A new research report with input from environmental scientists, ecosystem modellers, human geographers, humanities scholars
“To reach the net zero goals we need to make some challenging decisions about the way we use, manage, and interact with landscapes in the UK.”
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Researchers are saying we need to broaden the scope of how we tackle climate change:
The interdisciplinary team of UK researchers, including Professor Guy Ziv from the University of Leeds, have highlighted ‘multiple contradictions’ in the pathways to net zero climate targets and called for wider-reaching solutions to create a more sustainable future. The Landscape Decisions Programme, led by the University of Leicester, has published a new research report with input from environmental scientists, ecosystem modellers, human geographers, humanities scholars, and other experts.
Wider-reaching solutions urgently needed to reach realistic ‘net zero’ | University of Leeds
The focus of the group’s study is ‘landscape’:
Dr Beth Cole is Senior Research Fellow for the Landscape Decisions Programme, based at the University of Leicester, and lead author for the report. She said: “To reach the net zero goals we need to make some challenging decisions about the way we use, manage, and interact with landscapes in the UK. These landscape decisions are dependent upon many factors including the environmental characteristics, and the geographic location of the land, but in this report, we also consider the wider social framing of these decisions and call for inclusive, place-specific net zero practices within landscapes that support both biodiversity and people. Collaborating across disciplines, this group of researchers together make a team that is greater than the sum of its parts and who have broken down some of the silos this urgent issue is normally approached from.”
Wider solutions required to meet net zero carbon targets
Net zero goals need solutions from broader range of sectors, report says | E&T Magazine
The University of Exeter has also been involved in this cross-disciplinary project:
The Landscape Futures project is a follow-on from the Heritage Futures project, and is funded as part of the UKRI Landscape Decisions programme. Working collaboratively with the National Trust, Historic England and Natural England (and in consultation with a wider network of practitioners), the project will develop and disseminate a new framework…
Landscape Futures | Working with natural systems for sustainable futures | University of Exeter
A very promising project has been to have farmers write about their experiences. Here are just two practitioners from a talk last month:
Emma Hillier runs a small livestock farm in Devon with her husband. Formerly an English teacher, her farming focus is on Devon ruby cattle and British Lop pigs. Read ‘It’s Monday Morning’
Kevin Ford lives on the edge of Salisbury Plain, near Stonehenge. He has been connected with agriculture all his working life, spending the first 23 years as a stockman, shepherd and livestock manager. Read ‘Lambing’
The final word from the University of Exeter looks again at the report from the Landscape Decisions Programme:
Dr Katharine Earnshaw, a co-author based in the University of Exeter’s Department of Classics and Ancient History, said: “We have an urgent need to think about the culture of change – not just what could be possible on paper. This means a better consideration of the whole picture: social and ethical ideas – the habits of thinking – alongside empirical evidence, taking account of past, present and future. This novel report demonstrates the genuine benefits of working across different subjects and with communities and businesses so that we do not reproduce the inequalities that have led us to this crisis.”