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Agri-environmental policies in the UK stand on the threshold of significant change, with wide acceptance that radical changes are needed to ensure a better delivery of public goods in future. The UK's departure from the EU presents an opportunity to fully realise the "Public Money for Public Goods" principle in the new suite of Environmental Land Management schemes. A likely priority will be the delivery of conservation goals at a landscape scale, which will require the recruitment of a broader range of actors and institutions than at present, including an emerging group of what we call in this paper 'new land managers'. Understanding the changing dynamics of rural land occupancy, and the characteristics and motivations of these new land managers, will be essential in the future for the effective delivery of these public schemes. Data on land market trends is nevertheless patchy and poorly researched. For this paper, we drew on a survey of land agents in England, all of whom were members of the Central Association for Agricultural Valuers (CAAV), in order to gather information and reflections on contemporary land markets. A key finding is that agricultural policy reform and retrenchment is seen by many of these experts as a significant driver of future change. Taken together with other interacting factors such as the overall tax burden on businesses and the economic and personal situation of farmers and their succession status, many of our respondents predicted significant structural change, with more land coming on to the market for resale. At the same time, increasing demand for land from "lifestyle/non-farming landholders" and the growing presence of people entering the market interested in enroling land for carbon sequestration and natural capital improvements, will mean a shift in the types of individuals and organisations holding land. Those holding and managing land in coming years are likely to comprise an ever more diverse and fragmented community of land owners and occupiers The task for policymakers then, is to deliver a suite of interventions specifically tailored to the various types of landholders in order to engage them effectively into public goods delivery under ELMs. • Traditional focus of UK agri-environmental policies is on main occupation farmers. • Emphasis on landscape scale delivery requires broader set of public good providers. • Knowledge gaps in rural land occupancy mean that successful recruitment is limited. • Findings reported here indicate a continued diversification of landholder types. • A suite of interventions tailored to the broadening landholders types will be key. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental and land use policy literature asserts the need for more holistic, participatory and co-designed forms of governance for the sustainable management of natural resources. Co-design is also increasingly recognised by government as a useful approach but is often applied with varying degrees of success. The purpose of this paper is to assess recent examples of policy co-design across three UK case studies focused on tree/woodland management and fisheries. The first set out to co-design criteria for 'low impact' fishing with fisheries stakeholders to inform new fisheries policy and management strategies. The second co-designed new policy options with tree/woodland stakeholders to replace existing tree health grants, as part of the UK government's broader Environment Land Management scheme. The third aimed to scope, with stakeholders, the potential for a new social survey of fishers. Despite the different contexts, all projects sought to apply principles of co-design by engaging with stakeholders during the early stages of policy development. A comparative assessment between the three case studies allows us to identify challenges for co-design and to provide recommendations for successfully applying co-design principles through stakeholder-researcher-policy maker partnerships. Challenges include building trust between stakeholders and policymakers, overcoming traditional modes of evidence-based policy making, accessing hard-to-reach groups, getting discussions to move beyond the general to the specific, and recognising that co-design takes time and is resource-intensive. A new co-design framework is presented, setting out five stages for incorporating the principles of co-design in natural resource policy making: scoping, co-design, testing, implementing and evaluation. • Co-design is growing in prominence as an approach for land use policy making. • Co-design is time & resource intensive, requiring commitment of policy makers. • Building trust between policy makers & stakeholders is vital for effective co-design. • The co-design framework involves 5 stages & aims for more equitable policy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is much debate and conjecture over how participation in agri-environment schemes (AESs) (re)shapes farmers’ environmental actions, understandings and associated identities. This paper develops a unique, temporally sensitive, qualitative approach of revisiting farms—which acts as a corrective to the current, speculative, understandings of how farmers’ relationships with AESs change over time. The paper advances Bourdieusian-inspired ideas of the cultural construct of ‘good farming’ and ‘knowledge cultures’, bringing in the notion of hysteresis in order to develop a temporally-inflected consideration of farmers and their AES involvement. The findings reveal how, over the 10 year period, constructive interchanges have taken place between farmers and conservation officers, and stress the need, when thinking about the cultural sustainability of AESs, to recognise the multiple forms of capital that farms may produce. Conceptually, the paper reshapes the concept of the good farmer to: (1) recognise the geographically-contingent nature of the term; (2) redefine the concept away from the hitherto predominant focus on farming individuals; (3) give closer appreciation of the multiple forms of capital which constitute the good farmer identity (as well as how these intersect with each other); (4) and offer clearer recognition of how the good farmer ideals may evolve and be redefined over time. The paper moves on to make practical recommendations for those developing and administering AESs. Beyond the consideration of farmers, the paper has implications for wider understandings of environmental behaviours and associated identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role played by concepts and ideas in driving policy transformations has been much discussed in the political science literature. This paper presents a case study of ideas and the extent to which they drive policy change, drawing on the example of the Public Money for Public Goods (PMPG) principle in relation to the reform of EU and UK agriculture policy. We assess the factors which have promoted the adoption of the PMPG principle and the extent to which it is currently being realised under the EU's Common Agricultural Policy and the UK's post-Brexit agriculture policies. Drawing on a range of expert interviews, we find that policy concepts such as this have the capacity to be utilised by policymakers when looking to solve 'wicked' policy problems, and once mobilised, can gradually gain acceptance amongst stakeholders, lobbyists and policymakers over time. However, we also report evidence of dilution and mission creep, with a gap emerging between the original idea, its interpretation, and how it is realised in the messy world of policy advocacy and resistance. We conclude that advocates of the PMPG principle need to seize some recent windows of opportunities under an emerging set of post-Brexit set of land management schemes to further develop and implement this important policy idea. • How ideas shape public policy is studied using the 3I's - Ideas, Institutions, Interests. • Development and promotion of Public Money for Public Goods principle is examined. • Ideas have the capacity to be used to solve "wicked" policy problems. • Powerful ideas tend to be diluted when implemented in the policy arena. • Advocates must seize windows of opportunity for ideas to be mobilised effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Urban policy transfer between the US and UK has long been of interest to researchers and practitioners. Given the recent wider context of reduced direct funding and the absence of a coherent regeneration policy, this paper considers the introduction of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to the UK as a method of stimulating spatially targeted economic development initiatives. The paper explores whether TIF could be considered a form of policy transfer, and in doing so uncovers whether the transfer of TIF could – (a) be successful and unsuccessful under certain circumstances; (b) require the actions of certain stakeholders; and (c) be enabled via prescribed frameworks and negotiation. The results are evidenced using qualitative approaches and find that TIF is more of a modified policy ‘idea’ rather than transfer. Further discussion argues that TIF can be successful, if it considers flexible but local elements and has the capacity to balance stakeholders for development brokerage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Land affected by contamination from human activities has been identified as a major environmental problem in developed countries and there are established mechanisms for identifying, prioritising, characterising, assessing and remediating the land so that risks to human health and environmental receptors are minimised. However, comparative mechanisms and approaches for sustainable land management are often lacking in developing countries such as Cameroon. This paper presents a critical review of the existing policy framework in Cameroon in relation to environmental management, particularly land contamination. It is established that in Cameroon, there is an acute lack of comprehensive information on land contamination from economic development and industrialisation, inadequate legal and institutional framework, weak enforcement capacity and unsatisfactory coordination between various stakeholders towards sustainable land management practices. The coastal town of Douala, which has the highest level of industrial activity in the sub region is used to demonstrate how dealing with land contamination is a public health priority and requires attention in the context of sustainable development. The United Kingdom (UK) regulatory policy framework on land contamination risk management is used to show how