News Archive

2010

2009

Link to archive for 2008

The role of the local community in flood management - Seminar Presentation

10/02/10

The increased incidence of flooding has become a hot topic for debate in recent times as the UK records more periods of heavy rainfall and intense storms. Most scientists agree that climate change will worsen during this century, putting an increasing number of people at risk and intensifying the importance on how to effectively manage flood risk.

One response to the increasing incidence of flooding in the UK has been to shift more responsibility towards local communities, and to suggest that they become increasingly involved in the Flood Risk Management process and do more to help themselves.

The CCRI, in conjunction with the University of Gloucestershire’s Centre for the Study of Floods and Communities, will be presenting a lecture entitled 'Looking for 'Local Community': understanding the social processes involved in coping with and adapting to floods, in urban and rural context', which will focus on the explorations of community, shared identities and discourses of community, and reflects on the role of local community in helping residents to cope more effectively with flooding and other disasters.

Flooding

The lecture will be presented by Tracey Coates from the Flood Hazard Research Centre at Middlesex University, and is based around her recently submitted PhD, and includes some local case studies. It will take place on Tuesday 9 March 2010 at 12.15pm to 1.15pm in Room FW015A, Fullwood, Park Campus, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham.

Everyone is welcome to attend. Please email jharper@glos.ac.uk to reserve a place. More information can be found on the publicity flyer

Click here for full details of the CCRI Seminar Series.

CCRI Short Courses for spring

09/02/10

The CCRI is pleased to announce two short courses, which will be taking place this spring in conjunction with the Short Course Unit at the University of the West of England.

The first takes place on 14 April in Cheltenham and is entitled 'New perspectives on managing shared resources - exploring collective action from the local to the global', which aims to explore the concept of shared resources or 'resources held in common'.

The second takes place on 21 April, also in Cheltenham, and is entitled ‘Understanding European rural policy and programmes: the future of rural development under the CAP'. This short course will to provide a general introduction to the Rural Development policies of the EU and how they have been developed in the UK, in comparison to other EU countries. It will also provide an overview of the longer term significance of this element of EU policy and funding, and what is likely to happen to it, in future, after 2013.

An early bird discount of 25% is currently available.

Click here for more information, or contact Dr. Matt Reed, telephone 00 44 (0) 1242 714138 or the Short Course Unit at University of the West of England on 00 44 (0) 117 328 3210 or by email to: sc.unit@uwe.ac.uk

The short courses offered by CCRI are built upon solid academic and research expertise. The CCRI organised and provided speakers for the 12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Commons Conference, which was held in Cheltenham in July 2008, which raised awareness of how mis-management was potentially damaging 'global commons' and contributing to ecological poverty, and sought to explore how these 'commons' should be managed at local, regional, national and global levels to promote a more sustainable world. Rural community development is a core theme of research and has been the subject of numerous research projects, including service delivery in the rural environment and community involvement in local development.

Professor Curry invited to visit University of Alberta

09/02/10

Professor Nigel Curry (pictured right) has been invited to visit the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, to discuss the development of research agendas in respect of rural older people with the University's Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Rural Connectivities Team.

The week's study tour will include a visit to the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities in Augustine, and will take place at the end of March as part of a grant provided by the CIHR.

The visit will specifically relate to the Grey and Pleasant Land project on which Nigel and the CCRI is currently working, together with the University of Plymouth (lead partner), Bournemouth University, University of the West of England, Cardiff University and Swansea University. The project is investigating how older people living in rural SW England and Wales interact with their local community, and what social and economic issues are important to them. It is funded under the 'New Dynamics of Ageing' programme, a seven-year research initiative - the largest research programme on ageing to date in the UK - which is a unique collaboration between five UK Research Councils – ESRC, EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC and AHRC – supporting scientists from across the disciplines to work together on research which will benefit the quality of life of older people.

Professor Nigel Curry has also had had four refereed journal articles recently published. These are:

(2009) Business Productivity and Area Productivity in Rural England, Regional Studies, 43(5), 661 - 675 with DJ. Webber and A Plumridge.

(2009) The Disempowerment of Empowerment: How Stakeholding Clogs up Rural Decision-making. Space and Polity, 13(3) 211 - 224

(2009) Rural Planning In England: A Critique of Current Policy Town Planning Review, 80 (6), 575 - 596 , with Stephen Owen

(2010) Differentiating Trust in Rural Decision Making Drawing on an English Case Study. Sociologia Ruralis, 51(2) 34 - 51

Brian Ilbery appointed External Examiner at University of Swansea

02/02/10

Professor Brian Ilbery has accepted an invitation to act as an External Examiner in Human Geography for BA/BSc Geography degrees at the University of Swansea. The post starts this year and will continue for 3 or 4 years.

Brian has recently acted as an external examiner for the MSc in Protected Landscape Management at the University of Aberystwyth and BA/BSc degrees in Geography at the Universities of Middlesex, Bournemouth and Aberdeen.

Dr Janet Dwyer called to give oral evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee

28/01/10

Dr Janet Dwyer has been called to give oral evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Union's inquiry into the adaptation of agriculture and forestry to climate change. Janet will also be speaking at the next Agra Europe 'Outlook 2010' conference at the Hilton Courthouse Doubletree Hotel in London on 17 March, on the subject of the future for rural development within the CAP.


Professor Brian Ilbery appointed to Assessment Panel for fourth round of RELU

Professosr Brian Ilbery

17/01/10

Professor Brian Ilbery has been appointed to the Assessment Panel for the fourth round of RELU, which has called for proposals on the theme 'Adapting rural living and land use to environmental change' developed in conjunction with the multi-agency Living With Environmental Change (LWEC) Programme.

Brian will join a panel which includes other academics, stakeholders and representatives from the various RELU funding agencies. This latest RELU call has two objectives:

  • to build networks and capacity for creative knowledge exchange and learning between researchers and policy makers, businesses, practitioners, local communities and the wider public, with a view to strengthening adaptive capacities, primarily within the UK.
  • to explore and promote novel approaches and partnerships for interdisciplinary research and analysis on living with environmental change in rural contexts.

