Using Design to Decarbonise Agriculture in Northumberland

Agriculture and the wider rural economy play a key role in the UK's transition to Net-Zero. In 2020, the agriculture sector was responsible for 11% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK. Emissions of methane (55%) and nitrous oxide (32%) dominate this sector.

Northumberland, England's most rural county, with its unique mix of upland and lowland farms, tenanted and privately owned, is the perfect place to test and establish routes to making agriculture more sustainable.

Working together with the Rural Design Centre and the farming community, Northumberland County Council is using Net-Zero innovation funding to co-design routes to decarbonise agriculture in a variety of different environments.

This project will produce scalable services in the approaches to net zero for Northumberland, which can be replicated in rural communities across the UK. Farmers and other key stakeholders in the rural economy, will be at the heart of this strategy.

The project will use innovative design thinking methodology to take a human-centred and place based approach to examining systems and investigating embedded complex problems to co-develop desirable solutions. Examples could include developing local and regional circular economy services, accessible and easy to deliver for all, to use existing waste materials such as slurry to generate energy.

This would develop a supportive system to make use of innovation and technical capabilities easy to access for wider adoption for farmers looking to work towards net zero working.