land contamination issues and risk management approaches, including conceptual site models, could be introduced into the sustainability discourse in Cameroon. A number of recommendations including proposals for a radical overhaul of the current regulatory policy framework are formulated and presented. Specifically, the creation of an independent Cameroon Environment Protection Agency (CEPA) that will be the main regulatory body responsible for developing and implementing the policy proposals in this paper is advocated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Increasing pressure on natural resources driven by population growth and higher levels of individual resource consumption have led to the need to measure and ultimately place values on the diversity of ecosystem services supported by land in order to manage it appropriately. The complexity underlying the provision of many seemingly simple ecosystem services, e.g. drinking water, make the process of identifying and making appropriate measures far from simple. Cultural services, defined as the nonmaterial benefits that people obtain from ecosystems, comprise a range of experiences of nature which enhance human well-being in a variety of ways. Measurement of the experiential benefits of ecosystems has proved difficult, despite their acknowledged importance. This paper describes a novel approach for providing measures of cultural services at national scale (England). The interdisciplinary approach described combines data from a national survey of the biophysical components of the UK countryside with data collected from regional assessments of experiential qualities of landscape in England. The paper discusses the results, merits and limitations of the datasets and approaches used. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Regional planning and development is continuing to take an important role in planning agendas throughout Europe. In the United Kingdom (UK), the planning system has been reformed during the last decades, marking a noticeable shift from a development-led towards a more plan-led system. In the Netherlands, strictly regulated growth-control policies have been abandoned to some degree, in favor of more decentralized planning policies featuring negotiated development. Dutch planners have been specifically interested in a more British approach, that is, a more discretionary and development-led type of approach to spatial planning. In this paper, we will discuss current efforts in Dutch regional planning to adopt new principles for planning delivery and will provide a comparative perspective between spatial planning in the UK and the Netherlands. This paper discusses the changing structure of planning delivery in both countries. At the same time, it establishes a framework for identifying critical lessons for Dutch regional planning practice as opposed to planning in the UK. Three characteristics are pivotal for the comparison: (1) the establishment of comprehensive principles for project coordination; (2) options for the settlement of planning gain, packaging interests, and regional redistribution; and (3) the institution for development-oriented planning and discretion for planning decisions. The evidence used is based on a literature review of recent debates in both countries and illustrative cases, including the Dutch ‘Heart of the Heuvelrug’ plan. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Intensive livestock production in the UK is spatially concentrated in certain counties where its proliferation has triggered increasing controversy over multiple impacts and externalities. Planning authorities have struggled to handle the increasing contestation within a policy void and weakened institutional context, under the influence of the longstanding agricultural hegemony which normalises intensive farming. In the first significant UK study of such planning contestations this paper presents data on the rapid growth of the poultry industry in Herefordshire and Shropshire and how this triggered conflict during the 2010s between the agri-industrial sector and increasing numbers of objectors. Poultry farmer motivations are explored and a typology of farming situations is suggested. The paper reveals how a new public of objectors mobilised to campaign against intensive livestock developments on multiple environmental, economic, health and quality of life grounds. Tracing the power relations within and between the groups of actors reveals multiple uncertainties over impacts, particularly cumulative water and air pollution and a lack of trust in both technocratic planning processes and politicised decision making. The research suggests the planning authorities should address the policy void, acknowledge the uncertainties and take a more open, proactive and strategic approach to locating intensive livestock operations. • Proliferating UK intensive poultry developments have triggered local contestation. • Intensive livestock production is normalised by an agricultural hegemony. • Increasing externalities, cumulative impacts and uncertainties feed the controversy. • New publics of objectors have emerged with multiple concerns. • Planning authorities struggle to handle applications in a policy void. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines farmers’ motivations for voluntary unsubsidised practices that benefit the environment. It identifies amongst a group of English farmers the amount of unsubsidised environmental activities on mainly arable land, and explores the extent to which motivations are extrinsic and intrinsic for undertaking this unsubsidised activity. Using responses from a national survey in England of 1,345 farmers, in-depth face-to-face interviews with 60 farmers and an analysis of existing agri-environment scheme data, the extent to which subsidised and unsubsidised environmental activity is undertaken on arable land was identified. Furthermore, it was also possible to identify and compare the motivations behind subsidised and unsubsidised environmental activity and to understand the interaction between these two types of activity at the farm scale. The research found that around 25% of all environmental activity undertaken on arable farms in England is unsubsidised, although some of this activity sits alongside subsidised activity. There were clear differences between the motivations for undertaking subsidised and unsubsidised environmental activities. Financial reasons dominated farmers’ motivations for engaging in subsidised agri-environment scheme practices, whilst agronomic and environmental motivations were of greater importance for unsubsidised activity. Data analysis also revealed over-subscription in agri-environment schemes, with a considerable amount of environmental activity occurring without payment. From a policy perspective it is helpful to understand motivations for existing unsubsidised environmental activity as this can inform the design of advice and message framing to encourage uptake of more widespread voluntary environmental behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dominant agricultural practices are widely recognised as one of many factors leading to severe declines in honey bees and other pollinators. Improving the agri-environment for pollinators and other species is an urgent ecological priority. Beekeepers have long been at the forefront of recognising agricultural and environmental challenges to their bees; many of these also impact other pollinators. As the UK moves towards a post-Brexit agricultural policy, this should be an excellent time for beekeepers' observations and concerns to be recognised, and contribute to a system where farmers and land managers ensure the delivery of 'public goods'. However, evidence suggests significant obstacles to effectively co-producing agricultural policy that ensures pollinator wellbeing. This paper is based on archival and interview data on long-term beekeepers throughout the UK. Beekeepers' past experience of engaging with agricultural, and pollinator health policy stakeholders highlights significant obstacles to effective co-production of policy. Beekeepers' experiential observations are commonly dismissed as anecdotal, and subsequently irrelevant knowledge, according to scientifically and politically acknowledged epistemological categories. Multiple stakeholders in agriculture and land management have opposing priorities, and unequal access to power. This presents significant challenges to government efforts to overcome boundaries and co-produce actionable policy. Internationally, significant steps have been made to incorporate hybrid knowledge, and its associated value systems into environmental governance. Developing agricultural policy which acknowledges and incorporates multiple forms of evidence and pro-environmental values is necessary for a successful post-Brexit agricultural system focused on Environmental Land Management, public goods, and multiple values of nature. • Beekeepers have historically attempted to contribute to agricultural policy. • Epistemological differences and structural barriers limit their contribution. • Addressing historical barriers and power imbalances can improve co-production. • Beekeepers' environmental values can support pro-environmental land management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is concern that insect pollinators, such as bees, are currently declining in abundance, and are under serious threat from factors such as increased use of certain pesticides, land use changes, competition from invasive alien species, pathogens, parasites and climate change. Using the contingent valuation (CV) method, this paper evaluates how much public support there would be in preventing further decline to maintain the current number of bees by estimating the willingness to pay (WTP) for a theoretical bee protection policy in the UK. We apply the CV method as an estimation of public perception and preferences for pollination services. The mean WTP to support the bee protection policy was approximately £43 per household per year. Based on the 30.6 million taxpayers in the UK, this is equivalent to £842 million per year. This value can provide a means of illustrating the total value of public support for maintaining pollination services to policy makers and stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK government has pledged to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Ambitious targets have been set to plant nearly a million hectares of new woodland in the UK by 2050 to meet these net-zero commitments. More than 70% of UK's land is used for agricultural production and to meet these targets the Climate