Improving the skills and knowledge of farmers and land managers has become a key imperative for government and industry. The Foresight Report on the ‘The Future of Food and Farming’ (UK Government, 2011) identifies the top priority for action as improvement in advisory services to farmers, land managers and food producers for tackling the challenge of food security. Alongside this, there has been increasing evidence over recent years of the land-based professions themselves reflecting on skills development issues. At the same time, Research Councils are heavily investing in major research programmes into land use challenges, yet there continue to be a lack of effective means and models for research delivery and processes of knowledge transfer and exchange.
The Landbridge network therefore aims to enhance the knowledge development and inter-professional learning of field advisors and encourage new approaches and strategies for knowledge exchange between researchers and land-based professions. It has three key objectives:
