Connecting with the landscape

Tees-Swale will engage more people in all that these nationally important landscapes have to offer by encouraging and facilitating visits and activities by schools and youth and community groups from nearby urban areas. Helping them better understand the wildlife, the landscapes, and the lives of the people who live and work here, and above all to enjoy and explore these dales. With agriculture being of great importance to the local economy, the programme’s investment in natural assets will also promote economic benefits for the communities in the area.

Access to the Uplands

We are enhancing the rights of way network to encourage and enable people to access this special landscape. We will produce 19 promoted multi-user and walking routes, covering 63.7 miles in Teesdale and 65.7 miles in Swaledale, with associated infrastructure improvements.

Uplands for All

We are working with young people aged 8-25 years old, predominantly from towns outside the programme area, to engage them in, and to help them to understand and take ownership of the uplands. We offer a programme of site visits, hands-on discovery, arts activities and local family activities; plus, one-off days as part of wider self-development programmes. We will work with 2,700 young people from 10 different population hubs from outside the area.

Uplands for Education

Working with young people from primary and secondary schools within and outside the area, we are helping to develop physical, emotional and intellectual links with the programme area. We will engage with 400 primary school children and 10 members of staff from within the scheme area: 740 young people and 23 members of staff from Teesdale School and Barnard Castle School; 450 primary aged and 100 secondary aged children and young people from Darlington.

Community Events

We provide a programme of events for members of the public and families to enable people to learn about heritage, develop skills and to encourage a wider range of people to engage with our nature and culture. We aim to involve over 1,500 people in this work.

Creatively connected

By delivering community arts projects, we aim to help people make emotional connections with nature, which are capable of transforming their relationship with the natural world and encourage nature-friendly behaviour.

Interpreting Tees-Swale

We will encourage greater understanding of and connection to the Tees-Swale area through a process of working with communities to tell the stories of the landscape, its wildlife and its people in innovative ways.

On-farm public engagement

We will enable a small number of farmers to welcome visitors to their farm to improve people’s health and wellbeing and increase their understanding of hill farmers and their work.

Find out more

Keep up to date with Tees-Swale news by subscribing to our e-newsletter here, joining our project group on Facebook or searching the hashtag #TeesSwale on Twitter and Instagram.