The United Kingdom became the first country in the world to legally mandate Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)—a pioneering requirement ensuring that all new developments leave biodiversity measurably better than before. This policy sits at the intersection of two urgent national challenges:
• A shortage of 4 million homes, and
• The UK’s status as one of the most nature-depleted countries in Europe.
For the past two years, I have been conducting academic research on BNG, including a Laidlaw Scholarship project analysing barriers to BNG implementation. One major gap repeatedly identified—also emphasised by the National Audit Office—is the lack of public awareness and engagement with the BNG legislation.
The Millennium Fellowship project aimed to address this gap by:
• Raising awareness of BNG among the general public and youth,
• Capturing perceptions about BNG’s potential impacts (e.g., house prices, planning delays, biodiversity outcomes), and
• Integrating these insights into policy feedback for DEFRA and local planning authorities.
Although the initial plan focused heavily on direct public surveys, limited baseline awareness made high-quality public feedback difficult. Therefore, the project approach was revised to expand engagement with professional, academic, and international communities, while still conducting targeted campaigns at UCL and through online dissemination. This blended approach significantly increased the project’s visibility and impact.