Finding answers

Answering the challenges for society and developing viable choices for sustainable rural development require a unique interdisciplinary programme that will identify:

• the causes, processes and dynamics of the change occurring in UK rural economy and land use
• how to predict and evaluate the consequences of this change
• the most appropriate integrated mechanisms to monitor and manage change

Rural economy and land use scientists are collaborating on wide ranging interdisciplinary research projects grouped around four key themes.

A. The Integration of Land and Water Use
B. The Environmental Basis of Rural Development
C. Sustainable Food Chains
D. Economic and Social Interactions with the Rural Environment