Case Study: Cairngorms National Park achieves stronger community engagement with Commonplace

Shaping the future of Cairngorms National Park with community engagement

The Cairngorms National Park Authority, which manages the UK's largest national park, sought to significantly expand community engagement to inform its new five-year Park Partnership Plan and a major National Lottery Heritage Fund project. They partnered with Commonplace to create digital consultation platforms that could effectively gather and showcase input from a wide range of local residents, workers, and visitors, moving beyond their previous limited outreach methods.

Commonplace implemented a blended strategy, primarily utilizing its interactive heatmap tool to allow users to leave detailed location-specific feedback. This was supported by surveys, a news feed to drive engagement, and integration with offline methods like direct mail. The solution yielded over 2,600 contributions for the Park Plan consultation, a nearly five-fold increase from the previous effort, and the subsequent Heritage Horizons site gathered over 1,500 contributions for improving active travel routes.

Cairngorms National Park

Olly Davies

Head of Communications