Glossary

A participant in an action or process who influences the course of the action.

The unit in the LUNZ Hub Work Package 1 that responds to policy needs for evidence in an agile response mode.

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is part of UKRI and funds outstanding original research across the whole range of the arts and humanities.

A big tent is a term originally used in reference to a political party having members covering a broad spectrum of beliefs. In the LUNZ Hub it describes an open event that brings together all interested parties.

The process of restoring the variety and variability of life forms within a given ecosystem, aiming to return it to its natural state and improve its health, function, and sustainability.

The total mass of living organisms in a given area or volume; biomass can also refer to organic material used as fuel or for energy production.

Boundary spanners are individuals who are linking research with policy and practice and who can translate research into those domains.

A flexible fund that is held by the LUNZ Hub to respond to new priorities and challenges.

The study and understanding of the sources, sinks, and processes that govern the flow of carbon through different components of the Earth system, including the atmosphere, biosphere, and geosphere.

The process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide in plants, soils, geologic formations, or oceans to mitigate or defer global warming.

A natural or artificial reservoir that accumulates and stores carbon for an indefinite period, such as forests, oceans, or soil.

Any process, activity, or mechanism that releases carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, such as fossil fuel combustion or deforestation.

A term describing the urgent and severe global impacts resulting from climate change, including extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and ecological disruptions.

Co-design / co-creation refers to a participatory approach to designing solutions, in which community members and stakeholders are treated as equal partners by researchers and experts in the LUNZ Hub.

This lab in Work Package 2 of LUNZ Hub will strengthen the transdisciplinary capabilities and capacities by building common knowledge, skills and language, brokering systems and tools to catalyse exchange across the transdisciplinary community and developing creative workshop facilitation methods.

A person who makes important decisions. In the context of the LUNZ Hub, this means decisions that impact on net zero, nature and/or people.

Directly Allocated staff include Principal Investigators and Co-Investigators who are not being directly paid from the research grant.

Directly Incurred staff are project-specific and are identifiable as arising from the conduct of the work of the LUNZ Hub, e.g. postdoctoral researchers.

Directly Incurred staff are charged directly to the project via payments and must be auditable at the project level.

Diversity is recognising, respecting and celebrating each other's differences. A diverse environment is one with a wide range of backgrounds and mindsets.

In the LUNZ Hub, we define an ECR based on the following criteria:
• They self-identify as an early career researcher and/or innovator;
• They have been employed in a research and/or innovation role, or a PhD course, within the last 12 months.

These periods exclude any career break, for example due to family care, health reasons or similar.

The benefits humans obtain from ecosystems, including provisioning services like food and water, regulating services like climate control, supporting services like nutrient cycling, and cultural services like recreation.

The theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope, and the distinction between justified belief and opinion.

Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.

Equality means ensuring that individuals, or groups of individuals, are not treated less favourably because of their protected characteristics. Equality also means equality of opportunity, i.e. those who may be disadvantaged can get the tools they need to access the same, fair opportunities as their peers.

Diversity is recognising, respecting and celebrating each other's differences. A diverse environment is one with a wide range of backgrounds and mindsets.

Inclusion means creating an environment where everyone feels welcome and valued. An inclusive environment can only be created once we are more aware of our unconscious biases, and have learned how to manage them.

The process by which soil, rock, or other surface material is worn away and transported by natural forces such as wind or water.

Ethnography involves observing people in their own environment to understand their experiences, perspectives and everyday practices. This can give in-depth insight into a particular context, group or culture. Ethnography uses different research techniques, which may include observations, taking field notes, informal conversations, interviews, document analysis, surveys, filming and photography.

The FABLE Calculator focuses on agriculture as the main driver of land-use change. It represents 88 agricultural raw and processed products from the crop and livestock sectors. For each of these products, the model reports the food, feed, other non-food consumption, losses and waste, imports and exports, and production quantities, and related land and water use for each five years from 2000 to 2050.

Agricultural land that is left unplanted for one or more growing seasons to allow the soil to recover its fertility.

Approaches to agricultural production that include the management of crops, livestock, and other resources to optimise productivity and sustainability.

FarmPEP has been co-designed by an industry wide partnership supported by Innovate UK to connect across agriculture, enabling knowledge exchange through a new Performance Enhancement Platform.

The state in which all people at all times have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

The long-term rise in Earth's average surface temperature due to human activities, particularly the emission of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels and deforestation.

Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitros Oxide

Inclusion means creating an environment where everyone feels welcome and valued. An inclusive environment can only be created once we are more aware of our unconscious biases, and have learned how to manage them.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines Just Transition as “Greening the economy in a way that is as fair and inclusive as possible to everyone concerned, creating decent work opportunities and leaving no one behind.”

A land manager oversees the use, preservation, and development of ranges of land.

Land Use is the term used to describe the human use of land. It represents the economic and cultural activities (e.g., agricultural, residential, industrial, mining, and recreational uses) that are practised at a given place.

Liminality describes the psychological process of transitioning across boundaries and borders, e.g. from business as usual to a net zero future.

The means by which people secure the necessities of life, including employment, income, and access to resources and services.

A method used in soil science to estimate the organic matter content by measuring the weight loss of a soil sample when it is burned at high temperatures.

‘Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry’

This is a UNFCCC category for reporting GHG emissions. This is sometimes combined with Agriculture to form a wider category: Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU).

There is sometimes confusion about how emissions are categorized, as LULUCF covers agricultural land, but agriculture is a separate category in carbon budgets.

Simply put, ‘LULUCF’ incorporates GHG fluxes (both gains and losses) from the use and change in use of land, that might include carbon removals through grassland photosynthesis and carbon releases from forest fires.

