The LENs model continues to grow and scale. To ensure that we are able to serve an increasingly large and diverse partnership across the regions we are introducing some new approaches that strengthen the systems and processes which enable the collaboration at the heart of LENs’s success.
You can find more information about the improvements, process changes and benefits for demand-side partners below.
To accelerate further and faster, we have to ensure that our systems and processes are as resilient as we want our landscapes to be.
Donald Lunan
LENs Interim Co-CEO
What improvements have we made to the LENs model?
1. Outcomes
We’ve made changes that will enable a greater focus on the outcomes we all want to achieve.
In practice, this means that LENs will curate ‘packages’ of measures, which will include both performance and cost summaries.
2. Optimisation
We’ve optimised the LENs trading cycle for all stakeholders.
We’ve introduced proposal structures and incentives to enable cost sharing. We’re also including public-funded measures too.
LENs will also optimise budget allocation between funders, saving time for all involved.
The trading and contracting cycle will shorten, reducing the amount of time and resources stakeholders need to allocate to the trading period.
3. Support
We’ve introduced a ‘Regen Pathway’ to provide greater support for farmers.
The Regen Pathway will help farmers identify concrete steps they can take towards a more regenerative farming system.
It will also enable LENs to better understand farmers’ progress on the journey from conventional to regenerative farming practices.
This will enable us to provide farmers with targeted support as they move along the Pathway, reward them as they do so, and enable a greater focus on outcomes for all stakeholders.
What changes should demand-side partners know about?
1
We’ve optimised proposals to make them more focused and more specific about the measures they involve.
2
Now there is no need for demand-side partners to prioritise measures. The focus is instead on outcomes of interest from the demand specification.
This means demand-side partners no longer need to make decisions at the measure level.
Each farmer will receive a prioritised list of measures according to consolidated demand.
3
The LENs team will be responsible for analysing and offering trade packages, meaning there is less input required from demand-side partners.
This will enable more focused discussions on verifying and checking the proposed outcomes from suggested funded projects.
4
The Regen Pathway is a new part of the LENs process.
It will enable LENs to prioritise proposals that move farmers along the Regen Pathway, towards more regenerative farming practices.
It also brings in resilience-payment funding mechanisms, with the introduction of a per-hectare payment. Once a farmer reaches a certain step in the Regen Pathway, payment changes, and will be made on a per-hectare basis. This will provide flexibility for farmers, and an outcome-based payment for the funder.
How do these changes benefit demand-side partners?
1
Ultimately, the changes will provide you with a better user experience and will reduce the demand on your internal resources.
To help to more clearly align with targets, the LENs team will propose relevant packages of measures to each farmer, based on the outcomes you are seeking.
2
The changes will accelerate the trading process because each funder no longer needs to wait for input from the other demand side.
The changes will also make it easier to identify more areas where measures can be ‘stacked’ to align with other LENs partners and with public funds.
This will reduce the cost per hectare, and generate greater impact for the same resources.
3
The introduction of the Regen Pathway provides a clear route for farmers to develop towards more regenerative farming practices.
The Pathway incentivises farmers to be ambitious and to maintain regenerative practices, aligning closely with your intended outcomes.
If you have questions or would like any further information, please get in touch with your LENs Regional Coordinator, or via lens@3keel.com.