Integrating social and environmental evidence to support the development of effective fungal-based filters for agricultural water remediation

Water quality management in agricultural catchments remains a critical environmental and societal challenge. Whilst nature-based solutions (NbS), such as mycoremediation (the use of fungi to remediate contamination and remove pollutants) offer potentially resilient alternatives to conventional approaches, their widespread adoption is often constrained by social, practical and governance barriers. This presentation explores the role of stakeholder engagement in shaping the design, implementation, and upscaling of fungal-based filtration systems developed to intercept agricultural runoff at source. Building on ongoing field trials of mycoremediation filters, primarily targeting nitrate (NO₃⁻) and phosphate (PO₄³⁻) removal, we employed mixed-methods engagement framework to compliment practical results found in the field. Participants included a range of experienced practitioners, including farmers, land managers and regulators. Engagement activities helped identify perceived benefits and risks of filter deployment, practical constraints related to land use, regulations, maintenance and costs, and opportunities for interaction with existing farm infrastructure and agri-environmental schemes. Coupling stakeholder-derived insights and iterative in-field testing of filter design is refining the research to prioritise environmentally effective and operationally feasible solutions. This work demonstrates how integrating social and environmental evidence can support the transition of NbS from experimental trials, to scalable, catchment-scale interventions, contributing to more inclusive and sustainable water quality management.