LENs Company Ltd

What is LENs? 🌾🌾🌾 Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENs) bring together businesses, public bodies, NGOs, farmers and land enterprises, to finance and implement initiatives to improve the health, productivity and resilience of landscapes they all rely on. Typical needs that a LENs will address are resilient crop production, mitigating flood risk, improving water quality, reducing GHG emissions, or increased biodiversity. Collaboration is vital. A business acting alone will struggle to make an impact because what is needed in a particular geography will go beyond the boundaries of any one farm. Founded by sustainability consultancy 3Keel, LENs is now operational in three regions in the UK and one each in Italy, Hungary and Poland. Many more in this growing programme are currently in development. Why not head over to the website to find out more: https://lnkd.in/eTA_9Tcf

📍 Recently, our team brought together key partners of the Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENs Company Ltd) in #Poland for a stakeholder event at Baborówko Palace, near Poznań. This event was an opportunity to reflect on progress, share experiences, and announce the third LENs tender. The event opened with presentations from our Demand Partners – Nestlé Purina PetCare Europe, Cereal Partners Poland Toruń-pacific, and PepsiCo – who shared their sustainability efforts and goals for advancing sustainable solutions. 🎤 Meanwhile, Preferred by Nature provided an overview of the 2024 edition, and 3Keel introduced the updated LENs model set for launch in 2025. 👨🌾 The main highlight of the event was hearing directly from farmers about their regenerative agriculture experiences. Two farmers shared their experiences with LENs, which offered a deeper look into how the programme has impacted their operations. Miroslaw Korzeniowski from AGROEKOTON Association (Stowarzyszenie AGROEKOTON ) delivered a compelling speech on international policy and its impact on regenerative agriculture in Poland. His presentation outlined both the challenges and opportunities for sustainable development in the country. 🌿 This was followed by Grzegorz Ignaczewski from Agraves, who covered eco-schemes in Poland, summarising 2024 campaign key takeaways and expected changes in 2025. 💬 The event concluded with a panel discussion moderated by Hubert Filipiak from Preferred by Nature. Panelists, Mirosław Korzeniowski, Sebastian Bloch from Nestlé, Mateusz Sękowski from PepsiCo, and Donald Lunan from 3Keel, discussed ways to encourage farmers to adopt #regenerative agriculture. The discussion covered financial models, non-financial support such as training and knowledge exchange, and long-term engagement strategies. ℹ️ LENs (Landscape Enterprise Networks), developed by the Oxford-based B-Corp 3Keel and supported by Nestlé Purina, PepsiCo, Cereal Partners Worldwide (Nestlé & General Mills) (CPP), Consorzio di Tutela della DOC Prosecco and Le Tenute del Leone Alato, is operated by Preferred by Nature in Poland, Italy and Hungary. LENs support farms and suppliers in implementing sustainable practices and scaling up the transition to regenerative agriculture. Photos by Magdalena Makiel & Roman Fandieiev

📣 We've made a key appointment to our team. Emilien Hoet has joined LENs as Strategy Director, to lead LENs’ go-to-market and tech strategy, fundraising and governance. A a self proclaimed ‘sustainability geek’, Emilien was most recently the UK’s MD for ClimatePartner and is the Co-Founder of the Carbon Accounting Alliance, of which 3Keel is a member. With six LENs regions and a seventh set to go live in the next few weeks, we have ambitious plans for LENs. Emilien joins at a critical time to help realise these ambitions, to ensure we scale the impact of LENs across the UK, Europe and into new regions. 🔗 Head to the website to read the full story: https://lnkd.in/ePz9bpy2 Donald Lunan | Muriel Arts | Will Stephens | Isabel Ross | Catherine Wallis

