While individual community-scale net zero projects are inspirational, taken together they can offer a blueprint for scaling up and demonstrate how impact ripples outwards. That has been the effect of three projects by Farm Carbon Toolkit, with funding from the AFN+ Network Flex Fund, which have facilitated vital community engagement on the ground and expert knowledge exchange. 

In Orkney, a remote island archipelago off northern Scotland, members of Farm Carbon Toolkit, a farmer-led collective that facilitates carbon calculations and other environmental impacts, used funding to undertake a three-day visit to the islands to meet organisations and businesses and help support a wider net zero transition. Using their insights from a Farm Net Zero project and demonstration farm in Cornwall, the team presented to around 70 Orkney residents and were able to provide first-hand experience in answering any questions. Overall the visit was described as a “catalyst” for a community whose remote location often discourages such in-person events, helping them to address difficult issues and take action on climate change. As a further tangible impact, the Farm Carbon Toolkit visit has helped the community develop a credible proposal to the National Lottery’s Climate Action Fund. 

In South East Cornwall, a project connecting with local farmers on the issue of net zero was able to identify key barriers and motivations in a series of workshops and meetings. For an isolated farming community that faces rising business costs and uncertain farm policies, as well as environmental pressures, this project was invaluable in building relationships. As a result, one farmer engaged in another Farm Carbon Toolkit project and benchmarked their carbon footprint, while another attended a further agroforestry workshop. A key way to overcome trust barriers was suggested as using agronomists, vets and other local figures already known to farmers to help bridge the trust gap and bring new ideas into existing advisory relationships. This remains one of the top obstacles for those working across farming and net zero more widely, and is a valuable insight that could benefit future projects. 

Peer-to-peer demonstration and practical advice was the standout success of the farm walks in Scotland and Essex, as part of the third Farm Carbon Toolkit project. Feedback was extremely positive around appetite to trial new ideas when farmers see demonstrations from trusted peers, while a finding that long-term management changes that span multiple seasons are particularly valuable is likely to shape and influence future such events and training. While the attendees were relatively small in number – 18 farmers across both walks – the exceptional feedback suggests this project will have tangible impact across individual farm net zero transitions and provides an effective framework for replication. All attendees gave five out of five satisfaction scores on event relevance and learning value, while all participants identified something new to apply to their own farm, such as rotational grazing, deeper rooting crops or soil testing.

Read more about the three Stakeholder FlexFund projects