Some key principles and first steps
Key principles to consider for local authorities
Before you start, establish your ways of working:
Allow adequate time for bringing all the relevant parts of the local authority together - be willing to be a champion
Be willing to share power: with the local community, other local landowners, farmers, civil society organisations
If you can advocate for money to support this process, then do - the more flexibility and resource you have, the easier this will be
As you begin, streamline objectives:
Observe and gather information from a variety of sources - try to find shared goals and areas of consensus in the diagnosis of needs and priorities
Define objectives that are easy to explain - a clear and consistent message will facilitate your work in the long term
Over time, cultivate resilience:
Give yourself time and the right to experiment - trials and errors are numerous in tackling land issues
Work with conviction and strong political will: it is best to anticipate difficulties and opposition and plan ahead how you will respond to these
Some low-barrier entry actions
Put land on the agenda (of your internal meetings, of exchanges with constituents, of the next discussion with other local authorities…)
Make a quick research about organisations that work on land in your country/region, contact them to know if they have tools to support local authorities.
Support collectives and organisations working on land, even if only by providing them a municipal room to meet or by putting them in touch with relevant actors.
If you have relevant data on the land or agricultural market, or knowledge of a land opportunity, share it (with potential new farmers).
Seize opportunities! E.g. if a farmer is nearing retirement connect them with a candidate successor; if a lease is ending on a public farm try to encourage a sustainable project with the new lease; if a cheap or strategic plot is up for sale, acquire it or tell an ethical land trust or new farmer about it.
Some first steps to achieve specific goals
a- learn about who takes part in the zoning negotiations and their interests
b- think about who in the local authority needs to be involved in these discussions. Paul’s most important role could be as a internal broker between all of the different interests within the local authority
c- gather prior information on local land (existing studies on the local agriculture, existing objectives regarding curtailing land loss or tackling climate change)
d- gather priori information on legal possibilities to protect land through zoning, and examples of towns who have done it
a- evaluate whether the municipal land is fit for vegetable growing (type of soil and fertility, existence of infrastructure like greenhouses/irrigation/storage buildings)
b- evaluate the costs, infrastructure and practices needed to enable the school canteen to start preparing meals from scratch using fresh vegetables
c- reach out to community and civic society organisations who may be interested in managing the land or being involved with growing
d- reach out to local farmers and skilled growers for advice on business models
a- survey the farmers on their current use of the lands held in common
b- make data publicly accessible on common land available
c- engage the local administration - specifically the local council - to establish specific local measures which support new entrants, the safeguarding of common land and animal husbandry as agricultural activity of the community
d- mediate the relationship between new entrants and the local community who are the stewards of the commons
Last updated
