mold

Cittaslow Mold plan to continue planting at the sites identified, and to find new ways of engaging people and school children in the project. They continue to be inspired by the Carse of Gowrie Heritage Orchards project from Cittaslow Perth.

Some of them are spinning by themselves already – the food and drink festival, Flintshare, the community garden, the energy project.



The group have plans to develop the project to link with other issues around food sourcing, healthy/local eating and environmental quality, as Andrea says:

“Planting in schools gives children new and valuable skills in fruit production and understanding the value of food and eating seasonally. Hopefully this can be developed further through cooking, and economics by understanding that they are consumers who have choices in what food they purchase from where. Let’s hope they don’t grow up to be people who reject a pear because it has a less than perfect skin! In an ideal world we could develop the tree project to include the bigger picture of air pollution and using trees not only to improve this but also as an indicator of air quality”

Further learning – challenges to success

The group have not faced any challenges in their More Trees for Mold project and have used their skills and experience to develop and begin to deliver a successful project. When I asked them to reflect on challenges, they drew in examples from other Cittaslow Mold projects. They cited three main issues.

Relationship with Local Authority – the group felt that their relationship with Flintshire County Council has been very mixed. Some departments and individual officers have been very supportive, coming out to visit projects, offering support, advice and ideas, and enabling Cittaslow Mold projects to go ahead, such as the Energy team’s support for the home energy project. On other projects the relationship with the Council has been less productive, and as one of the group members said “Sometimes it feels like we are successful despite the Council”. The group have found the Council distant at times, far removed from what is happening on the ground in Mold, and not always aware of what Cittaslow Mold are working on. For example, the group have done lots of research in to cycle lanes, but have got nowhere with the Council, who have just put in a short cycle lane in what the group sees as a questionable place.

Communication – despite their regular newsletters, market stall, events, website and meetings, the group still feel they have challenges with communication with the wider community: “No matter how much you tell people through the newsletter and


things, they still say they haven’t heard of things”. The group are concerned that their messages are not getting out there effectively: “If you stopped someone in the street, could they name Cittaslow projects?” The wider Cittaslow Mold group is looking at how they can develop signage for the town which incorporates the Cittaslow snail logo. They are also thinking about a Cittaslow snail sculpture, which could become a photo opportunity for visitors.

Funding – Cittaslow Mold has been very successful at being awarded grants for their projects, and it is not so much the challenge of accessing funding as the processes that surround grant funds. For example, they have found some grants from Cadwyn Clwyd very difficult to work with as notification of success comes too late in the project cycle – such as being awarded a marketing grant for leaflets too close to the event which the leaflets are meant to publicise. The Local Energy Assessment Fund was more workable as the grant was awarded to Cittaslow Mold’s partners upfront and they submitted invoices afterwards. However, the paperwork for a relatively small grant from LEAF was challenging for Parkfields Community Centre and the group, and they had to submit a 22 page evaluation for a £21,000 award.

RQ 2. 3 What barriers are there to groups delivering successful projects, and how are they overcome?

The group have faced some barriers to delivering successful projects. Some have come from the nature of other organisations and the bureaucratic processes they impose on Cittaslow Mold. The group have done their best to work with and around those systems, but changing them is outwith their control.

Where challenges are within their control, such as in communication and marketing, the group are working on ways to resolve them.

Further learning – support needs


The Cittaslow Mold group and in particular, those in the More Trees for Mold sub group, are highly skilled. Many of the volunteers come from professions with skills which have supported Cittaslow projects. For example, Viv comes from the community development profession, and Geoff and Andrea’s experience as Mayor and Town Councillors helps them to negotiate accessing the local authority.

They are aware of where their strengths are and where they need extra help. The group were able to identify and draw in support as and when needed for the More Trees for Mold project. This was primarily technical advice on tree planting and care which they got from a local tree grower and the North Wales Wildlife Trust, and resources (saplings, tree guards etc) which came from the Wildlife Trust and Woodland Trust.

The group have developed their own ways of designing and delivering projects, and have little need for support apart from technical information and resources. They are well skilled at making the most of their resources and are not particularly chasing grants. They make good use of the resources they have in their local area, especially skills and volunteer labour, and only where there are gaps do they look for external funding. As Andrea says: “We don’t think of an idea and then immediately think ‘what funding can we get?’”. My role within the project as a Pathfinder Officer has been minimal, participating in meetings and suggesting ideas where appropriate, but their need for support has been very limited. As a group they already have very strong connections with other organisations, such as Cadwyn Clwyd and North Wales Wildlife Trust, and they know who to approach for specific help.

The group’s closest relationships are with Mold-based groups such as the Town Council (see below), business networks, the Women’s institute, the Rotary club, Communities First Bryn Gwalia, Flintshire County Council and North Wales Energy Advice Centre and the churches. They also work with local businesses – such as designers – who work for Cittaslow Mold on both a paid and voluntary basis.