Change Committee has estimated that by 2050 approximately 21% of agricultural land will be required for tree planting, agroforestry and the extension of farm hedges. Achieving this creates a potential conflict between land for food production and land for carbon sequestration. However, trees and woodlands, when integrated into farming systems, can be multifunctional and play a significant role in helping farmers adapt and become more resilient in the face of climate change. Over the last 100 years numerous government policies and incentive schemes have endeavoured to encourage more tree planting activities amongst farmers and landowners with varying degrees of success. This paper reviews the role of policy in determining the presence of trees in the UK's agricultural landscape over the past 100 years. We quantify the current extent of woodland and tree cover and aim to put the UK's net-zero tree planting targets in the context of historical agricultural land use patterns. We evaluate drivers behind the current extent of trees, woodland and agroforestry on UK farms and identify key elements of success in current and previous policies and incentive schemes to help inform future policy mechanisms for the UK to meet its tree planting targets. Farmers are increasingly under pressure to deliver a wide range of environmental goals as well as producing food. The effectiveness of financial incentives to influence tree planting is dependent on the pre-existing interest and values of the farmer or landowner and grants alone may not be sufficient to encourage farmers to plant trees. Scheme complexity, bureaucracy and insufficient payment rates are barriers to the success of woodland grants and agri-environment schemes. Simplicity is important to encourage uptake, however oversimplification of schemes can lead to unintended consequences. Advice and guidance are key elements in the successful adoption of any new land management methods. A key to future progress will be scheme flexibility to enable farmers to choose to plant trees where it best suits local conditions, to align policy tools with farmer values and to ensure that farmers and landowners have the knowledge and support to make these decisions. • The effectiveness of financial incentives to influence tree planting depends on the pre-existing interest and values of the farmer or landowner. • Key to future progress will be enabling farmers to choose to plant trees where it best suits local conditions. • Tree planting grants co-designed with stakeholders, ensuring barriers are considered are likely to have improved uptake. • Scheme simplicity and flexibility are important, but care is needed that a simplification of schemes does not allow for undesirable outcomes. • Policy tools need to be aligned with farmer values and tailored high-quality advice and guidance available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Woodland expansion and related targets are central to the Scottish Forestry Strategy (2019–2029). However, planting rates over the last decade have mostly fallen short of targets and, with the majority of Scottish land in private ownership, estates could play an influential role in achieving these targets. The current political (e.g. Brexit) and ecological (e.g. climate and biodiversity emergencies) uncertainty impacting the UK presents both opportunities and potential threats to the forestry sector and environmental policies. This research used walking interviews with estate managers to gain insights into perceptions of forestry and woodland culture on private sporting estates. Co-planning of new planting areas involved discussions with a mixture of estate owners, factors and land managers from neighbouring estates, along with the researcher. The co-planning process provided scope to navigate the uncertainty between estate priorities, woodland expansion targets and wider management issues by exploring the local culture and land capability from the perspective of individual land managers. A range of constraints and opportunities were identified including the influence of deeply embedded perceptions of past and current woodland creation schemes that continue to impact the estates, market instability, and the desire to design and create beneficial integrated deer and amenity areas. These are counterbalanced with a clear passion for trees among some managers, but a relatively low interest in extensive woodland management, which was underpinned by a widespread lack of in-house forestry knowledge. The woodland planning exercise resulted in managers identifying explicit areas for potential woodland expansion on every estate, favouring mixed native woodlands with limited productive objectives. Woodfuel production was viewed as an output from early woodland thinnings with the potential to increase short-term profitability and offset management costs. This paper highlights that strengthening personal connections between land managers and woodland management, through knowledge building and contact with up-to-date forestry knowledge from a trusted provider, could further opportunities for expanding and enhancing woodland culture, and become a more significant part of the rationale that drives decision-making. Facilitating local knowledge of the estate and local community involvement in woodland design and planning, even on a small-scale, offers potential to support the expansion and integration of woodland on some private estates that have lost or reduced woodland culture. • Private estate managers are influenced by past and current woodland design, as well as expected value of woodlands. • Uncertainty such as climate change and BREXIT presents opportunities for land use integration but can also impede action. • Face-to-face engagement and co-planning can increase the likelihood of managers implementing woodland expansion. • Loss of woodland management knowledge and local experience on estates and communities influence resistance toward expansion. • Perceived challenges relating to long-term investment, space and relative value, outweigh perceived benefits. • Changing narratives from targets to primary benefits, practicalities and personal motivations facilitates greater acceptance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The paper explores how government in the UK is responding to austerity through engagement with alternative funding mechanisms. • Green Infrastructure planning is used as a case study to examine local government rationalisation of funding public assets. • The paper situates green infrastructure funding in a UK and international context to illustrate the complexity of funding. • The DPSIR framework is used to debate decision-making in the Liverpool and its Green & OpenSpace Review (LG&OSR). • It argues that no single solution is visible to fund green infrastructure and that a suite of options offers viable solutions. Following the introduction of austerity measures by the coalition government in 2010, Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) across the UK were required to take stock of those services that they are legally and financially obliged to deliver. One area directly impacted has been the funding of green infrastructure (GI) , which is often considered an "optional extra" in service provision. The financial limitations placed on GI maintenance have a significant influence on both the liveability and quality of urban environments. To address this dilemma this paper contextualises the complexities facing UK cities within a global discussion of GI financing but goes further by presenting an ex-post DPSIR examination of the choices being made by Liverpool City Council (LCC) to fund maintenance. DPSIR is an evaluation process which provides scope to better understand the factors influencing GI at an LPA scale. The paper reflects upon the drivers, pressures and impacts associated with austerity asking what responses are being used by LCC. The paper argues that, although austerity has placed significant constraints on LCC, through the Liverpool Green & Open Space Review (LG&OSR) the city is engaged in an ongoing dialogue pertaining to innovative funding mechanisms. It concludes that, although no single approach can effectively finance GI, a suite of complementary financial models exists, which are transferable between cities addressing current political, socio-economic, and ecological limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes and develops an original concept, dormant vehicles, which refers to vehicles that are stationary while waiting to be used again, such as current parked cars. The concept involves several types of vehicles (cars, bikes, vans, automated vehicles), durations, temporal locations and rates of recurrence that, with the emergence of new mobility futures, would have diverse forms with significant implications for land use, space and place. New forms of dormant vehicle include shared electric vehicles, dock-less bikes and delivery vans that besides parking would present new in-between use situations such as dropping-off, picking-up, delivering, charging and awaiting repair. The paper highlights that without thinking clearly about these aspects of the future, plans for sustainable, smart cities could fall into a similar trap as in historical versions of automobility and parking, that is, of overlooking dormant vehicles and the ways they shape and are shaped. Rather than parking conveniently disappearing from cities, it is instead likely to change in various respects. The paper sets out to put this research agenda at the forefront, drawing on social theories of practice to propose and develop this new concept, highlighting its potential contribution to urban futures thinking. Ultimately, the paper argues for inverting urban mobility futures to identify the new forms of dormant vehicles associated with them, and consider their implications for land use, space and place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of approaches have been proposed for natural resource management and biodiversity conservation in recent decades. In the important forestry sector, two of the most dominant policy paradigms have been multi-purpose forestry and sustainable forest management. The Convention on Biological Diversity, amongst other transnational commitments, added the ecosystem approach and its related idea of ecosystem services to this succession which is increasingly becoming the basis for natural resource management, including in the United Kingdom (UK). However, this latest addition raises the stimulating question of whether in forestry the ecosystem approach and the associated ecosystem services concept really constitute something