The Rural Economy and Land Use Programme (RELU) is a multi-million pound initiative funded by ESRC, BBSRC, NERC, Defra and the Scottish Government.

Is there is such a thing as an idyllic English village life?

7 December 1009

Dr Owain Jones Owain Jones was a guest on the BBC Radio 4 Programme Thinking Allowed, on 2nd December. The presenter, Laurie Taylor, interviewed both Owain and Dr Martin Phillips, Reader in Social and Cultural Geography at the University of Leicester, asking the question of 'is such a thing as an idyllic English village life'? Owain spoke about his research on contemporary practices of English rural communities. The programme can be listened to via the BBC iplayer https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00p2z8g#synopsis

Professor Ilbery prepares for British Science Association Annual Festival

4 December 2009

In his role as President of the Geography section of the British Science Association, Professor Brian Ilbery is in the process of preparing a two-hour session on 'food security and infectious diseases' for the annual festival which takes place in Aston between 14 - 19 September, 2010.

The session will focus on the vulnerability of UK food production to different animal and plant diseases, which poses a potential threat to the UK's food security. Whilst the occurrence of new animal and plant diseases may be detected in advance, others can occur without warning and, coupled with other factors, this unpredictability means that the UK food supply system could be under increased risk of a catastrophic failure.

The session will bring together ideas and research findings on food security and infectious diseases, and will address a series of key questions: who should regulate and manage animal and plant diseases? Who should bear the risks and what is the balance of responsibility between producers and government for controlling epidemics? Who are the key stakeholders and why has government been less prominent for plant than animal diseases? A mixture of scientists and social scientists will give presentations and raise key issues for general debate.

The session will be enhanced by presentations from Professor Tim Lang (City University) who will be talking about food security, Professor Peter Mills (Warwick University) who will talk on plant diseases, and Dr Gareth Enticott (Cardiff University) who will talk about animal diseases.

More information on the festival can be found at http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/britishsciencefestival/index.htm

First MSc Graduates from the CCRI's European Rural Development programme

4 December 2009

In November Miroslava Cekovic (pictured with Dr. Peter Gaskell, Professor Malcolm Moseley and Dr. John Powell) travelled to the UK from Bosnia (where she is living) to receive her MSc award at the University of Gloucestershire graduation ceremony.

Miroslava Cekovic (Croatia) and Carol Flux (UK) are the first students to graduate with a Master's Degree from the CCRI's post-graduate programme in European Rural Development (ERD). In addition both students have graduated with an MSc Merit award indicating consistently high achievement across their programme of studies. The students both completed their Masters dissertations, the final stage of the MSc degree, earlier this year.

Miroslava's dissertation research studied the role of non-government organisations in the design and implementation of rural development policy in Istria, Croatia. She found that development policy was largely shaped by a small number of politicians and professional experts with little involvement from other stakeholders. The limited NGO involvement was attributed to cultural factors such as lack of trust and low levels of knowledge.

Carol's dissertation research explored the local economic impacts of the EU LEADER programme expenditure on the Isle of Wight. She disaggregated and analysed project expenditure data associated with LEADER activities over the period 2001-2008. She found that significant amounts of funding remain within the local economy although there were significant differences in procurement patterns related to size and nature of organisations.

The ERD programme has also produced a range of other graduates this year, with the following qualifications:

Post-Graduate Certificate
Laura Janis (Finland)
Hanna-Mari Kuhmonen (Finland)
Enrico Orru (Italy)

Post-Graduate Diploma
Anna Knight (UK)

Owain Jones has paper selected for 25th Anniversary Virtual Special Issue on Rurality

4 December 2009

Owain Jones has had a paper included in one of two special anniversary issues to celebrate 25 years of the Journal of Rural Studies. His paper is entitled ‘Lay discourses of the rural: Developments and implications for rural studies, and is taken from Volume 11, Issue 1, January 1995, and is republished in the 25th Anniversary Virtual Special Issue on Rurality.

Rural development presentations

Janet Dwyer will be presenting some emerging ideas from a case study of Rural Development policy impacts on upland farms in England, at a seminar for Defra in London on 17 December. This is part of the RuDI project (www.rudi-europe.net).

Janet will also be speaking at the 2010 Agra Europe Outlook conference, in March 2010, on the theme of EU rural development policy and its future.

James Jones elected Chairman of the Executive of the Agricultural Economics Society

1/12/09

James Jones has been elected as the Chairman of the Executive of the Agricultural Economics Society. James will serve a four year term of office and takes over from Dr Paul Wilson of Nottingham University at the Society's annual conference, which is to be held in March 2010 at University of Edinburgh.

Tom Woolley presents book to the Duke of Gloucester

27 November 2009

Professor Tom Woolley met His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester at the Lhoist UK Lime Works in Buxton Derbyshire on 10 November and presented him with a copy of his book, co-authored with Rachel Bevan, on Hemp Lime Construction.

Lhoist UK produces the purest lime available in the UK and delivers high quality lime based products to both UK and international customers. The versatility and simplicity of lime in its many forms have been utilised in industrial processes, in agriculture, in building materials and increasingly, in helping safeguard an environment under pressure.

Impact of Severn Arts project confirmed by CCRI

19 November 2009

A summer-long arts project in Gloucestershire, celebrating the River Severn and the people who live and work along its course, was a great success according to an evaluation by Dr Owain Jones (pictured right) in a report to the Gloucestershire County Council, published this month.

The Severn Project free summer festival offered four months of creative opportunities for adults and children alike. The main performances took place at Tewkesbury Festival on 20 June and Lydney Festival on 27 June 2009.

The project also saw the commissioning of a major new work, A Sleepwalk on the Severn, by poet Alice Oswald. This was the centrepiece of the artistic programme, adapted into a number of performances and interpretations through music, stage/street theatre, dance, sculpture, writing and heritage workshops.

The project was funded by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of England and led by Gloucestershire County Council with partners.

Dr Jones's report gave the project an enthusiastic seal of approval.

"The Severn Project 2009 was a great success in terms of artistic content, participant experience, audience experience, and, for the participating artists, creative and professional development opportunities", he said.

