2024 success sees Landscape Enterprise Networks set to scale further and faster in 2025

News story
29 October 2024

LENs Company Ltd has announced the beginning of a new phase of rapid scaling for Landscape Enterprise Networks, a programme which is already helping to boost the health and resilience of landscapes across the UK and Europe.

Building on the programme’s success delivering more resilient landscapes over the past six years, Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENs) has taken the opportunity to strengthen the systems and processes that underpin the collaboration that is at the heart of LENs.

Founded by sustainability consultancy 3Keel, LENs brings together businesses, public bodies, NGOs, farmers and land managers, to finance and implement initiatives that ensure the landscapes in their region thrive and continue to meet the needs of businesses, land enterprises, communities and nature. 

In 2024, LENs projects brought together organisations across five landscapes – in the UK, Italy, Hungary and Poland – with more than 300 farmers to deliver over €12.5 million (around £10.5 million) in measures that improve the resilience of more than 45,000 hectares of land.

Some of the most significant intended outcomes of these measures included increasing soil carbon, promoting soil health, boosting biodiversity, mitigating flood risk and creating habitats for pollinators.



The continued success of LENs sees the company managing an increasingly diverse network of partners and stakeholders. With rising demand from businesses for landscape-scale resilience, the time is right for LENs to enter a new phase of growth and operations.

Donald Lunan, LENs Company Interim CEO, said:

“The evidence from the six years we’ve been in operation is clear. We know that LENs works. At multiple locations across the UK and Europe, LENs projects have already proved highly effective at building business partnerships for resilient landscapes.

“To accelerate further and faster, we have to ensure that our systems and processes are as resilient as we want our landscapes to be. This means evolving how LENs operates, so it can be a robust, efficient model capable of involving an increasing number of buyers and sellers of ecosystem services across more regions of the world.”


The benefits of Landscape Enterprise Networks - LENs



Optimising the LENs trading cycle

To increase the impact of LENs, the new phase of growth and operations will see the programme run a more impactful, efficient trade for all stakeholders. The key developments are as follows:

  • The next phase of operations will see new, curated packages of measures optimised to focus on outcomes for demand-side partners and enabling a greater focus on impact.
  • The trading and contracting cycle will shorten, reducing the amount of time and resources stakeholders need to allocate to the trading period.
  • Enhanced reporting will ensure a clear and consistent view of progress against targets for all involved.



The iconic Welland Valley Viaduct runs within the East of England LENs project

The iconic Welland Valley Viaduct runs within the East of England LENs project.



More support for farmers

With farmers and land managers central to the success of LENs, the next phase of operations will also see the evolution of LENs’ farmer-engagement strategy. 

Key developments include greater support for farmers in the trading period, and the expansion of ‘field days’ and demonstration farms to promote best practice.

The introduction of a ‘Regen Pathway’ will help farmers identify concrete steps that they can take towards a more regenerative system. It will also enable LENs to capture farmers’ progress on their journey from conventional to regenerative farming practices – as well as provide targeted support along the Pathway.

Ultimately, the new measures will provide farmers with a clear understanding of what they can expect on everything from their eligibility for LENs and the measures involved, through to technical support and payments.


A vineyard in the Prosecco Valley within Italy’s Veneto region, where LENs is operating with partner Preferred by Nature.


Lunan added:

“We know that collaboration between farmers, food companies and other actors is absolutely key to transforming the resilience of local landscapes. We also know that we can only solve the joint crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and soil degradation by working coherently at scale. 

LENs makes it easy for partners to collectively achieve their goals, and this new phase in the evolution of LENs enables us to respond to this increasing urgency – enabling stakeholders to make our landscapes healthier, more productive and more resilient to the challenges ahead.”

If you’re interested in learning more about Landscape Enterprise Networks, if you’d like to explore how a network might look in your landscape, or if you’d like to better understand your own dependencies on the land, please get in touch.

We’re passionate about LENs, and we’re always looking for new partners and landscapes to use the approach.