Grassland systems dominating the agricultural landscape in GB are largely economically unproductive, ecologically degraded, dominated by a single grass species, organic carbon poor and heavily reliant on inputs to maintain productivity. System impacts are often felt beyond field boundaries with slurry and P and N pollution from intensive practices leaking into water bodies and impacting on nutrient status and species diversity. Changing to sustainable systems through innovation can rely on cues from the natural environment. Naturally productive systems which support large numbers of grazing livestock have provided inspiration for Pasture for Life (PfL) certified producers to adopt pasture management practices which mimic those systems. Methods include approaches such as 'herbal leys and diverse swards' and 'mob grazing' which can potentially extend the grazing season whilst providing environmental, economic and livestock benefits in terms of health and productivity. The proposed research aims to evaluate the ecological, agronomic and social impacts of the pasture fed livestock approach to grazing management and its potential as the basis of a sustainable GB-wide system. To achieve this, an experienced interdisciplinary research team has designed a project that will deliver a formal assessment of the agronomic, socio-ecological and sustainability and resilience aspects of Pasture Fed Livestock Association (PFLA) members farm systems and the social systems in which they are embedded (including industry bodies and citizen-consumers) through a combined set of social and natural science research methodologies. The team will work closely with producers and their supporting organisations (including the PFLA) to assess sustainability criteria covering a broad spectrum of sixty PLFA enterprises and to assess specific management practices, like 'mob grazing' on a smaller number of (15-20) Pasture for Life (PfL) certified enterprises. The work will seek to identify the motivations, knowledges and ways of learning of the agricultural innovators employing these approaches. It will also investigate the role of governance structures surrounding farms as well as considering their agronomic and ecological impacts. The evaluation will include an assessment of PFLA enterprises within the context of current grassland/grazing management practices. It will investigate the broad range of public goods delivered by PFLA farms - from the animal products themselves to the impacts of the farming practices on aesthetic values and carbon sequestration. The results of the project will provide much needed evidence about the benefits of pasture fed livestock approaches for those farming grazing livestock, consumers of PfL products and wider publics. Such evidence will be valuable for livestock producers (including those already engaged in the practices) and for government and farming bodies, like the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) with the power to influence farmer decision making. The research will identify key factors which influence 'agricultural innovators' to take bold steps towards novel management practices and provide information on possible mechanisms for supporting them in their enterprises. If such systems do prove to provide significant ecological, agronomic and social benefits the project may help to transform some of the green deserts which currently form much of the agricultural land area in GB. The prospect of a resilient, agriculturally productive, grassland landscape which is storing carbon, preserving water quality and enhancing biodiversity is a compelling one for farmers, governments and wider publics.

Grassland systems dominating the agricultural landscape in GB are largely economically unproductive, ecologically degraded, dominated by a single grass species, organic carbon poor and heavily reliant on inputs to maintain productivity. System impacts are often felt beyond field boundaries with slurry and P and N pollution from intensive practices leaking into water bodies and impacting on nutrient status and species diversity. Changing to sustainable systems through innovation can rely on cues from the natural environment. Naturally productive systems which support large numbers of grazing livestock have provided inspiration for Pasture for Life (PfL) certified producers to adopt pasture management practices which mimic those systems. Methods include approaches such as 'herbal leys and diverse swards' and 'mob grazing' which can potentially extend the grazing season whilst providing environmental, economic and livestock benefits in terms of health and productivity. The proposed research aims to evaluate the ecological, agronomic and social impacts of the pasture fed livestock approach to grazing management and its potential as the basis of a sustainable GB-wide system. To achieve this, an experienced interdisciplinary research team has designed a project that will deliver a formal assessment of the agronomic, socio-ecological and sustainability and resilience aspects of Pasture Fed Livestock Association (PFLA) members farm systems and the social systems in which they are embedded (including industry bodies and citizen-consumers) through a combined set of social and natural science research methodologies. The team will work closely with producers and their supporting organisations (including the PFLA) to assess sustainability criteria covering a broad spectrum of sixty PLFA enterprises and to assess specific management practices, like 'mob grazing' on a smaller number of (15-20) Pasture for Life (PfL) certified enterprises. The work will seek to identify the motivations, knowledges and ways of learning of the agricultural innovators employing these approaches. It will also investigate the role of governance structures surrounding farms as well as considering their agronomic and ecological impacts. The evaluation will include an assessment of PFLA enterprises within the context of current grassland/grazing management practices. It will investigate the broad range of public goods delivered by PFLA farms - from the animal products themselves to the impacts of the farming practices on aesthetic values and carbon sequestration. The results of the project will provide much needed evidence about the benefits of pasture fed livestock approaches for those farming grazing livestock, consumers of PfL products and wider publics. Such evidence will be valuable for livestock producers (including those already engaged in the practices) and for government and farming bodies, like the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) with the power to influence farmer decision making. The research will identify key factors which influence 'agricultural innovators' to take bold steps towards novel management practices and provide information on possible mechanisms for supporting them in their enterprises. If such systems do prove to provide significant ecological, agronomic and social benefits the project may help to transform some of the green deserts which currently form much of the agricultural land area in GB. The prospect of a resilient, agriculturally productive, grassland landscape which is storing carbon, preserving water quality and enhancing biodiversity is a compelling one for farmers, governments and wider publics.

