What is the Rural Research and Strategy Partnership?

The Rural Research and Strategy Partnership (RRSP) is a partnership between Forest Research, the Universities of Brighton, Reading, Surrey, Sussex and the University for the Creative Arts.

This collaboration of top-rated research establishments aims to tackle key rural problems by generating multi-disciplinary research and promoting the dialogue between academics, key rural organisations, rural businesses and policy-makers in the South East Region.

Why was the Partnership formed?

Over 80% of the South East’s land area is classified as rural, one third of its countryside is protected for its landscape quality and 10% of the UK’s farms lie within this region. On the other hand, the region is also densely populated and has been described as the UK’s economic powerhouse. This paradox creates environmental, social as well as economic challenges and raises the question of how we can maintain and improve rural sustainability alongside the demands of economic progress.

In order to solve these problems, rural stakeholders, researchers and policy-makers need to work together more efficiently – the RRSP seeks to act as the bond between these different groups.

What topics does the RRSP cover?

Our remit is wide-ranging and addresses all topics that relate to the concept of ‘Rural Sustainability’. Examples of these are Farming, Climate Change, Biodiversity, Rural Landscapes, The Built Environment, Renewable Energy, Affordable Housing, Waste, Enterprise and Health.

What services does the RRSP offer?

Channelling Information about Practical Rural Problems

Stakeholder Events

We work closely with rural stakeholders by running an annual rural stakeholder event at which representatives of government offices, rural bodies, charities, rural businesses and environmental organisations are invited to identify rural problems and to share their experience. Furthermore, the partnership has set-up a stakeholder steering group, which advises the RRSP on strategic approaches and acts as an intermediary to the wider stakeholder community.

Research Workshops

The information gathered at the stakeholder events is used to inform the research community and identify data gaps. The RRSP runs several research workshops throughout the year, which help to focus researchers from different organisations and disciplines on critical rural problems.

Assisting Development of new, high quality, collaborative Research Projects

Research Expertise Database

We are continuously developing our research network in the South East and are making available a Research Expertise Database relevant to the rural research agenda. This database provides access to available expertise and skills from many different disciplines. Our role is to act as a broker that aids in matching expertise with research requirements.

Project Co-ordination

We aid in identifying funding opportunities, act as an intermediary between different organisations and can help with the co-ordination of collaborative research projects, thereby saving organisations valuable time and resources.

Increasing the Focus on Knowledge Transfer Mechanisms

Research Dissemination

We can aid with the dissemination of research findings through our rural network and feed research information back to rural stakeholders.

Business Involvement

We are particularly interested in building relationships with rural businesses in order to seek answers to practical problems and act on opportunities for Knowledge Transfer.

Funding

The RRSP is initially supported by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA). This specifically supports the part-time employment of the Partnership Co-ordinator. Funding for research projects formed as a result of RRSP researcher workshops - and for other Partnership activities - will be secured from the normal research funding sources.