fundamentally new, or are merely an extension or re-branding of existing policy approaches. This paper contributes to a lively contemporary debate surrounding the ecosystem approach and ecosystem services, by examining how these two interrelated but distinctly different concepts are currently understood and adopted within UK forestry and in the context of established forestry policy paradigms. For this purpose, I undertook a review of the scholarly literature and legal and policy documents which have been triangulated with a survey of the attitudes, interpretations and opinions of forestry stakeholders through expert interviews. The analysis suggests that in the UK forestry sector, as elsewhere, the frequency of, often broad and ambiguous approaches to natural resource management and biodiversity conservation in general, and forestry policy and management in particular, are causing confusion amongst some stakeholders, who, unsurprisingly frequently conflate concepts seemingly without understanding the details. However, a clear understanding of the differences and similarities of these important concepts, stemming from overlapping but different disciplines, is crucially important for successful policy implementation and sustainable forest management. This article attempts to contribute to such a clarification and to further interdisciplinary understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This viewpoint considers the impacts of media coverage of last winter’s flooding upon the farming community and the implications for their role as key partners in the delivery of landscape changes necessary to address flooding. The paper focuses on the experiences of the Pontbren farmers in Mid Wales, whose land is the site of a much-referenced study on the benefits of tree planting to address flood risk. It is argued that media sensationalism, and in many instances conflation of the science around this issue, has served to undermine good-will and engagement from farmers. Consequently, this viewpoint emphasises the importance of highlighting synergies as starting points for dialogue; as is the case when negotiating all forms of landscape multifunctionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forestry policy and practice in Britain has been subject to a series of paradigm changes since the establishment of the Forestry Commission in 1919. Drawing on a documentary analysis of legislation, published policy statements, commentaries and scholarly critiques, this paper argues that British forestry policy has undergone three significant paradigm shifts since it was first mooted in the late 19th century. With origins in a largely ad hoc and laissez-faire attitude towards forest expansion and management which dominated up to World War I, a productivist stance based on intensive mono-culture plantations in order to reduce import dependence then held sway until the early 1970s. This has since been overlain with ideas about multi-functionality and sustainability that continue to be important today. The new ecosystem approach (and its specific emphasis on the provision of ecosystem services) can arguably be viewed as an emerging new forestry paradigm era in which ideas of resilience and sustainability are to the fore. It is suggested in conclusion that while the policy and practice of forestry in Britain continues to mirror broader shifts in environmental governance within the country, these in turn are increasingly influenced by international debates and obligations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a need to identify key existing and emerging issues relevant to digitalisation in agricultural production that would benefit from a stronger evidence base and help steer policy formulation. To address this, a prioritisation exercise was undertaken to identify priority research questions concerning digital agriculture in the UK, but with a view to also informing international contexts. The prioritisation exercise uses an established and effective participatory methodology for capturing and ordering a wide range of views. The method involves identifying a large number of participants and eliciting an initial long list of research questions which is reduced and refined in subsequent voting stages to select the top priorities by theme. Participants were selected using purposive sampling and snowballing to represent a number of sectors, organisations, companies and disciplines across the UK. They were each invited to submit up to 10 questions according to certain criteria, and this resulted in 195 questions from a range of 40 participants (largely from England with some representation from Scotland and Wales). Preliminary analysis and clustering of these questions through iterative analysis identified seven themes as follows: data governance; data management; enabling use of data and technologies; understanding benefits and uptake of data and technologies; optimising data and technologies for performance; impacts of digital agriculture; and new collaborative arrangements. Subsequent stages of voting, using an online ranking exercise and a participant workshop for in-depth discussion, refined the questions to a total of 27 priority research questions categorised into 15 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze, across the 7 themes. The questions significantly enrich and extend previous clustering and agenda setting using literature sources, and provide a range of new perspectives. The analysis highlights the interconnectedness of themes and questions, and proposes two nexus for future research: the different dimensions of value, and the social and institutional arrangements to support digitalisation in agriculture. These emphasise the importance of interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity, and the need to tackle the binary nature of current analytical frames. These new insights are equally relevant to contexts outside the UK. This paper highlights the need for research actions to inform policy, not only instrumentally by strengthening the evidence base, but also conceptually, to prompt new thinking. To our knowledge this methodology has not been previously applied to this topic. [Display omitted] • Policy on digital agriculture requires a stronger evidence base. • A prioritisation exercise was conducted in UK to identify priority research questions. • 195 questions from a range of participants were clustered into seven themes. • 27 priority questions (15 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze) were identified. • The questions provide a research framework to steer policy, both in UK and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present results from an in-depth questionnaire survey, in which experts from ten EU Member States and the UK assessed the progress towards the EU's 'no net land take by 2050' target within their countries. The survey focused in particular on how Directive 2014/52/EU has been implemented at national level. The revised directive stipulates for the first time explicitly that Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) should consider 'land' in addition to 'soil', thereby opening up the possibility that EIAs will play a more significant role in curbing land take. However, the results from our survey suggest that the impact from including the factor 'land' in EIAs has remained limited so far. Against this background, we discuss likely reasons for this observation, highlight persistent challenges for tackling land take effectively, and reflect on options to mitigate barriers on the way toward the European 'no net land take by 2050' target. • Limited practical impact of the EIA factor 'land' so far in studied EU countries. • Distinction of 'land' vs. 'soil' in practice mostly based on quantity vs. quality. • Clarifications, useful indicators and links to existing land take targets needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blended finance offers a way of increasing total expenditure on tackling the twin climate and biodiversity global emergencies. However, this requires effective methods for combining private and public funding. As an example of the barriers and opportunities facing practical implementation of a blended finance approach, this Viewpoint paper presents a case-study of the UK Peatland Code which will have relevance to other instances of blended finance initiatives elsewhere. Restoration of degraded peatlands reduces their carbon emissions and can provide emission reductions and other environmental gains in a socially cost-effective manner. However, many benefits are public goods arising as externalities which are difficult to convert into financial returns to private investors. To address this problem, the Peatland Code has been developed as a voluntary certification standard for UK peatland projects wishing to seek additional private funding via the voluntary carbon market. However, uptake of the Peatland Code has been slow. Despite growing demand in the voluntary carbon market, we observe six main barriers to supply-side uptake: lack of awareness amongst land managers; resistance to land use change, particularly when measures are seen to potentially compromise agricultural production; high upfront capital costs; limited equipment and skills; uncertainty over ongoing costs and support; and, administrative bureaucracy/inflexibility. We offer recommendations for how such barriers could be reduced to increase supply-side uptake, including: increased effort to promote sustainable land management and blended financing of it, and restoration activities and the Peatland Code in particular; continued public funding of upfront capital investments, with private funding directed more at ongoing payments; and, simplified and more flexible administrative arrangements, with public and private schemes designed in tandem to improve their practical complementarity. • The UK Peatland Code is an example of blended green finance, for peatland restoration. • Barriers to uptake include lack of awareness amongst land managers and restoration practitioners. • Other barriers include administrative inflexibility in combining public and private funding. • Increased efforts are needed to promote sustainable management and blended financing. • Purposively designing public and private schemes in tandem would also help. