Developing an Interdisciplinary Approach to Address Environmental and Social Issues Resulting from Changes in Land Use in the English Lake District

Project Status: Completed (See Final Report Summary)
Type of Project: Capacity Building Award
Principal Investigator: Professor Edward Tipping, CEH Lancaster (Email)
Website

 

Objectives

Social and natural scientists must come together to address the environmental and social issues that drive the management of land-use change. To do this effectively, researchers within each field need to appreciate the issues, skills and language of the other disciplines, and how these relate and correspond to their own approach. We propose to build research capacity by establishing a team of young scientists from different disciplines capable of developing interdisciplinary approaches. To provide focus, the team will address land use issues in the Lake District National Park, where the need for careful management of land use change is especially acute, and where conflicting interests need to be balanced to meet the needs of a range of different land managers and users.

The research team will educate one another in their different disciplines, interact with senior scientists, establish a project web site, interview and communicate with stakeholders, prioritise issues requiring research and identify specific research topics, organise four workshops involving academics and other stakeholders, and produce a final report. The exercise will create a community of researchers, linked to stakeholders, who are able to conduct interdisciplinary high-level research into the effects of land use charge.