"What was a long term threat is now a short term threat." For anyone who thinks widespread crop failures are a think of the future, I encourage you to read this whistleblower memo. In this chilling report from Inside Track, senior execs from big food companies outline the risks plainly: "we have reached a moment of threat to food security like none other we have seen." "We have seen in the past three years major shortages in certain crops based on environmental changes connected to climate change, water shortages and soil degradation. Already in Spain drought and flooding have directly impacted our ability to source salad, tomatoes and broccoli." "There is a bias toward pleasing rather than being honest with our Directors, shareholders, owners and creditors." It's day 4 for me at LENs Company Ltd, and I'm already hearing accounts from the team who has been seeing first hand the devastating effect that pests and extreme weather events have been having on farmers in the UK. The memo also outlines that there is "a failure to see systems: each producer, manufacturer and retailer is individually able to defend their strategy because they are looking at their data in isolation." It's time to invest in resilience and to do so in with a systems view, in partnership with local stakeholders and with the overall landscape objectives in mind. No more time for siloed supply chain interventions. We need big capital flows to regenerate the land. Our food literally depends on it.

🔍 New report: Land Use Innovation – Unlocking Solutions to Pressures on Land, published by Royal Agricultural University, National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise, AFN Network+ and Land Use for Net Zero Nature and People (LUNZ) Hub It's a vital read, including: 🌍 Clear diagnosis of the "land crunch": starkly outlines that the UK needs 4.4 million extra hectares by 2050 to meet policy goals – yet no more land exists. We must use land more strategically and collaboratively. 🛠️ The report champions land use innovation that coordinates, optimises, and integrates diverse land functions 📈 Call for dedicated infrastructure: the authors make a powerful case for new hubs and incubators to support cross-sector, landscape-scale innovation. 📣 Whether you’re in agri-food, water, energy, or infrastructure, this is a must-read for anyone looking to build resilience into supply chains and local places. 🔗 https://bit.ly/3E3svKe

As our partners Forth Rivers Trust say 👇🏼, momentum is building for the expansion of LENs into the Leven catchment area in Scotland...superb engagement at our farmers event last week! Watch this space for more news about LENs in Scotland in the coming weeks...📰

The LENs team are busy getting the message out! Isabel Ross was at the UK River Restoration Centre (RRC) 26th annual conference yesterday in sunny Brighton. She and Amelia Heath from the Forth Rivers Trust, our delivery partner in Scotland, outlined the valuable contributions LENs can offer to Integrated Catchment Management (ICM). Great engagement on the themes they explored. Thanks to everyone who came along.

LENs is growing from strength to strength and we're delighted to announce that yesterday, Emilien Hoet joined as our new Strategy Director. Welcome on board !

If you missed it last week, 3Keel's webinar, 'From Theory to Practice: Implementing Carbon Removals in Agricultural Supply Chains' is now available to watch in full. It's designed to help agri-food organisations navigate the uncertainty around tackling scope 3 carbon emissions.  Who should watch? Anyone in the agri-food sector who: ✅ Is looking to understand how to engage with their supply chain to support the shift to sustainable land management and delivery of carbon removals ✅ Wants to understand how to account for removals from regenerative agriculture or climate programmes ✅ Has set or is looking to set scope 3 FLAG targets, and is exploring the potential to report removals against these targets We think it'll be useful for many in our LinkedIn network and there will be a follow up session on 21 May, on the role LENs can play in companies' plans. Details to follow! Watch the webinar here 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/eF-dsa4X Donald Lunan | Alan Sargent | Catherine Wallis | Will Stephens

🇮🇹 On 26–27 March, LENs Italia partners – led by LENs Operator Preferred by Nature – held two events for farmers hosted by Cereal Docks and Serena & Manente. The focus? Introducing the new LENs Regen Pathway (LENs 2.0) – a four-level framework helping farmers identify where they are on the journey from conventional to regenerative practices, and how LENs can support their transition. The framework enables: ✅ Targeted support at each stage ✅ Recognition and reward for progress ✅ A focus on measurable outcomes for all stakeholders Farmers learned how LENs funding can be tailored to their current practices, with support available to all – regardless of where they are on the Pathway. Interest was strong from both new and existing farmers in the network. Agronomists will now follow up to assess Pathway levels and match farms to suitable funding packages. Bianca Pusterla from Preferred by Nature said: “The combination of LENs and public funding is now a great opportunity for farmers. Preferred by Nature agronomists will help them access support in an integrated way, maximising impact.” Find out more about LENs Italia by downloading the 2024 factsheet on our website: https://lnkd.in/e2-eaprE