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Peatlands provide a wide range of ecosystem services, the most important of which are terrestrial carbon storage, maintenance of biodiversity and protection of water resources. Exploitation of UK peatlands may be detrimental to these services, but scientific understanding and quantification of the effects is currently limited. This paper considers the possibility of imposing a levy on the exploitation of peatland, which would be used to fund high-quality prioritised research into the impacts of such human interventions, thereby enabling improvements to environmental management during the development process. The viability of the concept was explored with a group of peatland stakeholders. The group included most of the significant stakeholders with an interest in development on peatland, including regulators, developers and consultants. Qualitative and semi-quantitative responses were gathered by direct consultation with individuals and using a questionnaire to determine group responses. The latter were generally positive. Offered a choice of research funding mechanisms, stakeholders responded most positively to a levy. Whilst other funding mechanisms were also viewed positively a levy (in the form proposed or with some modification) was regarded as equitable by a large majority and workable by a smaller majority. Developers were reluctant to pledge full support to the proposal but recognised the importance of a number of the concerns that it was designed to address. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In many countries, electricity transmission networks are being upgraded and developed arising from policies aiming to decarbonise energy systems. However, new power lines are often controversial, due to their perceived negative impacts on rural landscapes. Despite the fact that visual impacts are an important element of public objections, to date, little research has analysed public preferences for alternative pylon designs, as well as investigating the social and psychological factors that might explain such preferences. This paper sought to address this gap, informed by research on public acceptance of renewable energy technologies, using a survey conducted with a representative sample of UK adults (n =1519). The findings indicate that the ‘T-pylon’ design, winner of a recent competition, was most strongly preferred and the one most perceived to fit with a rural landscape, by comparison to the conventional ‘A frame’ design and a ‘Totem’ design shortlisted in the competition. Linear regression analyses indicated three factors that explained perceived fit, regardless of the designs: lower levels of educational attainment, positive general attitudes towards transmission lines and higher levels of trust in National Grid were associated with positive perceptions of fit of the pylons in a rural landscape. Finally, findings concerning public support for diverse mitigation measures indicated that the use of alternative designs was less supported than burying new powerlines underground and routing pylons away from homes and schools. The implications of these results for more sustainable grid networks are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The designation of the concept of cultural landscape to a particular region is often taken in isolation of those who live and work there. Yet, at the same time, this designation has profound influences upon where they can live and the availability of suitable employment, whilst attracting into the area many who desire to ‘buy into’ that landscape. There is often an extreme contrast between housing that is affordable to the local community and housing that can be purchased by those who have access to the higher levels of finance. This frequently generates conflict between those who have historically lived in the area and those who have recently moved into the area attracted by the cultural landscape. This paper examines the contrasting situations, rules and regulations that exist in Poland and England, by taking as examples the designated cultural landscape of Wiśniowa together with the peri-urban landscape of Michałowice, both in Southern Poland, and the Lake District National Park of England. In so doing, it will compare and contrast the pragmatic, locally orientated spatial planning policies of Poland, with those of the regulated (although discretionary), top-down, planning policies of England and their implications upon the concept of spatial landscape management through land use controls. Finally, consequences of these two different approaches will be evaluated in terms of the social and economic development of the respective regions with particular emphasis placed upon provision, or lack of, policies leading to a reduction in conflict. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Progressive cities have competitive advantages in capturing opportunities for development and attracting leading edge business. Regeneration and business strategies are amongst the tools that cities may employ in order to overcome the challenges that influence their competitiveness. However, there has been little research that links these themes. This paper integrates regeneration and property-led business strategies through the development of a hierarchical model for city competitiveness. The methodology employs a Delphi technique and analytic hierarchy process with multi-criteria analysis. The model is used to evaluate the competitiveness performance of four cities in the UK drawing conclusions on the synergy of regeneration and business strategies in promoting city competitiveness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper, originally contributed as part of the government''s Foresight investigation of Land Use Futures, considers the likely shape of policies affecting UK rural land use up to 2060, based on literature review, analysis of past and current trends and drivers, and discussion with selected policy experts. The postwar, centralised approach to spatial planning and countryside management has come under increasing challenge from domestic and international needs and concerns. European policy influence has increased in respect of agriculture and the natural environment. Zoning of land-use and a restrictive approach to built development have gradually weakened, and land-use drivers have become more multifunctional. Policy has moved away from a ‘top-down’ process designed in Whitehall towards a multi-layered structure within which international agreements and negotiations must be reconciled with regional and local, partnership-based approaches to planning and management, via national frameworks and a complex mix of regulatory and market-based instruments. Climate and energy policy, as well as policies on food and health, will require new and more diverse forms of development. A major challenge for the future could be the extent to which current, multi-layered spatial planning policies can accommodate the scale of change implied by the new mix of drivers from other policy areas. There is the possibility of an increasingly differentiated response across the UK countryside, as well as much more radical change in the system driven from the centre, as pressures increase. While the Government Office for Science commissioned this review, the views are those of the author, are independent of Government, and do not constitute Government policy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Concerns about the sustainability of an ageing farming population have brought interest in so called entry-exit issues in policy circles. Policy interventions to date have offered limited scope in stimulating farm transfer in UK, however, the increase in unconventional tenures which include partnerships, share farming and contract farming (collectively called joint ventures) would appear to offer new opportunities for those wishing to enter or leave farming. In recognition of this the Fresh Start initiative in Cornwall set up a matchmaking element with the aim of identifying and facilitating potential joint ventures agreements between new entrants and older farmers. The emphasis was on setting up long-term arrangements that would enable the new entrant to ‘buy into’ an existing farm business, gradually taking over managerial control. This paper examines the processes of matching partners for the possible formation of farm joint ventures, using qualitative data derived from interviews with the participants, deliverers and stakeholders involved in the matchmaking element of this initiative. The results reveal that there is a deep rooted reluctance amongst participants in the initiative to enter formal long term joint ventures due to differing motivations, expectations, and concerns about their respective responsibilities in the working relationship and about the validity of the legal framework. Only where a relationship had already been informally established was there a commitment to formalise a joint venture agreement. Future emphasis in policy should therefore be on helping to facilitate and formalise existing partnerships, rather than trying to artificially orchestrate matches where the parties do not know each other. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper analyses organic farming entry decisions using a piece-wise linear depiction of policy. Our goal is to ascertain, from the available but limited information, whether Danish and UK policy measures toward organic agriculture have affected participation. Despite considerable interest in the growth of organic farming there has been little systematic analysis of it, although it is commonly believed that enhanced income levels have played a part. Whilst analyses of organic farming policy have provided extensive reviews of instruments applied, generally speaking, the spirit of those enquiries takes as datum that organic policies have had the desired impacts. Yet such conjectures remain mostly untested. Hence, there is a need to examine systematically if there exist relationships between the introduction of organic farming policies and the growth of organic farming, and whether particular policy measures are more effective than others. Here, we take a first step in this endeavor by undertaking an econometric analysis of the relationship between 14 organic farming policy measures and participation rates in Denmark and the UK during 1989–2007. Using two response variables – the numbers of farmers converted to organic production and the total land area under organic practice – we implement a simple, Bayesian methodology and evaluate the stepwise-linear impacts of policy. Extensions for future work are discussed. Six policy measures in the two study countries were found to be significant influences on participation, five of them direct supply-side instruments. For the UK, all of the policies are annual subsidies for organic farmers once conversion was complete. For Denmark, the policies are the introduction of organic subsidies for non-dairy