People Powered Landscapes
LandJam event and community tree planting days
Landstory worked with a newly acquired farm startup to evolve potential and ideas for the project through facilitating a number of community events on site.
The Brief
The purpose of our work was to support the landowner to engage with local and non local people in a process of imaging new potential for the farm as it moved toward developing on farm enterprises.
Landstory also facilitated community tree planting days on site, to deliver a newly designed native woodland, hedgerows and shelterbelts.
Our Approach
Bringing people together to share meaningful experiences was paramount to this project. All ages coming together to share food, stories and to get hands in the soil enabled magic to emerge. Through design charettes and workshops new ideas and potential was realised through collaborative exploration.
The Challenges
As with any start up budgetary limitations reduce the ability to deliver on the outcomes and goals that were set.
The Outcome
The collaborative work helped to inform the landowner about which direction of travel to take the site development towards. Furthermore, we also supported the design of biological water and waste systems, access and circulation routes in addition to market garden layout and optimisation.
The nature of bringing people to the site also helped to raise the project profile and engage local villagers in the project, many of whom are still involved today.
The Future
This is an example of poor-quality grazing land of a perceived low value and single use, transitioning to a multifunctional regenerative farming-based approach. The project employs agroforestry, mob-grazing, market gardening and water management, set within a glamping enterprise. Watching this project develop over the years will be exciting.
Andrew Thorne
I have worked with Landstory over a number of years on our farm in Devon. They have been instrumental in developing all aspects of our land management plan, from creating access routes and vistas, to a full landscape plan for the farm covering horticultural garden spaces, new woodland planting and new ponds and wetlands. Working with Landstory is a joy, their work, energy and approach is inspirational.