Innovation and Partnership Team
The Innovation and Partnership Team (IPT) explores ways of delivering of the National Trust’s core charitable purpose beyond the operation of our properties. We know this means working in partnership and keeping an open mind to how more people can benefit from green spaces and our heritage.
Who we are and what we do
The IPT provides advice and support to a wide range of partners and community organisations helping them to deliver public benefit from places of historic interest or natural beauty. We investigate innovative models for funding and management of local heritage and green spaces. We also explore how to support local authorities, charities, and communities to better manage local heritage and green space.
Our focus is on jointly developing ideas and putting them into practice, leading us to create a 'coalition of the willing' with a mix of local groups, councils, and national organisations. Each of these play a role in exploring and developing ways to safeguard heritage and green spaces and ensure that they provide a range of benefits to the public.
Our services
The IPT provides project management, using experience, knowledge, and skills from across National Trust to help develop partners’ ambitions.
We most commonly provide support in the following areas:
- conservation, both historic and land-based
- curation
- visitor operations
- stakeholder engagement
- visioning and master-planning
- business planning
- governance and legal structures
- people development skills needs and resourcing
- fundraising
- advice on commercial income generation
- visitor experience and experience design
- marketing and communications including branding
- options analysis including building use
- identifying funding options and opportunities
- feasibility analysis and developing business cases
- post commission mentoring.
You might also be interested in
Article
Innovation and Partnership Team: case studies
Discover some of the consultancy projects the Innovation and Partnership Team (IPT) has worked on over the last 10 years, including a Derbyshire castle and a Manchester park.
Our cause
We believe that nature, beauty and history are for everyone. That’s why we’re supporting wildlife, protecting historic sites and more. Find out about our work.