farms, the extension of subsidies beyond 1997 and support for the costs of marketing services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives in the UK has caused considerable unease within some parts of industry. Ports in particular have voiced concerns and have argued that the UK Government''s interpretation of the Directives is more comprehensive than strictly necessary, likening it to ‘gold plating’. They have argued that this has placed the UK at a disadvantage to other European competitors. This paper explores these contentions and examines case histories to establish the veracity of the arguments. The evidence presented here does not support the contention of ‘gold plating’. European courts have ruled against many Member States, including the UK, for failure to properly interpret the Directives. The UK Government has been required to provide compensatory measures for two port developments that were not consented according to the provisions of the Birds Directive. Challenges by particular ports in the European courts have not been upheld. One reason for perceived ‘gold plating’ may lie in the time taken by some Member States such as Germany and France to transpose the Habitats Directive. This may have given the impression the UK was being more rigorous by responding more quickly. The UK Government, its conservation advisers and the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have endeavoured to find practical solutions to port development needs. Solutions can be found in most circumstances. There have, however, been delays as a result of the more complex and rigorous assessment processes. But, requirements to address weaknesses in the transport network have led to additional major delays to the biggest projects. These problems are frequently overlooked and yet they are equally significant and would have happened with or without the Birds and Habitats Directives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Green Belt policies have helped to create chaotic landscapes at the rural–urban interfaces of the United Kingdom''s largest cities. Their prime functions, to control urban sprawl and preserve an encircling green girdle to separate the urban from the open countryside, have created ‘edgelands’ that have been remarkably dynamic despite relatively strong controls on certain types of development. A detailed case study of one part of London''s Metropolitan Green Belt, drawing upon analysis of planning registers, reveals long-term trends in land-use change linked to the development controls operated within the context of the Green Belt and the adjacent built-up area. This paper also outlines the history of the Green Belt policy in the United Kingdom (UK) and discusses recently proposed policy changes that have provoked ongoing debate about this form of control on urban sprawl and its consequences for the land use of Green Belts and the edgelands. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Agri-environment schemes were introduced in the UK in the 1980s as a response to the widespread environmental damage caused by post-war farming practices. Given such schemes are approaching forty years old, the academic literature is prolific and spans numerous fields including ecology, geography, economics and sociology. This paper reviews the existing literature on such schemes and discusses how it can contribute to benefit the explicit climate mitigation aims of more recent schemes. The focus is upon two key areas: the evaluation of environmental and social outcomes and recurring suggestions for innovation in these schemes. As schemes have been retrofitted to meet new climate aims over the years, moving on from a predominate focus on biodiversity loss, it is argued that academic research has an opportunity to contribute towards the co-design of schemes, with regards to mitigating climate change, especially in light of the key role land use will play in attaining negative emissions. Academic research can inform the development of a new generation of schemes that prioritise carbon sequestration and emission reduction, alongside more traditional biodiversity aims. • Agri-environment schemes have begun to include climate mitigation aims, this presents an opportunity for research. • Academic research can influence the design of schemes, including highlighting options that might provide co-benefit other environmental aims. • Research is also needed into where trade-offs and conflicts between diverse aims might arise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managed realignment—the deliberate process of realigning river, estuary or coastal defences—is increasingly seen as a key element to sustainable long term flood and coastal management in the UK and other parts of the world, given current trends of sea level rise, and increasing costs of flood and coastal defence. This paper presents results of an extensive consultation of key stakeholders in England and Wales on what they consider to be the main drivers, of and obstacles to, managed realignment. It reveals why managed realignment has not taken place on a larger scale so far, and suggests new directions for a long-term strategic approach to river and coastal flood management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• A food balance approach is applied to estimate the status-quo virtual land use transfer in the future. • The UK and feed barley are used as a case study to demonstrate the method. • The UK could face large virtual land use imports due to deficits arising from reduced land area. • The food balance approach avoids the constraints of complex trade modelling approaches. • With the right data, the method can be effective and useful in estimating future virtual land use transfers. Virtual land use refers to the area of land used to produce a unit food commodity that is traded. The role of virtual land use in future food security under conditions of land scarcity has received little policy and research attention, partly due to the constraints of complex modeling and data requirements. This study demonstrates a simple food balance approach to estimate virtual land use under projected population, climate, and land use change using the United Kingdom (UK) and feed barley in the 2050s. In this approach, future supply (production based on climate and land use change scenarios) was distributed over utilization components based on proportions derived from baseline food balance sheet. Subsequently, future surplus or deficit was estimated as the difference between supply and projected demand (a product of per capita demand and population). Based on the commodity balance (surplus or deficit), virtual land use was estimated for different combinations of population, climate change and land use scenarios. The results showed that, even at 90th percentile yield, the minimum and maximum area of land required in addition to the current area of land under barley cultivation to meet projected demand in the UK, for all combinations of population, climate and land use change, were 306 and 840 thousand ha. However, due to reductions in projected area of land, virtual land use imports ranged from 315 to 1450 thousand ha for all combinations of population, climate, and land use change. The UK's contribution to global land losses due to productivity differences between the UK and partner countries were between 9–577 thousand ha. It is concluded that the food balance approach applied in this paper is simple and replicable in data-poor contexts to provide comparable estimates of future virtual land use transfers, bearing in mind the limitation imposed by the assumption of time invariance of the proportionate distribution of utilization components. Further, the UK example highlights the need to examine the impacts of national policies of countries that currently have high productivity for some globally important crops on future virtual land use and efficient use of dwindling global land resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We synthesised evidence from 339 papers on smallholder reforestation and livelihood. • Reforestation can alleviate poverty with benefits beyond cash and subsistence goods. • Reforestation is only one of smallholder livelihood portfolio activities • Often reforestation benefits are not realized. • Lack of availability and access to resources can limit reforestation outcomes. Smallholder livelihoods and the restoration of tropical forests are intimately intertwined. To address the question of how reforestation affects livelihoods and how they in turn affect reforestation, a meta-synthesis was undertaken of 339 scientific publications identified from a systematic literature search. This study is focused on smallholders in the humid tropics, and uses the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, which was developed by the UK Department for International Development as the framework for analysis. The links between reforestation and livelihoods are found to be diverse and highly interconnected. Reforestation is only one of a smallholder's activities and typically forms part of a mosaic of land uses across a landscape. Therefore, reforestation should be designed, managed and evaluated under the perspective of a diverse livelihood portfolio, and not as a single activity isolated from other portfolio components, especially under current landscape approaches. It is important for reforestation to be a complementary rather than a competitive livelihood activity. Reforestation has great potential to address poverty, and to increase smallholder socio-ecological resilience and local social equity. However, reforestation outcomes are often suboptimal. Assessing smallholder capacity and the surrounding environment prior to reforestation, and addressing limiting local capacities and conditions in a timely manner, may enhance the likelihood of optimal benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The dominant logistical activities of storage, freight transport and materials handling require substantial amounts of land. It is estimated, for example, that in 2006 warehousing occupied around 23,500ha in England and Wales. This paper examines the changing demand for land from the logistics sector. It begins by classifying logistics-related land uses and reviewing available statistics from government sources and property consultants, most of which apply to warehousing. Recent trends in warehouse development are discussed, particularly the centralisation of floorspace in a smaller number of larger distribution centres. Previous attempts to forecast the future land requirements of logistics have assumed a close correlation between warehouse floorspace and economic growth. This paper argues that this relationship is likely to be distorted by several factors over the next few decades. A model is presented which shows the interaction between a range of factors likely to influence future logistics land requirements. These include the off-shoring of manufacturing, the rebalancing of logistical cost trade-offs in an era of higher oil prices and lower inventory costs, modal shift to rail and water, the growth of online retailing, advances in warehouse technology, the reconfiguration of the waste supply chain and the adaptation of logistical systems to the effects of climate change. The main section of the paper examines the possible effects of each of these factors on the amount of land that will be needed to support logistical activities, and its spatial distribution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper examines drivers of change in agricultural land use in order to identify data requirements and assess data suitability. In order to assess the fitness for purpose of available data, the paper provides an overview of the sources of data for agriculture and land use in the UK, in both a contemporary and historical context. It provides a brief assessment of the state of scientific knowledge on the analysis of land use change, combined with a consideration of some of the possible advances promised by the new land use science. