South Devon strategies
Joined-Up Action for Climate & Nature
Climate change adaptation means altering our behaviour, systems, and ways of life to protect our families, our economies, and the environment in which we live from the impacts of climate change. (WWF)
A new bioregional framework for action that unites efforts
South Devon faces intensifying climate risks—flooding, drought, and ecosystem collapse—that demand urgent, coordinated action. Devolution is giving us an opportunity to look beyond existing political boundaries and imagine a more resilient future at the scale of the whole region.
This region has an amazing resource in the huge number of active & engaged people and organisations working around climate, nature, livelihoods and communities. We all want to see a resilient South Devon that is prepared for climate change and able to cope with increasing disruption.
Individual projects that tackle these issues are vital, but we need systemic change that unites our efforts. This work will take longer and be more complex, but together we can share ideas, data and resources plus identify collaborative projects and increase the impact of all our work—building capacity and collective responsibility.
Building on our Learning Journey to seven+ locations to document regenerative practices, BLC has formed a secretariat for Joined-up Action for Climate & Nature to carry this work forward through a 12-point strategy and partner working with the early support of South Hams District Council.
A lot has been going on behind the scenes, but we’re now at the point of sharing more widely and looking to get more people involved and engaged. We have identified three pillars of work towards Joined Up Action:
Information
- Open access to trustworthy information so communities can plan effectively
- Sharing data and solutions to problem solve together
- Supporting local government as listening ears on the ground [?]
Capacity building
- Growing capacities to cope with change in a joined-up way
- Deciding how to look after the things we care about
- Dialogue, debate, discussion and design
- Learning programmes and workshops
Financing
- Financing work through a locally-led initiative that sets up a South Devon financing facility
- The facility aggregates government funding, philanthropic funding, bond revenues, community shares and venture capital.
Joined Up Action has been building as a network and exploratory development process since Spring 2025, with BLC acting as a convenor.
The network, covering a wide range of relevant individuals and organisations, has developed initially through in-person workshops where participants have been able to explore options for what Joined Up Action might look like in practical terms. We are embarking on the capacity-building pillar with partners. And BLC has commissioned work to investigate how exactly a financing facility for the bioregion might work, including the groundwork for a Bioregional Bond and potential infrastructure for receiving and distributing funds.
Joined-up Action Cafés are a way to ramp up your learning. They are a key part of the Joined-up Action programme.
In previous Cafés, we delved into the new Land Use Framework and identified barriers around momentum, capacity, funding models, inclusivity & equality. We explored systems thinking and the realities of how humans operate, foregrounded the Devon Doughnut and looked at what we mean by localising the Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Climate Adaptation strategy, with a focus on flood resilience. Jane Nichols from Sustainable South Hams, asked the question: "How do we rally for nature?" It was a great opportunity to think about nature in relation with community.
Climate change will impact every community in South Devon, as it will across the world. By anticipating these impacts and preparing our response now, we can choose how we want to move forward instead of only being forced into emergency action.
