Liverpool’s first sustainabilty campus launched in Bowring Park

Historic Knowsley landmark Bowring Park is to create the Liverpool City Region’s first sustainability campus aimed at tackling the climate crisis through practical, community-driven solutions.

The park and golf course, managed by regeneration specialists Oneday, has launched the new campus as a hub for local businesses, community groups and educational institutions to collaborate on sustainable practices.

The initiative is a key element of Oneday’s GROW programme, a long-term vision to make Knowsley the UK’s most sustainable borough.

The campus will focus on driving green innovation, offering hands-on training, and embedding sustainability into everyday life – helping meet the Liverpool City Region’s ambitious net zero goal by 2035.

Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram said:

“We’re delighted to collaborate with partners like Oneday across the city region on sustainability and environmental initiatives. They’re already driving several efforts to make this park greener and transform it into a greater community asset.

“This is a fantastic initiative to bring people together, foster collaboration across the region, and have a meaningful impact on implementing ideas that will help us reach our goal of becoming net zero by 2035.”

Bowring Park became England’s first municipal golf course when it was gifted to Liverpool in 1906.

It has since been taken over by Knowsley Council and is now run by regeneration specialists Oneday, who recently took on a 123-year lease.

Bowring Park and Golf Course has been revitalised with a £3.5m investment and will host a series of green initiatives, including community-led workshops, green skills training, and sustainable business bootcamps.

The campus is already working with partners like Liverpool John Moores University and Jaguar Land Rover to explore new approaches to sustainability in practice.

The campus will also act as a launchpad for practical projects, such as tree recycling programmes, local food initiatives, and renewable energy workshops.

By fostering collaboration and innovation, Bowring Park is set to become a beacon of sustainability for the region—showing how communities can lead the way in creating a greener, more sustainable future. 

Matt Bell, Director of Oneday, said:  

“We all know that we need to be more sustainable but actually doing that is hard. We want to bring all the great minds together – businesses and the public – and admit that we don’t have all the answers. We want to use the park to test, try and experiment so that the city region can become the most sustainable in the country.   

“One reason why we aren’t solving the climate crisis is because there is a lot of negativity and doom-driven messaging. We do need to act quickly, but we need to be positive because the actions are there and if we work together we can actually make things happen.” 

Find more information on the Bowring Park website.

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