The Need for a National Framework

Communities are facing increasing environmental, social and economic pressures that cannot be addressed effectively through isolated responses alone.

The National Community Landscape Framework recognises that public landscapes, community participation, resource recovery, food resilience, environmental stewardship and public health are interconnected.

Why This Framework Is Needed

Many public spaces continue to be maintained primarily as passive landscapes, while communities face rising living costs, reduced social connection, increasing urban heat, biodiversity decline and growing pressure on council resources.

At the same time, suitable organic materials, local knowledge, volunteer capacity and underused public spaces often remain underutilised.

A national framework is needed to provide a structured, adaptable and defensible model for transforming suitable community landscapes into long-term public assets.

Interconnected Challenges

Environmental Pressure

Urban heat, declining biodiversity, soil degradation, reduced canopy cover and increased environmental stress require stronger local responses.

Community Pressure

Social isolation, reduced neighbourhood participation and weakening local connection affect long-term community resilience.

Economic Pressure

Councils and households face rising costs, increasing maintenance demands and growing pressure to use public resources more efficiently.

Food Resilience

Communities increasingly need practical ways to strengthen local food awareness, seasonal food access and support systems for people experiencing hardship.

The Case for Integrated Action

Traditional approaches often address environmental management, waste processing, public health, food support and community participation as separate issues.

This Framework proposes that suitable landscapes can contribute to multiple objectives at once when planning, stewardship and community participation are integrated.

The intention is not to replace existing programs, but to create a common structure that allows governments, councils and communities to align their efforts more effectively.

The need for a national framework arises from a simple reality: communities require practical, adaptable and long-term models that help transform suitable public spaces into stronger environmental, social and public health assets.

Framework Statement

A national framework is required to support coordinated, locally adaptable and evidence-informed approaches that strengthen community landscapes, resilience, environmental stewardship and long-term public benefit.

Framework Documents

The following documents collectively support the National Community Landscape Framework. While each document may be read independently, together they provide a comprehensive framework for strengthening healthier, greener and more resilient communities.