"It is estimated that the project reached more than 10,000 people as audiences and participants. Up to 150 people participated in the staging of each festival, including artists, musicians, performers, youth theatre groups, community choirs, other participant performers, crew and back-up support.

"The Severn Project leaves a considerable legacy in terms of community impact, skills development and artistic development. The staging of the festivals entailed procuring a significant amount of goods and services from local suppliers, thus helping them at what was possibly the low point of the current economic recession."

Janet Dwyer invited to join Steering Group for LEAF

18 October 2009

Janet Dwyer has been invited to join the Steering Group for a new initiative by LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) and the Sensory Trust, called 'Let Nature Feed Your Senses', funded by The Big Lottery through Access to Nature, a grant programme run by Natural England. She is to chair its first meeting scheduled to take place in Cheltenham in January 2010.

More October news in brief

Nigel Curry gave the Keynote address at the South West Chamber of Rural Enterprise Annual Seminar at Biction Agricultural College, Devon in October. He spoke on the benefits of zero economic growth for rural areas.

Nigel Curry examined a PhD at the University of Brighton in October on the voices of young people in active woodland recreation development.

Nigel Curry has been invited to advise on curriculum development for postgraduate courses at the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities, University of Alberta, Augustana, Canada. http://www.augustana.ualberta.ca/centres/acsrc/ He will visit in March 2010.

Janet Dwyer has been elected as a member of the Editorial Board for the peer-reviewed journal 'Environmental Science and Policy', which is published by Elsevier.

James Jones was elected as the new Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Agriculural Economics Society for a four year term starting in March 2010 at the Executive meeting that took place in London on 30th October 2009.

James Kirwan has had the following paper accepted for publication.
Morris, C. and Kirwan, J. (2010) Food commodities, geographical knowledges and the reconnection of production and consumption: the case of naturally embedded food products. Geoforum.

Damian Maye and Brian Ilbery have had the following papers accepted for publication.
Little, R., Maye, D., Ilbery, B. (2010) Collective purchase: moving local and organic foods beyond the niche market. Environment and Planning A.
Ilbery, B., Maye, D., Watts, D and Holloway, L. (2010) Property matters: agricultural restructuring and changing landlord-tenant relationships in England. Geoforum.

Damian Maye has been nominated as a Committee Member of the Rural Geography Research Group of the RGS-IBG. He will serve on the Committee until 2012.

The future of the countryside

27 October 2009

"Rural areas are coming into a new time of importance as the combined pressures of the shortage of resources and climate change make questions of land use and food production pressing in a way that they have not been for many years."

These were the sentiments of Sir Don Curry, former Chair of the Sustainable Farming and Food Delivery Group and author of the influential 2002 Curry Report, as he opened the 'CCRI Rural Policy and Local Assets' conference at the Queens Hotel in Cheltenham on 21 October.

A number of prominent speakers facilitated stimulating topical debate on many of today's 'hot' rural issues, such as food security, which is currently under threat due to climate change and population growth.

Matt Reed, who was one of the organisers, said "The policy conference provided an ideal opportunity to present contemporary rural topics based on evidence from CCRI's latest research, and to open them up for discussion and debate by national and local policy makers, NGOs, researchers and academics."

Over 70 people representing national and local policy makers, NGOs, researchers and academics from across England, Wales and Scotland, attended the Policy Conference.

The first two presentations considered the importance of localism in the coming century, each focusing on different aspects of the topic. The first, presented by James Kirwan and Damian Maye, considered the role of local food in the emerging debate about food security. The second was presented by Julie Ingram and Chris Short, and reviewed the research of the CCRI and how it has focused on the interaction between farmer decision-making and its impact on the wider landscape. This was followed by an observation of the role of 'assets' and the different form that those assets can take in rural areas, presented by Malcolm Moseley and based on his recently published book ‘Glimpses’.

Matt Reed then reflected on research he and colleagues at the Open University had undertaken about the language used in the promotion of organic food, and the role that language plays in allowing alternative ideas to be formulated. This was followed by a presentation by Nigel Curry and Rhiannon Fisher on an exciting new research project, which looks at the role older people play in creating the social and civic life of rural areas. This was accompanied by the first results of the social survey work underpinning this project.

The conference also considered the broader landscape in which rural policy is taking place and the directions that it could take in response to recent global events. Graham Garbutt, recently retired from his successive roles as Chief Executive of the Countryside Agency and the Commission for Rural Communities, reflected on his experiences and the likely pressures on future rural policy. Janet Dwyer of the CCRI considered the pressures on rural policy and the likely changes that will take place in EU policy.

To bring the conference to a close, key note listeners Professor Chris Gaskell, Principal of the Royal Agricultural College, and Ian Baker, Head of Economy and Research at Defra, led a debate which ranged from the likely impacts of public spending cuts on rural policies, the extent and nature of rural social exclusion and the future structure of rural policy.

The powerpoint presentations given at the conference can be downloaded via our conference web page

Future of organic food

19/10/09

For the first time, an integrated analysis of organic farming focusing on all three areas of marketing, consumer behaviour and production has been conducted. The report, which was commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was led by the University of Exeter's Centre for Rural Policy and Research, and co-authored by the CCRI.

The research reveals a highly committed set of consumers and a general need to improve awareness about what organic does and doesn't mean. The report also provided new evidence on the problems and prospects for organic farming.

The research findings show that consumers of organic food cite concerns with health, food safety, environmental impacts, food miles and a desire to support British farmers as important underlying reasons for making purchases. These concerns translate into expectations, which the consumers bring to their understanding of organic food. The most significant overall factor among 84% of the organic consumers surveyed is the view that organic produce is healthier for consumers and children.

The socio-economic impact of organic farming on rural areas has its limitations according to the report. Despite impressive growth in recent years, food production by organic farmers is still relatively small compared to other sectors of agriculture in England and Wales. As a result, the report suggests that organic production does not offer policy makers a broad enough platform to launch rural development polices. However, it does argue that organic production involving large numbers of small locally embedded producers is, nonetheless likely to be beneficial to rural economies, albeit in geographically uneven ways.

