Public Dialogue on UK Land Use
Land of Plenty is WWF's pathway for how the agriculture and land use sectors in the UK can help fight climate change and bring nature back to life.
As we developed this pathway WWF wanted to take into account the views of the public, alongside expert opinion and scientific thinking. In Autumn 2021, WWF-UK commissioned public dialogues across seven locations around the UK.
Over a series of facilitated online workshops, 142 participants were joined by a range of expert speakers and together discussed the triple challenge facing UK Land Use – building a picture both local to their landscapes, and collectively across the nations.
The Process
Public dialogues took place in seven landscapes around the UK – Cornwall, Hull Region, Soar Catchment and Yorkshire Dales in England, Aberdeenshire in Scotland, Belfast in Northern Ireland, and Pembrokeshire in Wales.
The participants in each area were drawn from all walks of life and brought a wide range of views and perspectives. In each location five sessions were run across a two-week period, with participants hearing from local and national experts in farming, nature and climate, and discussing different topics.
The ‘National Conversation Summit’ was the culmination of this process, with a handful of participants from each location coming together to draw the threads of their regional conversations together for a UK wide perspective.
Meet some of the public dialogue participants
Hear what it was like to take part in this conversation about the future of climate, nature and food in the UK
Land of Plenty Public Perspectives in the UK – Report
The image below highlights the key themes consistently raised in each of our dialogues across the UK.
Reports for each of the landscapes can be found here
A Mandate for Change
Across all areas and workshops, three clear messages for governments and civil society came from discussing these themes in depth:
WE NEED TO ACT NOW
Urgent action is needed to address the climate crisis whilst taking account of nature. There is a strong public mandate for change from both the top down and bottom up.
WE WANT TO BE INVOLVED
There is a need to coordinate and act collectively and a strong desire to be involved in how decisions are made on land use and be part of the solution at all levels. This should be centred around: a. an integrating and non-divisive process to involve the voices of communities. b. the necessary investment to back this up and drive impact at the speed/scale required.
WE NEED TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THE TRIPLE CHALLENGE
Using education, engagement and involvement to make it clear that the way our land is used now is causing a problem.
