# Some key principles and first steps

<mark style="color:orange;">**Key principles to consider for local authorities**</mark>

Before you star&#x74;**, establish your ways of working**:&#x20;

* 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&#x20;
* 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:** &#x20;

* 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&#x20;
* Define objectives that are easy to explain - a clear and consistent message will facilitate your work in the long term&#x20;

Over tim&#x65;**, cultivate resilience:**&#x20;

* 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&#x20;

### <mark style="color:orange;">**Some low-barrier entry actions**</mark>

<table data-header-hidden><thead><tr><th width="151"></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><img src="/files/4LHgq5aLNqCJUdZpptkt" alt=""></td><td>Put land on the agenda (of your internal meetings, of exchanges with constituents, of the next discussion with other local authorities…) </td></tr><tr><td><img src="/files/rvqRcFrNKVVkSHrv2XyU" alt=""></td><td>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.</td></tr><tr><td><img src="/files/9xQls59q111pD03NsqeZ" alt=""></td><td>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. </td></tr><tr><td><img src="/files/LR0lANSVhXtjhaR9VRz9" alt=""></td><td>If you have relevant data on the land or agricultural market, or knowledge of a land opportunity, share it (with potential new farmers). </td></tr><tr><td><img src="/files/8tfc7XyAfR5X7S0u2Vm5" alt=""></td><td>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.</td></tr></tbody></table>

&#x20; &#x20;

### <mark style="color:orange;">**Some first steps to achieve specific goals**</mark>&#x20;

<img src="/files/ECEkARtpjHfpDeiYHOmO" alt="" data-size="line">1 - I am Maria, a staff member in an inter-municipal structure. I want our next land local zoning plan to better safeguard agricultural land. &#x20;

2 - I am Paul, a council member in a small town. I want to use the 4 hectare plot of municipal land to produce vegetables for the local school. <img src="/files/K8u1jABxD94kFJcuLF0c" alt="" data-size="line">

<img src="/files/dn9P6aWCRxnah4XyVwD8" alt="" data-size="line">3 - I am Joanna, a recently elected mayor in a rural village. I want to facilitate access to pasture lands held in common by residents to new entrants. &#x20;

![Regulator character](/files/ECEkARtpjHfpDeiYHOmO)**Maria’s first steps could be…**&#x20;

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) &#x20;

d- gather priori information on legal possibilities to protect land through zoning, and examples of towns who have done it <br>

![Owner character](/files/K8u1jABxD94kFJcuLF0c)**Paul’s first steps could be…**

a- evaluate whether the municipal land is fit for vegetable growing (type of soil and fertility, existence of infrastructure like greenhouses/irrigation/storage buildings)&#x20;

b- evaluate the costs, infrastructure and practices needed to enable the school canteen to start preparing meals from scratch using fresh vegetables&#x20;

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<br>

![Facilitator character](/files/dn9P6aWCRxnah4XyVwD8)**Joanna’s first steps could be…**&#x20;

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&#x20;


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