A summer of engagement: Bringing people and places together across our client estates

Throughout the summer, our teams have been helping people across our client estates get more involved with the places around them.

From creating colourful hanging baskets and getting up close with honeybees to exploring the biodiversity already present on their estates, occupiers have had opportunities to step away from the everyday working environment, learn something new and connect with colleagues, communities and nature.

For IPM, these activities demonstrate an important part of creating great places. It is not only about how an environment looks or how well it is maintained, but the opportunities it creates for people to experience, understand and become part of it.

A summer of hands-on horticulture

Hanging basket workshops have been a popular feature across our client estates this summer.

Led by our grounds maintenance operations managers, these sessions invited occupiers to get hands-on, creating and planting their own seasonal displays while picking up practical advice on plant selection, planting and ongoing care.

Part of their appeal is their simplicity. No previous gardening experience is needed and everyone leaves with something they have created themselves.

They also create a different connection between occupiers and the teams responsible for their outdoor environments. Our grounds teams can share their horticultural knowledge, answer questions and give people an insight into some of the expertise behind the landscapes they experience every day.

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Getting closer to nature with Beekeeping

Another highlight of the summer has been our Meet the Bees sessions.

Where beehives are located on client estates, these events provide an opportunity for occupiers to get closer to one of the most important groups of pollinators and learn more about the colonies living and working alongside them.

Led by experienced beekeepers, participants can discover how a hive functions, learn about the different roles within a honeybee colony and understand more about the importance of pollinators planting, habitat connectivity and the practical steps being taken to support biodiversity.

For many participants, it is an opportunity to experience something they would rarely encounter during an ordinary working day.

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Discovering biodiversity on the doorstep

Not every engagement activity needs to be a large event.

Biodiversity walks held across our client estates have given occupiers the opportunity to explore the wildlife, planting and habitats that can be found just outside their workplace.

Guided by knowledgeable members of our teams, these sessions can highlight everything from pollinator-friendly planting and wildflower areas to habitat features and the species already making use of them.

They can also help explain why landscapes are being managed differently.

An area of longer grass, for example, can look very different when people understand the role it can play in providing food and shelter for wildlife. Engagement provides the context behind those decisions and helps make biodiversity improvements more visible and understandable.

Creating places people can be part of

While the activities themselves may be very different, there is a common thread running through them.

A hanging basket workshop encourages someone to try horticulture for themselves. Meet the Bees introduces them to the wildlife sharing their workplace. A biodiversity walk can reveal habitats and species they may have passed every day without noticing.

Each creates a reason to stop, participate and look at the surrounding environment differently.

For property and facilities teams, that presents an opportunity to connect occupier engagement with the management of the estate itself.

Rather than sustainability, biodiversity and workplace experience existing as separate initiatives, carefully planned activities can bring them together.

The landscape stops being simply something that is maintained around the workplace and becomes somewhere people can actively experience and participate in.

Engagement doesn't have to end with summer

As the hanging baskets begin to fade and summer draws to a close, the opportunities for engagement do not disappear. They simply change with the season.

Autumn, Winter and Spring offer their own opportunities to bring people together.

Seasonal activities such as pumpkin carving, wreath-making workshops and allotment planting can continue the social and creative side of engagements, while practical habitat creation can connect participation directly with biodiversity.

Bird and bat box building, hedgehog shelters and other habitat projects give people an opportunity to contribute something tangible to their estate while creating features that can continue supporting wildlife long after the activity itself has finished.

This creates the potential for a year-round programme shaped by the seasons: planting and pollinator activities through spring and summer, followed by habitat creation and seasonal workshops as the landscape moves through autumn and winter.

Turning outdoor spaces into opportunities for engagement

Every estate is different, which means there is no single formula for successful engagement.

The best activities respond to the people, landscape, biodiversity and opportunities already present at each location.

Through our Nature Solutions and grounds team, IPM works with clients to identify activities that complement the management of their estates while giving occupiers meaningful reasons to get involved.

Whether someone is planting their first hanging basket, meeting thousands of honeybees, discovering wildlife on their lunch break or building a habitat that could support species for years to come, these experiences can change the relationship people have with the places around them.

Because creating better places is not only about maintaining them.

It is about giving people a reason to connect with them.