Relationship with the Town Council

The relationship between the Cittaslow Mold group and Mold Town Council has been essential to the development of Cittaslow Mold, and supported the development of the Town Council. The Council provide Cittaslow Mold with essential administration support and regular financial support, without which the Cittaslow Mold project could not function. Cittaslow is an official project of the Town Council and individual Councillors support Cittaslow and its projects, with 15 of the 16 Councillors volunteering for a day at the Bailey Hill Festival.

The group feel that Cittaslow has also brought added benefits to the Town Council, and helped the Council “open up” to the wider community and become more inclusive. They have noticed a significant shift in the Town Council who have become more active and empowered.

Andrea cited an example of when she approached the Town Council many years ago and asked if there could be more planters and hanging baskets around the town, she was told no it was too expensive. She took one of the Councillors to go and see planters out in bloom in another town, and since then they have been increasing the number of planters each year and are now up to 100.

The group describe their relationship as being well balanced – that the Council have “taken Cittaslow to their heart as part of the Council” but that they are also “far enough away to not be threatening or part of local politics”.


RQ 3.1 What support do groups need?

The Cittaslow Mold group are successful in part because of the skills and resources they have within their community, which makes support needed somewhat limited. The main areas of external input needed are around specific technical knowledge or resources in terms of money or trees. The group are very self-aware and understand where their limitations are. They also have strong connections and a good understanding of what support is available, and so are quickly able to fill any gaps they may have. They work with support organisations in a professional manner – clearly articulating what they need – and have a good reputation with external organisations.


Conclusions

RO1 To understand the impacts of projects led by community-based groups


So far the group have planted 105 trees across 5 sites. Alongside these physical impacts, the project has led to an increase in technical skills, knowledge and confidence, both within the group and with project participants. It has supported the community debate about the role of trees in the town and encouraged stronger partnership working.

RO2 To understand what makes community groups flourish, and how challenges can be overcome RQ 2.1 What makes groups successful?

Cittaslow is a whole town accreditation. Cittaslow Mold has successfully managed to strike a balance between having clear goals and aspirations and being flexible and open to new ideas. Provided ideas fit with the overall ambition of Cittaslow Mold, anything goes.

This means they can capitalise on available resources - the project suggestions and enthusiasm of all their volunteers. Only projects which people want to deliver are delivered. It also makes the group inclusive, open to anyone with an idea that sits under the broad umbrella of Cittaslow, which helps maintain and increase their membership and available resources. This inclusivity also means that they are responsive, driven by the needs and ideas of local people.

They have also found a way of working which suits them – with as few formal meetings and structures as possible. Their structure has enabled them to break their larger project down in to manageable bite-sized chunks, and they began by tackling


some projects which would give them ‘quick wins’ and a sense of achievement from the beginning.

Their volunteer base includes many people who represent other local organisations, which enables strong partnership working and an easy two-way flow of information and ideas.


The Cittaslow Mold group has a confidence and maturity, quickly bouncing back from the ‘failure’ of a project. They are engaged in a wide range of projects, and have achieved a lot in just 6 years. They are very much focussed on action and outcomes rather than self promotion or having a group for the group’s sake.


Cittaslow Mold demonstrate a good awareness of the external environment - other projects, priorities and funding streams - and with their flexibility to work on a variety of projects, they are quick to take up the opportunity to develop a project which meets other people’s agendas as well as their own.

With a clear understanding of their goals, the group are able to add in extra dimensions which add value to their project.


The group have a detailed local knowledge and strong contacts in appropriate organisations which they can draw on when developing this kind of project.

They also have a good understanding of how organisations work and how community activity works – based both on their


experience as part of Cittaslow Mold and from their outside work.

The group’s internal processes are strong – clearly identifying actions and allocating them to someone capable of delivering them, and documenting meetings in a transparent way.


Although difficult to evidence without speaking to the residents around St Mary’s Park or participants and organisers from other projects, it seems to me very likely that this community development approach is a key skill within the group and it will have enhanced community ownership of these Cittaslow Mold projects and increased the potential that they will be self-sustaining.

RQ 2. 3 What barriers are there to groups delivering successful projects, and how are they overcome?

The group have faced some barriers to delivering successful projects. Some have come from the nature of other organisations and the bureaucratic processes they impose on Cittaslow Mold. The group have done their best to work with and around those systems, but changing them is outwith their control.

Where challenges are within their control, such as in communication and marketing, the group are working on ways to resolve them.

RO3 To understand the external support needs of community groups and projects


RQ 3.1 What support do groups need?

The Cittaslow Mold group are successful in part because of the skills and resources they have within their community, which makes support needed somewhat limited. The main areas of external input needed are around specific technical knowledge or resources in terms of money or trees. The group are very self-aware and understand where their limitations are. They also have strong connections and a good understanding of what support is available, and so are quickly able to fill any gaps they may have. They work with support organisations in a professional manner – clearly articulating what they need – and have a good reputation with external organisations.

Documents

Cittaslow Mold: More Trees for Mold Project – a learning ...cittaslowmold.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CittaslowMold_LH_… · Cittaslow Mold: More Trees for Mold Project –