‘Agriculture’, on the other hand, only covers emissions from actual agricultural practices, such as fertilizer application, and emissions related to livestock. (Note fuel use is usually included in ‘Energy’)

A microscopic organism, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa, which play critical roles in ecosystems, including decomposition, nutrient cycling, and disease.

The use of mathematical, statistical, or computational techniques to simulate real-world processes and predict outcomes under different scenarios, commonly used in environmental and climate science.

Net Zero describes the state where emissions of greenhouse gases due to human activities and removals of these gases are in balance over a given time period.

The Net Zero Futures Platform in WP3 will work with government and industry to iteratively co-develop and evaluate realistic scenarios and pathways that transform land use, agricultural systems, soil systems health and carbon dynamics for Net Zero, nature and people.

Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorus - three of the major elements needed for plant growth

Offsetting refers to compensating for emissions by investing in environmental projects outside of one's direct influence.

Insetting involves implementing sustainability projects within one's own value chain to reduce emissions.

Material derived from the remains of once-living organisms, including plants and animals, which is essential for soil health and fertility.

A chemical reaction in which a substance loses electrons, often involving the addition of oxygen or the removal of hydrogen, commonly seen in processes like rusting or the decomposition of organic matter.

A participatory approach means that the person in charge of solving a problem or designing an innovation involves people who are directly concerned by the result of their work.

The idea that decisions we face for the future are limited by the decisions we have made in the past, even though past circumstances may no longer be relevant.

A transformational process that delivers long-term emissions reductions and sustainable development in collaboration with local communities, businesses and other key actors.

These are used to understand how changes in land use might impact future outcomes, such as Net Zero targets, food production and biodiversity provision. They are not forecasts but possible routes to imagined futures based on different policy decisions.

A Scenario is what the imagined future will be like in a certain number of years, while a pathway is the journey that would be taken to get there.

Wetland areas with a thick, water-logged organic soil layer (peat) composed mainly of dead and decaying plant material, which store large amounts of carbon.

Seeming likely to be true, or able to be believed.

A person who is responsible for or involved in developing plans of action for a political party, government department, business, etc.

A project partner is defined by UKRI as a collaborating organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed research. They are named on the Je-S form.

A formal set of guidelines or procedures for conducting experiments, collecting data, or implementing practices, often used in scientific research and environmental management.

Reflexivity involves questioning one's own taken for granted assumptions.

Regenerative agriculture is an alternative means of producing food that, its advocates claim, may have lower—or even net positive—environmental and/or social impacts.

A software company providing an online reporting portal that PIs and Co-Is of UKRI grants have to fill in once a year to help UKRI collect impact-related data to advocate research and inform funding strategies.

Response options are the potential answers that you provide to the people taking your survey.

Herbivorous mammals that have a specialised stomach for fermenting plant-based food before digestion, including cattle, sheep, goats, and deer.

Descriptions of possible actions or events in the future.

A soil aggregate is a group of soil particles that stick together more strongly than they stick to other particles, forming larger structures. These aggregates play a crucial role in soil properties and processes such as water transport, root growth, erosion and carbon storage.

The arrangement of soil particles into aggregates, which affects water infiltration, root penetration, and aeration, influencing soil health and plant growth.

A dedicated period of time in which a set amount of work will be completed on a project. It is part of the agile project management methodology. An agile project will be broken down into a number of sprints, each sprint taking the project closer to completion.

A party with an interest in an issue, e.g. investors, policy makers, businesses, employees, local communities, customers, and suppliers.

An approach to environmental scenario analysis that combines qualitative and quantitative information based on two main elements: a narrative (story) and results from model calculations (simulation). The narrative describes in story-form how relevant events, key driving forces and stepwise changes unfold in the future. The results from model calculations complement the storyline by presenting numerical estimates of environmental indicators.

A plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim.

The layer of soil beneath the topsoil that contains minerals and nutrients, often less fertile and with a different composition than the top layer.

The Technician Commitment is a university and research institution initiative hosted within the UK Institute for Technical Skills and Strategy. The Commitment aims to ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education and research, across all disciplines. Universities and research institutes are invited to become signatories of the Technician Commitment and pledge action to tackle the key challenges affecting their technical staff.

The agricultural preparation of soil by mechanical agitation, such as digging, stirring, and overturning, to enhance crop growth.

In the LUNZ Hub, Topic Advisory Groups (TAGs) provide expertise on relevant issues, including Agricultural Systems, Land Use Change, Soil Health and Carbon Dynamics, EDI and Social Justice, Green Finance, Digital Opportunities, and Enabling On-the-ground Transitions.

The uppermost layer of soil, rich in organic matter and nutrients, where most plant roots grow and soil biological activity occurs.

Synergies or co-benefits are situations when achievements towards one goal contributes towards progress on other goals.

Trade-offs are when progress towards one goal produces detrimental effects to other goals.

“involving academic researchers from different unrelated disciplines as well as non-academic participants, such as land managers, user groups and the general public, to create new knowledge and theory and delve into a common question. Transdisciplinarity thus combines interdisciplinarity with a participatory approach.”

A participatory method used to engage people in a collective process of understanding, learning, visioning, and experimenting around specific societal transition challenges.

The process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and funds research in the UK.

The Agricultural Systems TAG will develop the Viability Index, which will quantify the likely up-take, social barriers and acceptability, cost and impact of interventions and technologies at different scales (farm, regional, national) for different commodity types and mixes. This index will include efficacy for multiple outcomes and co-benefits and highlight any constraints or conflicts with other priorities. The Index will be tested on existing measures and applied to candidate options and technologies for the co-designed pathways.

A market where individuals, companies, and organisations can voluntarily purchase carbon offsets to compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions, often to demonstrate environmental responsibility.