First LUNZ Hub Big Tent Event: Key Themes
On 19th September 2024 the LUNZ Hub hosted its first Big Tent event at the Royal Society of Edinburgh. This day was designed to foster creative discussion and learning about individual and organisational views concerning the value, prospects and challenges of changing land use to achieve net zero and meet the needs of people and nature.
The event was opened by Professor Mathew Williams, Chief Scientific Adviser (Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture) for Scottish Government, who gave an introductory speech focussing on the land use challenges in Scotland, and how science can support policymaking. A summary of some of the takeaways from the speech can be read here.
The rest of the day was organised around a series of breakout discussions, stimulated by two films created by The Place Collective. The first explored land user perspectives on climate change and Net Zero and the challenges these pose, while the second addressed existing mitigation and adaptation practices and plans for action.
A series of lively break-out room discussions followed, focused on the films and nine further questions. An image of one of these discussions in shown in the image below by the artist Paul Gent, who was drawing sketches through the day.
Discussions explored a large range of themes. Points raised included:
- Recognition of the diversity of understandings, positionings and actions in relation to Net Zero: Not everyone connects with the idea of Net Zero, and indeed there may be confusion about its definition. There may also be a lack of clarity/nuance in messages concerning its significance in particular areas and sectors and the ‘asks’ being made of specific individuals, institutions and communities.
- The significance of who drives, shapes, and bears the costs of transitions in land use: Questions posed included – Will private money always work for private interests or can it be channelled to ensure public benefits? How do or should people identify which knowledge to respond to? Are some groups asked to do more for less, while others can see clear benefits?
- There are a complex range of challenges that need to be addressed, and a large range of alternative approaches and tools to tackle them, which creates many uncertainties and risks of inaction or insufficient action.
- Many people are already taking action, and there is a lot of scope for knowledge exchange and peer-to-peer learning.
- There is a need to build knowledge, skills and confidence, all of which take time and resources.
The day finished with a panel discussion chaired by Professor David Miller from the LUNZ Hub, and involving Clive Mitchell (Nature Scotland), John Kerr (Scottish Government) and Nada Saidi (Defra). The panel (draw above) reflected on the discussions that had been held through the day and their relations with policy priorities and challenges, and also responded to questions from other Big Tent participants. The day closed with a poem composed and read by Harriet Fraser from The Place Collective, as drawn in the image below.
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Professor Martin Phillips
Transdisciplinary Community and Capacity Building
Evi Arachoviti
Transdisciplinary Community and Capacity Building