Research and Learning

Our Work

Land is fundamental to many of the social, economic and environmental justice issues we face, whether dealing with climate change, addressing racial inequity, tackling poverty, or creating a more sustainable food system.

However, the issue of our unequal land system is not high on the public agenda here in the UK. We are working to find ways to popularise the evidence around historic and current land use and distribution, and create powerful narratives that capture imaginations about how land could be shared and used differently.

Through our research, we seek to make an impact at a local and a systemic level. We want to create conditions that allow people and communities to thrive, and promote care for our land and environment.

We work with projects aimed at stewarding land for the benefit of their community, environment, and cultural heritage, to learn together about the changes their activities are having. Our research and learning work often includes exploring local and urban food production, access to land, and decision-making processes that empower communities. We aim to support and develop models of land stewardship that address structural inequalities and systemic exclusion, particularly for marginalised groups, and promote equitable distribution of the opportunities and benefits that land offers.
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Our services

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Our Approach

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We believe the approach, structures and intentions we use to do research and learning work are all equally vital in order to work for a better land system in the UK. We intend to keep developing these, and learning from them as an organisation, to make our work meaningful and transformative.

In our approach:

We produce knowledge through research that focuses on pressing issues and opportunities for land justice.
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We showcase and cultivate alternative models of working and being in relationship with the land that move away from commodification and consumerism.
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We act as an "infrastructure" organisation by learning from and with the movement, providing spaces and connections that enhance collective learning and enable us to listen to and act on the needs and questions of the movement.
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We work closely with our Movement Building team to identify where research and learning could enhance the political work of the land justice movement.
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We aim to conduct research in a transformative way, making it accessible to those who participate and engage, centring the voices of marginalised people who work at the grassroots and are most affected by land issues, and ensuring proper compensation for their time and expertise.
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We offer Support Packages and respond to tenders for clients interested in building new relationships between people and the land in their work.
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We aim to reflect regularly as an organisation on the learning emerging through our work, as well as that of our peers, and to share this thinking publicly.
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As a partner, we bring a number of qualities and approaches to our work that makes it meaningful and valuable to the people we work alongside to create the land system we want to see. These include:

Enabling people to see how the work or learning they undertake at a relatively local level is connected to a broader movement for land system change at national and international levels.
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Using creative methods of facilitation to learn together.
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Fostering spaces where co-creation, respect and autonomy are at the centre.
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Embracing adaptability and iteration as our work evolves, enabling us to change our focus in response to ongoing learning to best serve the groups we work with.
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Prioritising supporting the movement we work with, emphasising their participation and leadership rather than focusing on extracting knowledge.
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Connecting our ‘think’ and ‘do’ work to support cycles of learning and reflection linked to action.
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Cross-pollination from different social and environmental justice movements to strengthen the land justice ecosystem.
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Strong knowledge and experience in a wide range of topics related to land, and the ability to bring in other knowledgeable associates within our network as required

We would be delighted to hear from people who would be interested in developing, collaborating on, or funding research and learning with Shared Assets.

Please get in touch at research@sharedassets.org.uk if you are interested in speaking with us about an idea or proposal, and we’ll be happy to have a chat. You may also want to look at our Support Packages page below to see if any of these would be of use to your group or organisation.
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Power to Change has worked with Shared Assets team on a number of projects, from the delivery of innovative project exploring the dynamics behind peer networks through to research reports and capabilities support focused on community ownership . We value Shared Assets as being a knowledgeable and engaged partner and are always happy to reach out to scope relevant opportunities

Fergus Arkley, Power to Change

I just wanted to thank you for today and express how fantastic I thought the meeting was. Some vitally important topics and so relevant right now.

Participant, Reimagining Public Farmland event

What we do

with land we remagine