Stick your wellies on: messy development and co-design processes with England’s new Environmental Land Management (ELM) policy

Abstract

Following the UK’s departure from the European Union, new Agricultural and Environmental Acts were passed providing legal frameworks for new policy actions in these areas. This chapter focuses specifically on the ongoing development of England’s new Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. The schemes are being ‘co-designed’ by the British Government with agricultural stakeholders and are central to England’s agricultural transition to sustainable farming. By drawing together academic literature, policy updates and research with farmers in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) National Pilot, this chapter considers the potential implications of these ongoing and far-reaching changes for farmers, rural communities, and the countryside, and casts a critical eye on the co-design process through the specific example of the SFI National Pilot. Alongside highlighting some key wins in the co-design process, the illustrate that England has adopted a messy, ad hoc approach to scheme development.