The research, which surveyed over 21% of all organic farm land in England and Wales, indicates that a predominance of large scale farms which supply national markets, such as supermarkets, are located in Wales, the North East and the East and West Midlands. Farms in the North West and Yorkshire and Humberside tend to focus more on their regional markets. A large number of smaller farms are concentrated in the South East, South West and the Eastern region and are strongly orientated towards selling to their local market through box schemes, own farm shop and farmers’ markets etc. This group of producers, locally embedded and linked to consumers via short supply chains, fulfil the expectations of many organic consumers and exemplify the idea of alternative food producers.

The research also reveals that expectations surrounding the purchase of organic vegetables rested on being free from chemical residues, environmentally beneficial and GM-free; with 93% of consumers thinking that organic vegetables should be free from pesticides. This was coupled with the belief that they would taste better. In contrast, the focus on organic meat relied on the maintenance of high animal welfare standards, use of free range systems and the meat being free of growth hormones. Similarly, organic milk was expected to have been produced to the highest animal welfare standards and was not expected to be as cheap as non-organic milk. It was also considered to be free from antibiotics and safer than non-organic milk. In all of these contexts expectations go significantly beyond the requirements of the organic certification.

The report predicts a healthy future for organic farming, and identifies a general trend towards increasing areas farmed over the coming years, adding more marketing channels and increasing on-farm processing. As a consequence of this, employment is likely to increase in some rural areas through adding value to their output through retailing, packaging or distributing their produce. Farmers that add value to their produce have a more diverse marketing approach to selling their organic produce and are typically more local in market focus.

The CCRI component of the project was led by Brian Ilbery and also involves Damian Maye, Paul Courtney, James Kirwan, Matt Reed and Carol Kambites

The summary and full report will be available for download from the University of Exeter website: http://centres.exeter.ac.uk/crpr/ and also the Defra website.

Click here to view full press release

IASC Conference Keynote Speaker wins Nobel Prize

19/10/09

One of the keynote speakers from the 12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Commons, which was organised by the CCRI, has won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics.

Elinor Ostrom won this coveted prize for her work ‘Governing the Commons: the evolution of institutions for collective action’. Dr Ostrom is currently Professor of Political Science at Indiana University in the United States.

The 12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Commons was held at the University of Gloucestershire’s Park Campus in July 2008, and was attended by over 500 delegates from 71 different countries which is illustrative of the significance of commons issues and the benefits of collective action in many parts of the world.

Elinor Ostrom’s crucial work over the past twenty years or so has shown that shared resources are often best managed by the users of that property, who develop and enforce a framework to prevent over-exploitation. This is often at odds with the more popular belief that the solution lies in government regulation and intervention or privatisation of the resource. During the conference she not only delivered the Keynote Speech at the conference dinner but also gave a Master Class to a group of younger researchers including students from the University of Gloucestershire and other local universities. This opportunity was made possible by the support of the counties Ernest Cook Trust.

Chris Short, Senior Research Fellow at the CCRI and Co-Chair of the conference: ‘Elinor Ostrom’s is clearly worthy of this momentous award, so fitting that the first woman to win this accolade should be someone who has fought against the tide of conventional thinking in the management of global natural resources and other areas of common property. Her message is highly relevant to not only the management of common land in the UK but also a much wider range of shared resources where collective action offers the most sustainable solution. This may be catchment sensitive farming, landscape scale management for biodiversity or carbon storage or the multi-use areas around cities. ‘We congratulate Elinor and are delighted that she has put commons, in their widest sense, and collective action firmly on the map,’ Chris concludes.

James Kirwan and Damian Maye in Ireland

15/10/09

James Kirwan and Damian Maye have been visiting Ireland in connection with the RuDi project. They visited the National Ploughing Championships in Kildare to undertake some fieldwork with Leader groups in Ireland, and they are undertaking a case study of the new Leader programme in Ireland as part of RuDI.

Whilst there they were interviewed by Tipperary FM on the Jim Finn show in relation to the RuDI project, and CCRI work and research plans in Ireland. The programme was broadcast on the 25th September.

Dr Vaughan HigginsAustralian academic presents paper at CCRI Seminar Series

12/10/09

The CCRI was delighted to welcome Dr Vaughan Higgins from Monash University, Victoria, who visited the Institute to discuss a potential research project with Damian Maye, comparing Australian and UK biosecurity measures for plant disease. As part of his visit, Dr Higgins made a presentation for the CCRI Seminar Series on some work that he has been doing on the Australian side. The paper was entitled 'Biosecurity Risk and the (Anti)Politics of Trade Liberalisation: The Case of New Zealand Apple Imports into Australia'. Click here to download an abstract.

Dr Janet DwyerJanet Dwyer at Brussels conference

02/10/09

Dr Janet Dwyer, Reader in the Countryside and Community Research Institute, (pictured left), was the closing speaker for an important seminar on 1st October, which was organised by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Regional Policy (DG Regio), on the role of EU regional policy in Rural Development, in Brussels. The title of Janet's talk was 'Improving coherence and co-ordination between policies and funds for rural areas'.

Professor Brian Ilbery elected President of Professor Brian Ilberythe Geography section of the British Science Association

01/10/09

Brian Ilbery, Professor of Rural Studies in the CCRI, (pictured right), has been elected as President of the Geography section of the British Science Association for 2009-2010. Brian’s main role is to convene and host a session at the 2010 British Science Association Festival, which is one of Europe's largest science festivals. The Festival takes place every September at a different UK location, and in 2010 will be hosted by the University of Aston between14-19 September, with an overarching theme of 'better lives through science’.

Professor Ilbery plans to convene a session on 'food security and infectious diseases', with a range of invited speakers from both natural and social science. More information can be found on http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/britishsciencefestival/index.htm

Papers accepted

01/10/09

Researchers in the Countryside and Community Research Institute have recently had the following papers accepted for publication:

Ilbery, B., Courtney, P., Kirwan, J. and Maye, D. (2010 - forthcoming) Marketing concentration and geographical dispersion: a survey of organic farms in England and Wales. British Food Journal.

Julie Urquhart research summary published

23/09/09

CCRI Student Julie Urquhart is in the final stages of submitting her PhD, which explores the potential for public goods to be delivered through private ownership of forests and woodland. In conjunction with her research findings, she has written a summary note for the Forestry Commission, who co-funded her PhD studies. You can click here to download the summary, which will soon be published on the Forestry Commission website.

