Four different and incommensurate economic development policies currently pertain in rural England: the pursuit of productivity, well-being, endogenous development and income support. This paper describes these policies as they pertained in 2007 in different Government Departments and evaluates...

Spatial planning policies ensure a ‘no development’ ethic for rural areas in England, brought about by strong restrictive housing polices and an urban-centric view of sustainable development. Such an ethic is unlikely to be ameliorated by the Localism Bill passing through the...

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 places a duty on highways and national park authorities to establish local access forums (LAFs), to advise on the improvement of public access to land for the purposes of open air recreation and enjoyment. This paper examines these proposals in the...

An increasing interest in community participation (CP) in many areas of policy has grown as governments move from an executive to an enabling role. The development of CP in rural policy in the UK is charted and can be seen now as a requirement rather than an opportunity in policy implementation....

The independence of Switzerland from the EU has allowed the development of unilateral agri-environmental policies. Article 31b provides a comprehensive approach to ecological farming that now covers more than half of the farmed area of the country. It is a progressive direct payment system...

Environmental policies in agriculture have now been fully incorporated into policy throughout Europe both within and outside of the European Union. One of the cornerstones to the successful implementation of these policies is both the willingness and ability of farmers to implement them. Many...

Webber D., Curry N. and Plumridge A. Business productivity and area productivity in rural England, Regional Studies. Rural area productivity and rural business productivity measure different things. This paper presents a empirical analysis of labour productivity differentials across the new...

Contents: Introduction: How can we enhance research? -- Part I: The essentials -- Part II: You find inspiration when you least expect it -- Part III: Broaden your methodological toolbox -- Part IV: Extra training expands minds -- Part V: Colleagues and collaborations -- Part VI: Conferences --...