
Happy and Healthy Communities: The Impact and Value of Being Active Outdoors
26th February 2021The 2021 ORNI Conference and Strategy Launch was a huge success. Thank you to all who attended on the day and to all of the speakers who delivered presentations and research to the conference. We were delighted to have 5 Stormont ministers contribute on the day too with…

Outdoor Recreation – People, Nature & Health – What next?
2nd March 2021New research has highlighted the health benefits of the outdoors are not being enjoyed equally across society with recent lockdown exacerbating long standing issues. Filling the research gap Although the benefits of outdoor recreation are widely evidenced, until now there was no systematic population-wide research on how people in Northern…

The Provision of Access for Outdoor Recreation in Northern Ireland
28th January 2021The provision of access for outdoor recreation in Northern Ireland Key Stakeholder Consultation 27th January – 29th March 2021 DAERA has launched a key stakeholder consultation to seek their views of key stakeholders on the current provision members of the public have to Northern Irelands natural environment for outdoor…

ORNI Webinar: Access Legislation in Northern Ireland
28th January 2021This webinar provided an overview of current Access Legislation in Northern Ireland and showcased a number practical examples in which the various mechanisms have been utilised to provide access for recreation. In addition, the National Outdoor Recreation Forum (NORF) has outlined thoughts as to how access legislation could potentially…

How a Walking Strategy Can Deliver on Wellbeing and Green Recovery
4th January 2021The COVID-19 pandemic has caused us to live and work differently, to understand better the importance of health and wellbeing, behave more sustainably, and to envisage a better, greener future. Going forward, improving people’s engagement with the outdoors will be crucial to wellbeing and a green recovery – and…

ORN Webinar – Maximising Opportunities for Outdoor Learning
19th October 2020In our role as Secretariat, ORNI facilitated an Outdoor Recreation Network Webinar entitled ‘Maximising Opportunities for Outdoor Learning’ This webinar explored how COVID-19 has been a catalyst for dramatic change in many aspects of our lives, including learning. With children having returned to school across the UK and Ireland,…

ORN Webinar – Looking ahead: What the public are telling us and how do we react?
2nd September 2020In our role as Secretariat, ORNI facilitated an Outdoor Recreation Network Webinar entitled ‘Looking ahead: What the public are telling us and how do we react?’ The webinar provided a series of case studies exploring research from around the UK and Ireland on how people engaged with the outdoors…

ORN Webinar – Returning Volunteers Safely
10th July 2020This webinar provided a series of case studies highlighting good practice approaches to returning volunteers to their roles following COVID-19 lockdown.

VSG COVID-19 Recovery Planning Webinar
5th June 2020In our role as Secretariat, ORNI facilitated a Visitor Safety Group Webinar entitled ‘COVID-19 Recovery Planning' The webinar provided an overview of VSG COVID-19 Recovery Guidance which outlines the key areas all landowners and countryside managers will need to consider and assess when re-opening and managing outdoor public access…

ORN Member Webinar – COVID-19 approaches to re-opening the outdoors
28th May 2020National perspectives and practical case studies from across the UK an Ireland

Engaging with the Outdoors during COVID-19 Lockdown in Northern Ireland
20th May 2020A new survey highlights the importance of accessing outdoors safely during COVID 19.

Power of Walking Conference
10th March 2020ORNI recently hosted the ‘Power of Walking’ Conference with the Public Health Agency and Sport NI. The objective was to demonstrate how achieving a stronger culture of walking has the power to offer enormous benefits for the local population in Northern Ireland. The conference was opened by the Chief…

Managing Informal (Natural) Mountain Bike Trails – Key Learnings
20th January 2020Chris Scott shares his learnings from the Visitor Safety Group Workshop – Managing Informal Mountain Bike Trails

Active Clubs Walking Programme- Highlight Reel
19th December 2018A video showcase of the fantastic achievements of the Active Clubs programme over the last four years.

Sharing Best Practice – Connswater Community Greenway
28th September 2018Diane Crookes shares her leanings from a recent Outdoor Recreation Group learning journey to the Connswater Community Greenway

Event Management: Making the most out of sports tourism
2nd March 2016A recent report has identified that excellent event management of mass participation sports tourism events can bring strong economic benefits to a host destination.

The future of outdoor sport funding in Northern Ireland
10th December 20155 key learnings from the recent Sport NI Outdoor Sport Funding Workshop

The ‘Magic Pill’ of outdoor recreation
14th October 2015Dawson Stelfox MBE, ORNI Chairperson and 1st Irish Man to Summit Everest discusses the ‘magic pill’ of outdoor recreation.