Temporary and permanent grasslands cover >70% of UK agricultural land and provide a vital natural asset for achieving national and international climate, nature, and biodiversity targets, whilst providing feed for ruminants that convert human-inedible forage into nutrient-dense food. UK grasslands contain and protect in excess of 500 megatonnes of carbon, whilst soil carbon sequestration, mainly under grassland, covers 50% of agriculture's total mitigation potential. The IPCC emphasise that agricultural systems must prioritise improving grazing land and livestock management and the Committee on Climate Change highlights that a 4% increase in UK forest area could abate 24% of annual agricultural greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 2050. Therefore, optimising grassland use (e.g. through upland grazing, low-carbon and methane-mitigating forages, multispecies legume-rich pastures, silvopasture, agroforestry, biomass production, woodland establishment) could help the UK realise its mitigation potential whilst saving >£1.6billion/year. It is therefore urgent to re-appraise grassland land-use and promote realistic policy-making solutions that enable large-scale, long-term, integrated grassland management as part of a UK agriculture's transition to net zero. The project will provide crucial evidence for this process, by bringing together leading innovators in transdisciplinary research on sustainable and resilient livestock systems, to address the transformation of UK grasslands for net zero whilst also improving soil health, biodiversity, and the economy. This will be delivered through five transdisciplinary work packages (WPs): WP1 will facilitate co-designed scenarios and net zero pathways to answer the question of how we can deliver sustainable, acceptable, and accessible land use for net zero in UK grassland areas. WP2 will support 6 innovative grassland management participatory clusters - exploring mitigation measures on-the-ground in all four devolved nations to assess whether existing agroecological innovations provide viable and effective strategies for achieving net zero on grassland-based farms. WP3 will utilise controlled trials for assessing the mitigation potential of different grassland management innovations by measuring the GHG outputs following their implementation. Close interaction between experiments, industry partners and wider stakeholder will be fostered throughout all tasks to ensure relevant experimental assessment of grassland solutions. WP4 will provide sustainability assessment of innovations and farm systems for improved policy design and improved the understanding of system interactions and trade-offs between land use, environment, profitability, and social well-being when adopting grassland innovations. WP5 will provide project coordination, communication, dissemination, and demonstration, overcoming barriers to implementation and enabling transformation of grassland use. In summary, the project will provide innovation assessments, co-creation of adoption pathways and policy-making solutions (assessed via Life Cycle Assessments, Global Farm Metric, experimental trials, land-use scenario modelling, stakeholder engagement) and will embrace both unique and common characteristics in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland to develop devolved policies that will target public goods and regulatory mechanisms, protect natural and cultural heritage; and support the Net-Zero Growth Plan.

