Words by Smiley Team
Now COP26 is over, where can we find hope for tackling climate change? While individual action can feel isolating, and global policy is out of our hands, community projects could yield more promising results. This article is part of Together Forever, a Smiley series of success stories about communities uniting to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Farmland once strewn with car parts, computers, rotting clothes and all manner of waste, has been cleared and given new life by community members on the border between Suffolk and Norfolk, in the East of England. Next, they hope to repurpose a nearby pub that has been disused for the last three years.
The 10 acres of fen and agricultural land in the village of Blo’Norton was tidied up by locals to serve the community. When complete, it will provide organically grown food, cultural activities, new jobs and educational opportunities.
“Our motto is, 'growing community resilience in the face of crises by way of mutual aid’,” explains organiser Julian Thompson. “By crises, we mean the economic, climate, mental health challenges faced by society today and in the future.”
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On the site, they hope to gain planning permission for a barn and visitors centre constructed from low-carbon hempcrete and using sustainable timber-framed building techniques.
The land will provide space for sustainable agriculture to offer locals a food source with zero carbon miles. This will include building chimpanas, a Mesoamerican agricultural technique that will allow them to grow food during naturally occurring and exacerbated floods common to fenland.
They also hope to engage local farmers with their work and promote alternatives to naturally harmful agriculture. “Farmers in this area are actually in a very difficult position, being trapped between the supermarkets and big agriculture,” Julian explains. “So we hope to offer them a way out.”
Once the visitors centre is built and workers start cultivating the land, the team hopes the barn and surrounding land will become a useful community asset to tackle social issues faced by local people, including the elderly.
“Social isolation and loneliness are particularly big issues here. So we aim to offer regenerative activities across the areas of business, science and culture,” he says.
Additionally, organisers are in the process of buying a nearby pub which they hope to transform into a community centre and net-negative microgrid that will provide the village of Thelnetham with renewable energy.
Through the project, they intend to offer exciting work opportunities to local youths. Their apprenticeships will educate young people about sustainable housing, energy, agriculture and transport.
The Community Benefit Society, iFarm, purchased the plot with support from Breckland District Council, Power to Change, the Climate Emergency Centre network and the Plunkett Foundation.
Residents of Thelnetham can have their say on how the pub will be used by completing this questionnaire.
Find more information and updates on the iFarm Facebook page.
Together Forever is a Smiley series exploring the ways communities overcome divisions and unite in the face of climate change, humanity’s biggest challenge.
