Greener Outside builds on the work already done in the Greener on the Outside for Prisons programme. It aims to develop infrastructures that will both enable ‘through the gate’ work in prisons and facilitate future research on the impacts of prison-based horticulture and environmental work. This will include:
- Facilitating stakeholder workshops to explore system interfaces between prison, probation, youth offending teams and other sectors.
- Formulating a robust proposal for future 'through the gate' work that will increase training and employment opportunities.
- Working with the senior managers across the offender management system to secure permission for longitudinal research.
The research being conducted by the Healthy & Sustainable Settings Unit will examine the effects the programme has on health, wellbeing and re-offending. This will entail:
- Working with a pilot Approved Premises site for a 'Greener Outside: Beyond Prison' project with residents
- Designing and carrying out case study research tracking a maximum of 25 individual offenders from prison site to prison site and through the gate (either to Approved Premises or other community service provider facilities).
- Building an in-depth understanding of the impacts of participation in Greener on the Outside for Prisons and Greener Outside.
- Producing a report articulating findings and mapping out recommendations for future research, specifically a larger study of Greener Outside in Approved Premises.