We live in the critical decade for climate change. The world increasingly experiences the damages and losses from extreme weather events caused by human-made climate change. Crop losses, devastating floods, catastrophic wildfires and rising sea levels cannot be ignored. If we do not achieve a balance between our greenhouse gas emissions and removals from the air, these impacts will become considerably worse and more dangerous. The UK has legally committed to achieving a net zero greenhouse gas balance by 2050. However, it is currently hotly debated how this goal can be achieved. The Land Use for Net Zero (LUNZ) Hub brings together researchers, policy-makers, industry leaders, innovators and rural community representatives from all four nations of the UK. Our 33 member organisations include researchers and practitioners from green finance, agricultural advisory organisations, NGOs, and an arts collective. The goal of the LUNZ hub is to accelerate positive land use change that reduces harmful greenhouse gas emissions, increases food security and restores a healthy environment for plants, animals and people. The Hub will equip UK policy-makers, industry and stakeholders with the advice they need, in the format and timeframe they require, to take policy decisions to help avert dangerous climate change and lead to a better future. We will bring together scientific evidence and stakeholder perspectives to define shared, net zero scenarios (plausible alternative futures)and credible pathways (steps including policies and incentives) to achieve them by 2050. The Hub will establish an Agile Policy Centre, a Net Zero Futures Platform, and a Creative Methods Lab. Within the Hub, our four National Teams will work together with our Topic Expert Groups to build capacity for a Just Transition to net zero that benefits people and planet alike. The Hub will support the UK Government and the devolved administrations in achieving multiple environmental goals by understanding the impacts of policy decisions on all relevant aspects, including renewable energy, agriculture, planning frameworks, afforestation, water management, nature conservation, biodiversity, and rural economies. The Hub will work on several priority policy areas: 1. Land use change that benefits the environment and is socially just, leading to ecosystem co-benefits such as biodiversity, soil health, human health and wellbeing, and green growth at national, regional and local levels; 2. Future agricultural, environmental and food policies that deliver a net zero future, building on the Agriculture Act 2020, Environment Act 2021, Agriculture Bill 2022 (Wales) and 2023 (Scotland), including future sources of finance, payment schemes and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase removals while strengthening food security, biodiversity and land-based businesses (e.g. farms, crofts, forestry); 3. Integrating policy with carbon and natural capital markets, to ensure that the drivers and mechanisms for on-the-ground transformation work together for optimal outcomes. Achieving net zero by 2050 will require new technologies and practices which lower greenhouse gas emissions. These will include soil improvement practices, peatland protection and restoration, removal of greenhouse gases from the air and decarbonising our economy, large-scale tree-planting to take up carbon from the air, creation and restoration of habitats, transitioning to a circular economy, and significantly reduce food waste and consumption of higher emitting foodstuffs. To cover these diverse areas the Hub is comprised of the primary players in the UKRI AgriFood for Net Zero Network+, Landscape Decisions Programme, and principal investigators from Greenhouse Gas Removals, Changing the Environment, Digital Environment, AI for Net Zero, and Treescapes Programmes. This team have the experience and expertise to bring together a single voice of authority for Net Zero transformation in the UK.

The agri-food system, producing 23% of UK emissions, must play a key role in the UK's transition to net zero by 2050, and through leadership in innovation can support change globally. Our Network+ will build on existing and new partnerships across research and stakeholder communities to develop a shared agenda, robust research plans, and scope out future research and innovation. The Network will design and deliver high-reward feasibility projects to help catalyse rapid system transformation to ensure the agri-food system is sustainable and supports the UK's net zero goal, while enhancing biodiversity, maintaining ecosystem services, fostering livelihoods and supporting healthy consumption, and minimising the offshoring of environmental impacts overseas through trade. The radical scale of the net zero challenge requires an equally bold and ambitious approach to research and innovation, not least because of the agri-food and land system's unique potential as a carbon sink. Our title, Plausible Pathways, Practical and Open Science, recognises the agri-food system as a contested area in which a range of pathways are plausible. Success requires that new relationships between natural and social science, stakeholders including industry, government and citizens, be forged in which distributed expertise is actively harnessed to support sectoral transformation. We will use our breadth of expertise from basic research to application, policy and engagement to co-produce a trusted, well-evidenced, and practical set of routes, robust to changing future market, policy and social drivers, to evolve the agri-food system towards net zero and sustainability. Marshalling our many existing stakeholder links, we will review and evaluate current options and use Network funding to catalyse new partnerships through retreats, crucibles, workshops, online digital networking and scoping studies to develop system approaches to transformation, reframe the research agenda and undertake novel research projects. We will co-design productive and creative spaces that enable the research community to engage with a wide range of stakeholders and thought leaders through the following framework: 7 Co-Is who govern the Network but are not themselves eligible for funding; 9 Year-1 Champions (with new appointments after Year 1) dynamically forging new connections across research communities; 11 Advisory Board members tasked with challenging business-as-usual thinking; and regular liaison with other stakeholders.