Julie's PhD was supervised by Dr Paul Courtney (CCRI) and Professor Bill Slee (Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen).

Visiting International Academics to present lectures at CCRI Seminar Series

22/09/09

The CCRI are hosting two international academics who will present lectures as part of the CCRI Seminar Series.

Mark ShepheardThe first will take place on Tuesday 29 September and will be presented by Mark Shepheard (pictured left), a mature PhD student from the Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law at the University of New England. Mark is visiting the CCRI between Tuesday 29 September and Thursday 1 October and his seminar is based on his PhD research and is entitled ‘Farmers' stewardship responsibility and a duty of care'. Click here for abstract. The lecture will start at 12h15 and will take place at the Park Campus of the University of Gloucestershire. Room to be confirmed.

On the 8th and 9th of October, the CCRI will be hosting Dr Vaughan Higgins from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, who is coming to discuss research ideas related to biosecurity and disease management. Dr Hughes will be giving a seminar on Thursday 8 October entitled ‘Biosecurity Risk and the (Anti)Politics of Trade Liberalisation: The Case of New Zealand Apple Imports into Australia’. Click here for abstract. The lecture will start at 12h15 and will take place in Room FW01A at the Park Campus at the University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham.

The seminars which form the CCRI Seminar Series are free to attend and all are welcome. For more information please contact Jill Harper

Sir Don Curry to open CCRI Policy Conference

09/09/09

Sir Don CurrySir Don Curry, (pictured left), Chair of the Sustainable Farming and Food Delivery Group and author of the influential Curry Report, will be opening the CCRI Policy Conference in Cheltenham on 21 October 2009.

The conference, entitled 'Rural Policy and Local Assets', will feature a number of notable guest speakers who will be stimulating topical and forward looking debates centred on the 'hot' rural issues facing us today, such as food security which is currently threatened by climate change and population growth. Also under debate will be rural assets, environmental change and European rural policy. In addition to Sir Don Curry, speakers include Graham Garbutt, recent Chief Executive of the Commission for Rural Communities; Ian Baker, Head of Economy and Research at Defra; and Chris Gaskell, Principal of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester.

Organiser Dr Paul Courtney, who is an Assistant Director of the CCRI, says "This policy conference presents an opportunity for the cutting edge research of the CCRI to be discussed with a diverse range of policy experts and opinion formers, at a time when debates about climate change and food policy are set to transform the role of rural areas in our society."

There is still time to book a place at this exciting and topical event. The conference is being held in the prestigious Queens Hotel in central Cheltenham on October 21st 2009. For more information, please telephone the CCRI on 01242 714122, email ccri@glos.ac.uk, or go to http://www.ccri.ac.uk/Events/PolicyConference2009.htm where you can find full information and book online. The delegate fee includes lunch.

New Book Available Now: Glimpses of Rural England by Malcolm Moseley

23/06/09

Glimpses of Rural EnglandMalcolm Moseley, CCRI’s Professor of Rural Community Development, has published a new book which provides glimpses of life in England's villages and small towns at the start of the 21st century.

The book, entitled Glimpses of Rural England, draws upon a mass of expensively gathered survey material and nine research reports produced between 2004 and 2007 are revisited and reappraised. Each was in large measure the work of the CCRI, often working in partnership with other institutions, with funding from government agencies involved in rural development.

Concise chapters cover parish and market town plans, access to services, the drivers of rural change, the benefits of village halls, rural community enterprises, local social capital, parish council effectiveness, local economic development and the economic impact of Rural Community Councils. Collectively they draw on interviews with some 1,500 people spread across dozens of local communities and on the systematic analysis of sheaves of documentary evidence. Click here for preview.

What comes through are a number of insights into social exclusion, social and human capital, service delivery and local governance in a rural context. But the core message is that asset-based community development should lie at the heart of sustainable rural development.

You can order this book now via our Online Store. Price £9.95.

First Announcement: CCRI Rural Policy Conference

19/06/09

The CCRI has announced its forthcoming one day conference on Rural Policy and Local Assets, which will take place on Wednesday 21 October at Queens Hotel, Cheltenham.

This important event in the 2009 calendar is targeted at members of the local, regional and national policy and practice community with an interest in rural affairs.

The conference will be opened by Sir Don Curry, Chair of the Sustainable Farming and Food Delivery Group and author of the influential Curry Report.

Several rural research and policy papers will be presented throughout the day, cohering around the themes of Localism in the 21st Century, the Future of Rural Policy in the UK and Europe and Rural Assets: What’s the interest?

If you are interested in receiving further details about the CCRIs Rural Policy and Local Assets conference, please email ccri@glos.ac.uk

First Wave of MSc Graduates in European Rural Development

12/06/09

Miroslava Cekovic (Croatia) and Carol Flux (UK) are the first students to graduate with a Master’s Degree from the ERD programme. In addition both students will graduate with an MSc Merit award.

Miroslava’s dissertation research studied the role of non-government organisations in the design and implementation of rural development policy in Istria, Croatia. She found that development policy was largely shaped by a small number of politicians and professional experts with little involvement from other stakeholders. The limited NGO involvement was attributed to cultural factors such as lack of trust and low levels of knowledge.

Carol’s dissertation research explored the local economic impacts of the EU LEADER programme expenditure on the Isle of Wight. She disaggregated and analysed project expenditure data associated with LEADER activities over the period 2001-2008. She found that significant amounts of funding remain within the local economy although there were significant differences in procurement patterns related to size and nature of organisations.

The ERD programme has also produced a range of other graduates this year. Laura Janis and Hanna-Mari Kuhmonen from Finland have both completed the Post Graduate Certificate in European Rural Development; and Anna Knight from the Government Office Yorkshire and Humber Region, has completed the Post-Graduate Diploma.

For more information on this course, click here or contact the Course Leader Dr John Powell on telephone +44 (0) 1242 714129 or on e-mail: jpowell@glos.ac.uk

Forthcoming European Seminar

Paul Courtney and Ian Smith, Director of the Cities Research Centre at UWE, are currently undertaking a preparatory study for a seminar on urban-rural linkages fostering social cohesion. The seminar, which is the third in a recent series examining the potential for rural-urban cooperation in Europe, is being held in Brussels on July 2nd 2009.

