Engaging people was at the heart of the Scheme and most of its projects to celebrate the area’s heritage. A programme of general public engagement events was held from online webinars to annual landscape forums; volunteers were recruited, trained and engaged; projects delivered with local primary and secondary schools, and other training events held; art, including sound sculptures, land art, theatre and music was imaginatively used to engage a board cross-section of people.

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A range of coherent and structured community engagement activities and individual projects will add value to and underpin the entire scheme. The project will increase awareness, understanding and enjoyment of the area’s unique heritage and landscape, increase skills and create new learning opportunities. It will provide a lasting legacy for heritage, people and communities.

Project lead: Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Delivery Team

The Westmorland Dales is a remote and beautiful limestone landscape characterised by a long history of self-reliance, typified by small family owned upland farms, medieval villages and the historic village of Tebay. Due to the largely pastoral landscape it has remained unchanged for hundreds of years. ‘Celebrating and Engaging’ will focus on the resident population of 3,500 but will also engage the important neighbouring communities of Shap and Kirkby Stephen, Appleby, Penrith and Kendal who reside just outside the area.

 This project is the community engagement element of the scheme. It underpins all the 21 projects and celebrates all the projects key themes, supporting any community engagement aspects in the other projects. It will be a flexible project which responds to the needs and interests of the community, appealing to people of all ages, abilities and interest to be able to appreciate and be inspired by the landscapes of the area. There is an increasing disconnection of rural communities from the land, resulting in a loss of skills and understanding of local distinctiveness -traditions, styles and culture which this project will address. 

For the benefit of this plan “Community Engagement is defined as engaging local people primarily but also visitors of all ages, abilities, backgrounds and ethnicities in the Westmorland Dales area to raise awareness of the schemes main themes”. 

5 main audiences have been identified in the Landscape Conservation Action Plan:

1. Local people
2. Tourists
3. Visitors
4. Volunteers
5. Under-represented Groups 

Project Purpose 

• To increase awareness, understanding and enjoyment of the areas unique heritage and landscape,
• To increase learning and volunteering opportunities enabling people to learn new skills, get active and improve people’s health and well-being.
• To provide new and interesting, well promoted accessible events and activities that celebrate the distinctive landscape, attracting new people to the area, a larger and wider, more diverse audience.
• To celebrate our common heritage, strengthening relationships between residents, interest groups and different parish communities creating a sense of unity.
• To protect and enhance the local landscape through community engagement activities that will engender pride and a sense of responsibility ensuring that heritage is cherished and protected for future generations, encouraging community led conservation and restoration projects through the small grants scheme.
• To increase sustainable tourism leading to economic improvements and improved quality of life for residents