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Upland areas provide UK society with many important functions, goods and services, but have experienced a number of disturbing trends and face an uncertain future. This paper outlines historic, current and future drivers of environmental, economic, socio-cultural and policy change in UK uplands, and assesses how these have affected or are likely to affect ways in which land is used and the provision of ecosystem services. Information is synthesised into scenarios summarising a range of possible futures anticipated for UK uplands to 2060 and beyond. Finally, innovations in science, technology, governance and policy are evaluated that could enable uplands to continue providing key ecosystem services under a range of scenarios. The paper concludes that many upland areas will need to be prepared for significant reductions in grazing and prescribed burning. Conversely, other areas could experience agricultural intensification, for example significant increases in grazing or an expansion of arable or bioenergy crops into upland valleys, due to anticipated increases in global demand for food and energy. These scenarios will take place in the context of climate change. Many may take place together and may interact with each other, with complex and unpredictable implications for the upland environment, economy and society. In this context, a number of advances are needed in science, technology and policy to maintain viable upland communities and the future provision of ecosystem services. These may include funding for ecological and hydrological restoration via carbon offsetting or other means. It may also involve advances in ecosystem service modelling, mapping and valuation, which through stakeholder participation could facilitate more integrated rural planning. New forms of environmental governance need to be explored that can empower those interested in developing upland economies to maintain thriving upland communities, while managing the ecosystem services they provide as efficiently as possible. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The management of land-use change has been achieved in Britain through the development control system. Set up in its modern form in 1947, the system has remained substantially unchanged in spite of a radically altered policy environment. This paper considers the nature of the system and notes both its robustness and its flexibility as well as the accusations of delay and uncertainty that are levelled at it. It considers the drivers for change which are likely to affect the system, and in particular the challenge of climate change, the rights of third parties, the question of major infrastructure projects, and the desire for neighbourhood protection. The paper concludes by asserting that there is a need to refocus the debate on the quality of outcomes rather than on the process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper reviews the issue of ‘space per person’ in the UK. It uses relevant literature and data to identify various means of measuring living space. In particular, it sets out differences in measures of density such as ‘population’, ‘residential’ and ‘household’. It then establishes the current UK experience of space per person, measured using these various concepts, and offers a spatial analysis by country and region. It finds that the UK is inhabited at 257people/km2, and is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe. The paper then reviews trends in personal space over time, assessing whether the UK is getting more or less ‘crowded’. It finds that although new homes are smaller and built at higher densities than the existing stock, the population is living less intensively than previously, occupying more space per person on average. This is due to decreasing average household sizes. The paper then sets out some social, economic and policy drivers that have affected these trends, and looks at how people perceive space. The issue of ‘optimum space’ is explored, in relation to population and to dwelling densities and sizes. The paper concludes with some thoughts on how and why amounts of space per person may change in the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper addresses two key research questions. First, how effective are fiscal measures in stimulating brownfield land regeneration? Second, what is the most effective fiscal measure: taxes or subsidies? The paper considers the results of a three-year study of land ownership constraints which was funded by the ESRC and completed in 1998. The research considered 20 development sites in each of four UK cities;Nottingham, Stoke, Aberdeen and Dundee. In the course of the study, 140 landowners were interviewed in order to ascertain their strategies, interests and actions in the development process. Detailed contextual interviews were also held with 36 organizations with valuable experience of planning and development at national or local level. The research revealed that brownfield redevelopment is increasingly drivenby the availability of development grants and subsidies. The development prospects of 21 of the 80 research sites hinged on the availability of such development grants or subsidies." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the extent to which recent observations about the declining power of landowners signals the arrival of a post-feudal structure in world agriculture. Using the findings of a desk study oflease arrangements across four continents, the paper shows that, although there are substantial cultural and customary differences in theways in which agricultural leases have developed, three broad systems can be delineated. These are characterised as: the `feudal' system,in which landowners remain dominant; a neo-feudal system which, while underwriting private landowning, attempts to combine commercial agriculture with the maintenance of an open and vibrant lease sector; and a post-feudal system, based on improving the financial and technical efficiency of the farming industry. Using this classification, the paper explores the key determinants of the types of lease system which have emerged. It suggests that the suitability of any given system is a function of the overall policy objectives established for the sector. On this basis the paper rejects western constructs of a linear progression from feudalism to post-feudalism. Rather, it suggests that, as both extreme systems are open to exploitation, long-term stability and flexibility is most likely to occur under a neo-feudal regimein which government assumes a pivotal role in supporting both landowners and tenants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a review of the problems and contradictions inherent in land use policies aimed at delivering urban intensification in England. Urban intensification is seen in land use planning as a way of delivering sustainable development: it optimises the use of previouslydeveloped land, reduces travel demand and revitalises and repopulates cities. However, by drawing on existing research and data some contradictions and complexities within both the content of intensification policies and their means of implementation are revealed. The paper reviews the origins of, and theory behind, compact city policies. It then illustrates how urban intensification policies have been included in planning policy in England, and reflects on the divergence between theory and practice. The aim of the paper, in revealing weaknessesin intensification policies, is not to discredit the compact city idea, but to draw attention to potential policy failures in order to identify issues which need to be addressed by policy-makers, implementers and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Historically, land use in Britain has been shaped by the environment''s capacity to provide energy as well as food, water and shelter. Over the next decades, energy will again become a major driver in land cover change as we seek to capture the necessary energy to replace fossil fuels, reduce environmental damage and substitute for insecure supplies. Britain was one of the first places to exploit fossil fuels extensively, initially coal, and it has the potential to generate considerable amounts of renewable energy from tides, waves, the wind, biomass and sunlight. The UK Government''s policy is to develop a suite of technologies that will provide a resilient supply without compromising its economy or its international commitments to environmental protection. This paper examines the three major terrestrial options for renewable energy and assesses each by successively filtering them for feasibility, achievability and practicality incorporating existing developments, designation and public opinion. Technology and opinion are dynamic, so the outputs need to be viewed as indicative of alternative scenarios rather than as fixed forecasts. Implications for changes in the energy supply infrastructure needed to match the new supply chains are highlighted. The demand for energy depends on the demographic profile (population size, age distribution, lifestyle and expectations) and on economic activity. Here total demand is predicted using the UK Energy Research Centre''s Energy 2050 model, which uses