Following introductory speeches from DG Regio and key note addresses, Paul and Ian will be presenting their position paper, which focuses on conceptual and theoretical issues and findings from seven mini case studies from around Europe where they have sought to draw out examples and good practice of urban-rural interactions. The researchers will then be inviting comment and discussion from seminar participants and representatives of the case studies. The event will end with reactions from two key note listeners: Professor Mark Shucksmith (OBE) of the University of Newcastle and Dr Elena Saraceno, advisor on agricultural and rural policy for the European Commission. Further details and a draft programme can be found at: http://www.cureforsustainability.eu/index.php?id=7205

Professor Nigel Curry appointed to the Regional Rural Affairs Forum and the Regional Rural Advisory Group

03/06/09

Nigel Curry has been appointed to serve on both the South West Regional Rural Affairs Forum (RAF) and the South West Regional Rural Advisory Group (RAG). The RAF is the Government Office for the South West’s focal point for the assembly of information and the articulation of issues concerning all aspects of social, economic and environmental policy issues affecting rural communities in the South West. Nigel currently is taking an active part in the development of a rural strategy for the region. The RAG is an advisory body to the South West Regional Development Agency, which assists with the implementation of RDA rural policy. It has a particular interest at the moment in the implementation of the EU-driven Rural Development Programme for England as it is developing in the South West.

Nick Lewis wins third place in 145-mile Ultramarathon

03/06/09

Nick LewisIn difficult conditions, CCRI Research Assistant Nick Lewis (pictured right) put in a great performance to finish third in the Grand Union Canal Race, a 145-mile Ultramarathon from Birmingham to London.

The event took place over the hot Bank Holiday weekend, and the hot weather took its toll on the runners. Many retired or failed to reach the first cut-off point at 70 miles, and of the 86 who started the race, only 34 completed it. This was Nick's second attempt at the event, finishing in ninth place last year. Despite a painful foot towards the end of the race, he managed to knock three hours off his previous time to finish third. Well done Nick!

Stephen Owen appointed Chairman of Gloucestershire Environmental Trust

2/6/09

Professor Stephen Owen has been appointed Chairman of Gloucestershire Environmental Trust in succession to Professor Adrian Phillips. The Trust provides grants to the value of £700,000 from funds generated by the Landfill Communities Fund for the benefit of Gloucestershire, its people and its environment. The Trust is funded under the scheme by Cory Environmental (Gloucestershire) Ltd, which owns and manages the waste management operations in Gloucester, Cheltenham and Cirencester.

Damian MayeDamian Maye awarded visiting scholarship

02/06/09

Damian Maye (pictured right) has been awarded a distinguished visiting scholarship from Monash University's Faculty of Arts in Victoria, Australia. He will be visiting Monash University in March 2010 for one month. The purpose of the visit will be to build a project proposal with Dr. Vaughan Higgins and Dr. Jacqui Dibden that aims to compare the governance of pest and disease risk in Australia and UK agriculture at both a policy and farm level. The proposed project would extend the RELU 'Growing risk' research project on plant disease with which Damian is currently involved. Dr. Higgins will also be visiting the CCRI in October 2009 as part of on-going collaboration.

Professor Tom Woolley to present at INTBAU Ireland Summer Conference

02/06/09

Tom Woolley Professor Tom Woolley (pictured left) will be giving a presentation at the INTBAU (International network for traditional building, architecture and urbanism) Ireland Summer Conference 'Design Quality In Architecture and Rural Design' on 29th June 2009 in Dublin. Tom's presentation will be entitled 'Using traditional and natural materials in low energy new buildings and renovation'. More information can be found on the INTBAU website.

Professor Curry meets with Minister of State for Higher Education

12/05/09

The Director of the CCRI, Professor Nigel Curry, met with the Minister of State for Higher Education, David Lammy on 7 May, to discuss the development of the sustainability agenda in higher education. As well as issues of policy and funding, consideration was given to the importance of 'localisation' within the sustainability agenda and the significant role that universities have to pay in acting as examples of good practice for the local communities in which they are situated. In this respect, developments in local food production being introduced at the University of Gloucestershire through its ‘edible garden’ scheme were considered particularly important. Mr Lammy was impressed by the ‘edible garden’ scheme, which is a practical project run by the University, the St Paul’s Road Area Residents’ Association and Gloucestershire Police where students and local residents work together to grow various vegetables and edible flowers.

Professor Brian Ilbery's inaugural lecture is a success

30/04/09

Professor Brian Ilbery

In front of a large and wide-ranging audience Professor Brian Ilbery (pictured right) presented his inaugural lecture at the University of Gloucestershire Park Campus on Tuesday night.

The University of Gloucestershire Vice Chancellor gave a warm welcome to the audience and introduced Professor Ilbery, whose lecture, entitled 'Food supply chains: the long and short of it', argued that the food supply chain is inherently a spatial concept, reflecting the changing relationship between the three 'Ps': product, process and place. The lecture focused on the changing nature of food supply chains, from what was originally a fairly localised phenomenon to one that became increasingly delocalised and, for some chains, then relocalised.

The lecture was well received by a good cross-section of people, from academics and government representatives to members of specific bodies/agencies and the general public. Director of the CCRI, Professor Nigel Curry, rounded off the presentation with a congratulatory and sometimes amusing vote of thanks to Brian. And to wrap up an enjoyable evening, talking about food supply chains seemed to prompt considerable discussion during the food and drink that followed the presentation! The lecture was video recorded and will soon be available on the University of Gloucestershire website.

Details of 8th National Seminar on Common Land and Town and Village Greens announced

30/04/09

Preparations are now underway for the organization of the 8th National Seminar on Common Land and Town and Village Greens, which is to be held on Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th September 2009 at the University of Gloucestershire, at the Oxstalls Campus in Gloucester. The CCRI is delighted that the recently formed 'Foundation for Common Land in Britain and Ireland' is, together with Defra and Natural England, sponsoring this event.

