Exploring & Learning

We wish to make a positive contribution to the health and wellbeing of Inner Forth communities by encouraging an active lifestyle. We will add value to existing active opportunities by incorporating exploration of the wider landscape and natural or cultural heritage sites supported through IFLI projects. We will provide additional specialist training for existing groups, and offer the potential for you to participate as a volunteer through planning, promoting and maintaining local routes. We are keen to build the network of groups and organisations we are working with, and know there is already much activity within the Inner Forth area. Please contact us if you would like to work in partnership with us to develop a network of active communities throughout the Inner Forth area.

We believe it is important to link learning within the classroom with learning outside of the classroom. We will create a new learning space for groups to learn about the Inner Forth landscape, from the heart of the landscape. This will develop deeper understanding and promote discussion of natural, built and cultural history, importance and the likely threats faced in the future. Through work with schools, the IFLI partnership will help to increase access to the landscape and understanding of its dynamic and changing features from a young age. Please contact us if you are a school that would like to find out more about opportunities to participate.

There are many stories about the wildlife, industry and people of the Inner Forth that are already known. There are many stories about the wildlife, industry and people of the Inner Forth that are waiting to be told. Can you help us tell them? With a focus on the natural and built heritage themes within Conserving & Restoring, and the research carried out through Recording & Celebrating, we will tell the layered stories behind important sites and places throughout the Inner Forth in lasting ways. Heritage will be brought to life and communities will play a key role in helping us weave the narrative of the landscape so that it links locations and people across and along the River Forth.

Our vision is to ensure that key natural and built heritage sites within the Inner Forth landscape have good quality sign-posted access routes enabling visitors and local residents to move easily around sites and access them actively on foot or two wheels. Together, these paths and trails will connect communities throughout the Inner Forth, linking them to their local heritage. This will support people to walk from their homes or places of work and enjoy what the landscape has to offer in all seasons. A significant proportion of routes will be accessible for buggies or wheelchair users, but due to terrain, land use and maintenance this may not be possible or desirable in all locations. Circular routes near to communities will be publicised and created, promoting these areas for health walks and opportunities to experience the natural and built heritage features of the Inner Forth on their doorstep. All IFLI physical access projects enhance or link into the existing access network, creating new loops and trails across the landscape.