linear programming to balance economics and environmental capacity by major demand sectors in five-year time steps. The core model often generates challenging results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper explores how agricultural technology has interacted with recent land use in the UK and how it might do so in the next 50 years. From 1960 to 1985, farmers successfully used technology to increase the output of crop and animal products per unit of land and particularly of labour. This reduced the number of people employed in agriculture, and promoted larger and more specialised farm enterprises. Between 1985 and 2006, food prices were relatively low, and although labour productivity continued to increase, land productivity remained relatively static. However during this period, farmers started to address the effects of agriculture on reduced water quality and habitat loss. For established agricultural products, technological innovation tends to have an incremental effect, working through genetic improvement, the removal of abiotic and biotic stress (e.g. crop nutrition and protection, irrigation and drainage, and animal nutrition, health and housing) and the substitution of labour. Whereas the first two processes tend to be scale-neutral, the substitution of labour is usually easiest to achieve on larger farms. Other key areas for technological innovation include addressing air, soil and water quality, biodiversity, waste reduction, and information management. Over the next 50 years, large step-changes in land use arising from agricultural technology are predicted to arise from the development of new markets for agricultural products. A strong bioenergy sector will strengthen the links between crop commodity and energy prices and will have a major effect on future land use. Climate change and the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions will alter the relative profitability of crop and animal production systems. Lastly, increased public awareness of the links between food, health and the environment could substantially shift the demand for specific agricultural products. Continual improvements in agricultural technology are pivotal to providing society with the flexibility to balance the challenges of improving human well-being with the management of the planet''s ecosystem. Increased technological innovation increases the probability that agricultural land can be used for other purposes, but the exact relationship is dependent on trade and environmental policies. The large external effects of agriculture mean that decisions regarding the adoption of future technologies should be taken by farmers working with other stakeholders. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The future demand for land for mining and quarrying will be affected by a large number of economic, technological, environmental and social issues within the UK. Global developments also have a role to play. Although mining and quarrying account for only 0.9 per cent of the land area of England, the impact of this activity is considerable. Minerals are essential to the economy, for energy, construction, infrastructure and manufacturing, while their extraction has effects on the environment and on public perception. This paper examines current scientific understanding of the context of mining and quarrying, with particular reference to its impact on land use, along with the spatial relationship between minerals – which can only be worked where they occur – and other forms of land use and designation in the ‘post-industrial’ landscape of Britain. Looking out to 2060 and beyond, developments which may influence demand for minerals include climate change mitigation and adaptation; energy, food and raw material security; and new construction, manufacturing, recycling and re-use technologies. Factors influencing the supply side include the structure and ownership of the mining and quarrying industry, new extraction, processing and environmental technologies, ecosystem service provision, societal attitudes and land access. Although prediction carries a high level of uncertainty, continuous development of the regulatory framework is, and will remain, a major and pervasive factor in the relationship between mining and quarrying and land use. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Historically, soils have always underpinned civilisation. Their role is fundamental to the provision of food and water, along with a wide range of ecosystem goods and services. Soils are arguably the most complex systems on Earth, and are intimately linked to human security and the integrity of the wider environment. In this paper we propose 18 ecosystem services that are critical for soils and land use in the UK. Soils are extremely heterogeneous and not all soils can fulfil the full spectrum of services required for the future of the UK, so there is a need to protect their multifunctional attributes in order to preserve national and international natural capital. There are concerns that anthropogenically induced changes in land use or management will result in soils not being utilised to provide the functions to which they are best suited. For example, soils primarily suited for food supply may be given over to provide a platform for construction. This is an all-pervading and recurring concern and highlights the importance of critical decisions, thresholds and potential ‘tipping points’. Once critical soil functions are lost they are irrecoverable, potentially for millennia, representing a loss of resource that is fundamental to the UK''s national livelihood and well-being. Pressures from changes in climate and to the Earth system will bring about complex and systematic change to soils and their abilities to provide essential functions. We therefore recommend national needs for ensuring the sustainability for soils and future land use in the UK. They are to maintain the long-term base for soil science through education and intellectual investment, including communication of the value of soils and land as natural capital; to manage soil resources so that multi-functionality prevails and critical tipping points are avoided; to audit the national soil resource through soil mapping; preparation of appropriate databases and provision of long-term monitoring networks and observatories; and to synthesise adaptable predictive frameworks for soil system science through integrated modelling. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper reviews the relationships between land use and climate change. It explores how land use decisions will be affected by future changes in the climate, but also the feedbacks from land use change to the global climate system through greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes. Past changes in land use were characterised by decreasing areas of agricultural use and increasing areas of forested and urbanised land. This has led to UK land use being a net sink for GHGs, mostly due to forestation. However, existing forests have on average passed their age for maximum net removals of carbon from the atmosphere. In the next decade at least, net removals from UK forests are likely to decrease significantly. Longer term scenarios of future land use change are consistent in their expectation of further declines in the agricultural area used for food production – offset to some extent by increased bioenergy cropping – along with increases in forested and urban areas. These trends are broadly consistent with the observed past land use change, but are calculated from various assumptions about future changes in drivers rather than by extrapolation from the past. Socio-economic and technological changes are likely to be the most important drivers for land use, with climate change having a smaller influence. The land use changes represented in these scenarios would likely reduce GHG emissions and enhance carbon sinks. These trends would be reinforced by small future changes in the climate, but large climatic changes are likely to cause net GHG fluxes to switch from being a sink to a source. Land use change will also be moderated by potential policy goals that seek to reduce GHG emissions from land and/or increase the size of land-based sinks. This includes strategies to reduce carbon and nitrogen emissions through increased efficiency, afforestation and biofuel production. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The broad pattern of rural land ownership exhibits quite modest change over the past 30 years, but this impression is misleading. It understates substantial changes in property rights, evidence of which is not readily available from published statistics. These changes reflect the growing urbanisation of the countryside, which has required owners to pay more attention to consumption interests, sometimes at the expense of traditional agricultural and forestry interests, which in turn have experienced mixed fortunes. Rural land is expected to supply, and is increasingly valued in terms of, multiple goods and services. Major trends in ownership, occupancy and land prices are reviewed, noting that the divisibility and flexibility of the bundle of rights which constitute ownership have allowed holders to respond to urban pressures and farming difficulties with practices including short-term leasing, contracting, supplying life-style residential properties and accommodating increased environmental regulation. But linking land use to land ownership type is difficult, not least because there are many other drivers of land-use change. Moreover, local and individual circumstances are now more significant than in the past, not least the ageing occupational structure of farming. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of some of the political, economic and environmental drivers that may affect future land ownership patterns. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Private sector involvement through partnership, PFI or other mechanisms is a critical component of the urban regeneration process. To date there has been little research into the perceptions of the private sector, reasons for involvement in urban regeneration and relationships between private and public sector actors. This paper is based on focus group discussions with actors involved in the regeneration process. Interpretation, which is from a qualitative perspective, investigates four main themes namely the rationale for private sector investment in urban regeneration; policy mechanisms to lever private sector investment; the financing of urban regeneration; and the alleviation of risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]