This series of seminars continues to play a vital role on the understanding and implementation of the Commons Act 2006, as well as new initiatives and best practice concerning the protection and management of common land and town and village greens. The 2009 Seminar will seek to showcase local level examples of good practice alongside the latest updates concerning the Commons Act 2006 and other areas such as livestock movement controls and the Planning Act 2008. A full programme including delegate fees will be available by the end of June 2009, but in the meantime more information can be found on our website.

Peter Gaskell working with BBC Radio 4 Farming Today Programmes

08/04/09

Peter Gaskell has been working with the BBC Radio4 Farming Today programme to produce a series of articles on historic farm buildings.

You can download and listen to the programmes at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/farming/

Study of Registered Town and Village Greens Applications

30/03/09

The CCRI has recently secured a four month contract from Defra to examine a sample of the sites which have been registered as town or village greens since January 2004, as well as a sample of those that have been unsuccessful in applying to be registered. The project will examine the characteristics of the site and what it has been used for in the past while at the same time looking at the status of the site in local development plans and planning applications. The aim is to ascertain the characteristics of newly registered Town and Village Greens in the twenty first century. The project is led by Chris Short with contributions from Professor Steve Owen, Dr Carol Kambites and Dr Owain Jones and should be concluded by July 2009.

Paper accepted for publication

26/03/09

A paper written by Damian Maye and Brian Ilbery (together with D Watts) has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Rural Studies. The paper, which is entitled ‘Farm diversification, tenancy and CAP reform: results from a survey of tenant farmers in England’ is likely to be published late this year, or early next year.

Professor Curry appointed to Board of Governors of the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute

24/3/09

Professor Nigel Curry, Director of the CCRI (pictured right), has been appointed to membership of the Board of Governors of the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute (MLURI) in Aberdeen.

Professor Curry, who has undertaken over 30 years research into aspects of the rural economy, the planning process and rural communities in rural areas, will be offering strategic advice to the Board of the MLURI, particularly in respect to the socio-economic aspects of their work.

The MLURI is a leading international land use research institute with a central commitment to research on the environmental, economic and social impacts of rural land use, and their policy and management consequences. It is core funded by the Scottish Executive and undertakes a proportion of its work to inform Scottish rural policy.

The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute has an interdisciplinary and holistic approach to its work with some 280 staff working in disciplines spanning soil science, catchment management, climate change, land use systems and ecology as well as geographers, socio-economists and IT specialists. Staff work in collaboration with a large number of other research organisations both nationally and internationally aiming to achieve sustainable rural land use and research that supports informed choices for future land use.

Professor Curry will serve for a three-year term in the first instance.

Paper published

23/3/09

A paper co-written by CCRI Research Fellow Matt Reed has now been published in Talk and Text.

The paper reports on a research project which combined corpus analysis, interviews,and focus group discussions to investigate the discourse of organic food promotion in Britain, the thinking behind it, and how people react to it. The findings contribute not only to an understanding of food politics and persuasive discourse more generally, but also to the development of discourse analytic methodology which integrates textual analysis with investigation of sender and receiver perceptions.

The paper is entitled 'But it's all true!: Commercialism and commitment in the discourse of organic food promotion' and was published in Talk and Text, 29-2 (2009), pp. 151-173.

Janet Dwyer invited to write review paper for Government

16/03/09

Dr Janet Dwyer has been invited as an expert to write a review paper for the Government's foresight exercise on 'Land Use Futures', reviewing likely policy and legal commitments affecting UK land use over the next 50 years. The paper will be published in a special edition of the journal 'Land Use Policy', planned for autumn 2009.

Forthcoming Seminar 'Farming Floodplains for the Future'

09/03/09

The CCRI is holding a joint seminar with the Centre for the Study of Floods and Communities. The seminar is entitled 'Farming Floodplains for the Future', and will take place at University of Gloucestershire Park Campus, Cheltenham GL50 2RH in Room FW013 on Thursday 26th March, 2009 between 12.15 hrs -13.15 hrs. The speaker is Matt Jones, the Wetlands Officer at Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.

Farming Floodplains for the Future is a national pilot project with the key aim of developing an understanding of how the farmed landscape can be viably managed in ways that reduce flood risk downstream, while also enhancing the natural environment. This seminar will examine the potential role of land management and land use in more sustainable flood risk management in the context of this project. For further information click here.

If you would like to attend this seminar please email Jill Harper to reserve a place.

flooded fields in Gloucestershire

Paper published investigating the socio-economic linkages of organic and non organic farms in England

09/03/09

CCRI Senior Research Fellow Matt Reed (pictured right) has co-written a paper (with M Lobley and A Butler) on the contribution of organic farming to rural development: an exploration of the socio-economic linkages of organic and non organic farms in England. The paper, is published in Land Use Policy (Vol. 26, issue 3, July 2009), has caught the attention of the Food Climate Research Network who recently highlighted the paper in their regular newsletter.

The paper investigates whether organic farming provides more rural development benefits through enhanced employed and through closer connections with the local economy than non-organic farming. It considers the generation and retention of income, purchasing patterns, and direct employment impacts of a large sample of organic and non-organic farmers in England and reveals some important distinctions between the characteristics of organic and non-organic farms and farmers. It argues that most of these differences do not stem directly from differences in farming systems but, rather, reflect considerable differences in the people who operate organic farms as well as the distinctive business configurations they frequently adopt.

The paper shifts the focus of the debate away from simplistic notions that equate organic production with local supply and assume a local economic benefit, towards a broader conception of the local agro-food economy in which some farms have strong local connections while others focus their efforts elsewhere and earn important export income for the local economy.

Please contact Dr Matt Reed if you would like further information.

‘Food supply chains: the long and short of it' - Inaugural Lecture to be presented by Professor Brian Ilbery

10/02/09

Brian Ilbery, CCRI Professor of Rural Studies (pictured left), will be presenting his inaugural lecture at the University of Gloucestershire on Tuesday 28 April 2009.

His lecture is entitled 'Food supply chains: the long and short of it'.

It is argued that the food supply chain is inherently a spatial concept, reflecting the changing relationship between the three 'Ps': product, process and place. Professor Ilbery's lecture will focus on the changing nature of food supply chains, from what was originally a fairly localised phenomenon to one that became increasingly delocalised and, for some chains, then relocalised.

