Aberdeenshire Council’s landscape team has won a gold public service award for a digital programme brought in to modernise its park and grounds service delivery.
The council was named overall winner for its digitalisation programme in the ‘parks, grounds, and street scene’ category at a recent event in Aviemore run by the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE).
The digitalisation programme was introduced to tackle a clear issue: frontline staff relied heavily on paper processes and often did not have immediate access to key information when out on location.
Frontline staff were equipped with mobile devices, giving them access to maps, procedures, and health and safety information in real-time, while an internal intranet site provided a single source of up-to-date information for the team.
Alongside this, the programme prioritised building staff confidence in the use of technology through hands-on “techy Tuesday” sessions. Simple mobile apps for on-site reporting were also introduced to remove reliance on paper-based after-the-fact recording. Overall, these user-focused improvements made day-to-day work easier and more efficient.
Councillor Alan Turner, chair of the council’s infrastructure services committee, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for the team. It recognises the practical steps they’ve taken to help modernise the service, making it easier for our frontline staff to access the information and tools they need to do their jobs effectively.
“The success of this programme is down to its people-focused approach. It’s about supporting staff in how they actually work, and that delivers clear benefits for both our teams and the communities they serve. I’m delighted to see this work recognised with a gold award.”
The awards celebrated where ‘waste and recycling, parks, fleet, and grounds and street scene council services go above and beyond to deliver for local communities across Scotland’.
The winners were announced at the recent APSE Scotland Fleet, Waste, and Grounds Seminar 2026 in Aviemore, with the Aberdeenshire Landscape Services team being overall winner in the Parks, Grounds, and Street Scene category.
APSE is a non-profit local-government network that works alongside more than 250 councils to deliver high-quality frontline public services across the UK.