Annual Stakeholder Event

Each year, the Rural Research and Strategy Partnership runs an annual stakeholder event, at which rural stakeholders as well as researchers and rural businesses have the chance to get together and exchange information.

The first event 'A Breath of Fresh Air' ran in April 2008 and gave key policymakers and deliverers the opportunity to influence the rural research agenda in their region.

'A Breath of Fresh Air' comprised speakers, facilitated workshops and Q & A sessions. It provided an opportunity to air important rural issues and concerns.

The keynote speaker was Dr Stuart Burgess, the UK’s Rural Advocate and Chair of the Commission for Rural Communities. The event was chaired by Mike King, the Chief Executive of the Environment Council. Other speakers included:

Valerie Carter, Head of Rural Delivery, SEEDA
Philip Eadie, Head of SEE-IN, the South East’s Rural Observatory
Dr Ed Metcalfe, Chief Scientist and Head of Innovation, SEEDA
Dr Anja Ueberjahn-Tritta, RRSP Partnership Co-ordinator
Peter Bunyan, Regional Affairs Advisor, Surrey University

Full programme details (PDF-96K)

Summary of proceedings (PDF-255K)

Presentations

Valerie Carter : Challenges Facing the South East Rural Economy and Developing Solutions (PDF-2479K)

Dr Anja Ueberjahn-Tritta : Introducing the work of the RRSP (PDF-411K)

Philip Eadie : The Rural South East (PDF-233K)

Ed Metcalfe : Leveraging the SE knowledge base for rural purposes (PDF-255K)

Who was the event suitable for?

Anyone whose activities have an impact on the rural South East and who are interested in influencing the research agenda to inform and help implement their policy decisions. For example, decision makers from: