International Visitors

The CCRI regularly hosts and invites overseas researchers to work within the Institute in order to share research with members of the CCRI. Current and recent visitors include:

Jaroslaw Dzialek, from the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management at Jagiellonian University visited the CCRI in June 2012 to network and exchange knowledge about floods, community resilience, flood risk management in Poland and the United Kingdom. Jaroslaw's visit formed part of the EU Erasmus scheme, which awards grants as part of its student exchange programme.

Donald Aquilina from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Malta, visited the CCRI for a week in March 2011. Donald, who was studying on the CCRI European Rural Development Programme, visited the CCRI to discuss his dissertation and to explore policy evaluation project design.

Céline Bihel, a Masters student from Wageningen University's Rural Sociology Department, spent two months in the CCRI in 2010. The purpose of her visit was to complete some fieldwork in the Cotswolds for her thesis on agricultural multifunctionality.

Dr Aleksander Lukić from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, worked in the CCRI from March to September 2011. Dr Lukić is a rural geographer who received funding from the Croatian Government to undertake some research in the southwest region of England. The objective of his visit was to explore the effectiveness of rural development measures implemented in the UK, including those funded through EU programmes that offer new and growing opportunities for Croatia. The southwest region was selected because it faces a similar set of issues to those facing Croatia, such as tourism and residential development, protection of natural and cultural heritage, and issues relating to transport access. Dr Lukić gave a presentation as part of the CCRI Seminar Series during his stay.

Dr Vaughan Higgins from Monash University, Victoria, Australia, visited at the end of 2009 to discuss research ideas related to biosecurity and disease management. Dr Hughes also gave a seminar as part of the CCRI Seminar Series entitled ‘Biosecurity Risk and the (Anti)Politics of Trade Liberalisation: The Case of New Zealand Apple Imports into Australia’.

In May 2010, the CCRI was pleased to welcome Jaroslav Prazan and colleagues from the IUZE Institute in Prague, with whom they had been working as part of a ten country consortium on a European project 'Assessing the impact of Rural Development policies (RuDI)'. In the scope of the study, the Czech Republic team investigated issues of economic diversification and challenges with effective implementation of agri-environment schemes. They visited the CCRI to find out about its work and activities, and current range of research topics.

Dr Chris Rosin, visited from the Centre for the Study of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CSAFE), based in the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, and gave a presentation as part of the CCRI Seminar Series in August 2010. He spoke about current research work at CSAFE, and also talked about the ARGOS (Agriculture Research Group on Sustainability) project and some transdisciplinary work within this portfolio that compares audit schemes for kiwi fruit production.

PhD student Mark Shepheard, from the Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law, University of New England, New South Wales, visited the CCRI at the end of 2009. Mark contributed to the CCRI Seminar Series by making a presentation on his PhD research, which concerned the application of the duty of care to farmers’ stewardship of natural resources.

Robert J Wilson, (Vice President, Academic and Research), Olds College, Alberta, Canada, visited CCRI in April 2010 to investigate CCRI work on connecting land-based industries with rural communities. Olds College is currently looking at the possibility of developing a rural research and training centre.

The CCRI welcomed Alan Woods from Richmond College of TAFE, in Western Sydney, Australia, in May 2010. Alan was awarded a New South Wales Premiers' Teacher Scholarship in 2009 to undertake study in England and Germany on the topic of sustainable agricultural practices in peri-urban areas. He visited the CCRI to discuss his interests in beef cattle production and pasture management and associated planning issues around cities, including sustainable practices and planning of developments close to towns.

In May 2008 the CCRI hosted Dr Jeffrey Hyde from Penn State University, USA, in connection with his work on value-added agriculture in the UK.

In November 2008, the CCRI welcomed the Vice-Minister of the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment Mr. Cao Viet Sinh, together with a ministerial delegation from the Vietnam Chia Se programme which is concerned to develop poverty alleviation strategies, particularly in Vietnam's poorer rural regions. More information can be found on their website http://chiase.mpi.gov.vn/Default.aspx?alias=chiase.mpi.gov.vn/en

The delegation was principally concerned to visit government departments and agencies in England, such as the Commission for Rural Communities and Natural England, to listen to examples of good practice in rural development, and to discuss local inclusion in rural development in Vietnam. They specifically asked to meet with the CCRI to understand more about different approaches to rural development in an academic context. Professors Nigel Curry and Malcolm Moseley gave presentations on community and asset based approaches to rural development, and Professor Michael Dower explained his approach to the implementation of a rural development training programme that he had developed in Vietnam and discussed its relevance, particularly to the remoter mountainous regions of North Vietnam.

Matthieu Ansaloni, a PhD student from the Institut National de Recherche Agronomique (INRA), visited the CCRI to work with Dr Janet Dwyer on the subject of his Doctoraal thesis relating to the greening the Common Agricultural Policy.

Dr Roel van Raaij from the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, the Netherlands, visited for discussions regarding sustainable rural development. He was particularly interested in the changing nature of agriculture and food, including the role of policy and research. Dr Damian Maye, Dr John Powell and Jane Mills met with him to talk about on-going research in the CCRI and to compare experiences in the UK, the Netherlands and also extension services in the US.

Professor Shinji Aoki from Toyo University, Japan (not to be confused with Tokyo!)visited in 2007. During his stay, Professor Aoki explored alternative tourism and countryside management in the United Kingdom, in particular focussing on the quality assurance systems for the farm bed and breakfast business.

Dr Ingrid Sarlöv Herlin has worked closely with CCRI on a number of projects, particularly in the area of rural development and landscape. She is from the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Her main interests are as a landscape researcher in integrated planning and management of landscapes and how landscape policy (particularly the European Landscape convention) affects planning and management of landscapes. In addition, Ingrid received a fellowship grant in 2005/6 from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Co-operative Research Programme: Biological Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, which enabled her to spend thirteen weeks in the CCRI working under the supervision of Professor Bill Slee.

Jesus Regidor is Professor of Agrarian Economy and Rural Development at the Autonomous University of Madrid. He is an adviser to the Spanish government on legislation and policies for rural development, and has made several visits to CCRI, for exchange of ideas and research into British approaches to Rural Development. In return, Visiting Professor Michael Dower visited Madrid in summer 2007 to contribute to a postgraduate course on European Rural Development which is organised by Professor Regidor.