Concentrating on the two phases of food delocalisation and food relocalisation, the lecture will explore how the so-called 'productivist' phase of agriculture (up to the mid-1980s), driven by favourable support policies under the CAP and globalisation processes, resulted in the place of production becoming increasingly distanced from the point of consumption; hence the 'distancing' of product and place. This led to many farmers losing control over agricultural production, with most 'value added' going to nodes further down the chain. It will then examine attempts to 'reconnect' product and place through the encouragement of shorter food supply chains, whereby some control is given back to farmers.

The lecture will take place at 6pm in Room TC014, University of Gloucestershire, Park Campus, Cheltenham, on Tuesday 28th April 2009. It is free of charge and all are welcome to attend. However, it would be appreciated if you could advise your intention to attend to Inaugurallectures@glos.ac.uk, or Jill Harper.

CCRI contributes to land use debate

27/01/09

The CCRI contributed to a debate organised by the Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) Programme on land use strategy and how RELU research could influence land use in the UK.

Two land use policy analysts were appointed to draw out relevant findings from across a range of RELU research projects to identify cross cutting and strategic ideas to be fed back into the policy making process via the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and the Scottish Government. The two ensuing reports can be found online The CCRI and other organisations, including RSPB, Marks and Spencer, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Woodland Trust, were invited to contribute to the debate. Some of these contributions, including the CCRI's, can also be accessed online

This work was funded by the UK research councils, Defra, the Scottish Government and the Commission for Rural Communities.

RELU is organising a conference which will take place in London on 4 June, entitled 'The Future of Rural Land Use', which will be attended by several CCRI staff.

Scottish Rural Community Buildings Under Scrutiny

27/01/09

Professor Malcolm Moseley helped with the analysis and interpretation of data for a report produced for the Scottish Government entitled 'Community Facilities in Rural Scotland: A Study of Their Use, Provision and Condition'. The report can be accessed on line at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/01/05144855/0

The research was led by Dr Sarah Skerratt and colleagues at the Scottish Agricultural College and involved both desk research and an extensive survey of rural Scotland's community buildings - mainly village halls and similar meeting places. The research objective was 'to gather and analyse data on the current provision and condition of rural community facilities in Scotland and to assess the nature and level of their use'. As is broadly the case in England, the picture is one of an immensely valuable, but sometimes underused, community resource and of great management challenges for the 'faithful few' who work hard to keep the facility thriving in their locality.

CCRI delighted with RAE results

12/01/09

The CCRI was delighted to learn of its December RAE results in which its research between 2001 and 2008 was evaluated by the Higher Education Funding Council.

In this latest evaluation, 40% of its work was considered to be internationally excellent and of the 40% more than 10% was considered world leading. A further 45% of all of the CCRI's work was considered to be internationally recognised. Some 85% of our work therefore is considered to be of international standing. The panel that assessed the CCRI's research also found its research environment to be 'excellent' and a commendation was given for the CCRI’s “strong emphasis on policy relevance” in its research work.

Owain Jones to present paper at Welfare Quality International Conference in Florence

08/01/09

CCRI Research Fellow Dr Owain Jones (pictured right) is presenting a paper at the Welfare Quality International Conference in Florence, Italy. The conference is entitled 'Knowing Animals: cross-fertilisation between natural and social sciences for understanding the quality of life of animals' and takes place on the 5 /6 March 2009. http://www.knowinganimals.org/

Owain Jones will also be convening a session on 'Geography and Memory' at the RGS-IBG Annual Conference, Manchester, which takes place 26-28 August 2009 (www.rgs.org/AC2009). The conference is co-sponsored by the History and Philosophy of Geography Research Group and the Social & Cultural Geography Research Group.

And last, but not least, Owain has been invited to be an external examiner on a PhD in King's College London.

CCRI teams up with UWEs Cities Research Centre for work on rural-urban linkages

7/1/09

Ian Smith, Director of the Cities Research Centre at UWE (http://www.built-environment.uwe.ac.uk/research/cities/), and Paul Courtney, Assistant Director of the CCRI, have recently won a grant from DG Regio to carry out a preparatory study for a seminar on urban-rural linkages fostering social cohesion. The seminar, which is the third in a recent series examining the potential for rural-urban cooperation in Europe, will be held in Brussels in summer 2009. As well as facilitating the seminar, Ian and Paul will be writing working papers and undertaking a series of small European case studies on rural-urban linkages and social cohesion.

CCRI involved in new ESPON study on rural development

7/1/09

Paul Courtney attended the first project meeting of a new study on European Development Opportunities for Rural Areas (EDORA) held in Haarlem on Dec 12th 2008. The study, which is being coordinated by Andrew Copus at the University of Highlands and Islands and Petri Kahila of Nordregio, Sweden, is funded under the EUs ESPON 2013 programme. In the research, which involves 16 academic partners from across the European Union, Paul’s role is to lead a programme of work examining the role of urban-rural interactions in facilitating European rural development opportunities. The project will run for two years.

Common Resources feature in New Agriculturist

6/1/09

Following the success of the The 12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons organised by the CCRI in July 2008, the latest edition of the New Agriculturist features some of the stories which were discussed at the conference. These can be found at http://www.new-ag.info/08/06/focuson.php. An article regarding community-agreed zoning of 22,000 hectares of land in Kenya, which has attracted much attention, is based on material the New Agriculturist has been recently collecting for a BBC World Service two-part series they will be producing in 2009, "The return of the nomads".

Information on The 12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons can be found at http://www.ccri.ac.uk/Events/Conf_IASC.htm

Economic benefits of heritage presented at upland conference

6/1/09

Paul Courtney presented findings from a series of projects undertaken by the CCRI on the economic benefits of heritage restoration in English National Parks at the Moors for the Future Annual Conference on Living Upland landscapes, Peak District, 24-25 Nov 2008. The presentation drew on three projects commissioned by English Heritage between 2005 and 2008, the most recent of which was a scoping study on the wider socio-economic benefits of heritage in National Parks that was completed in October 2008. The research was undertaken by Paul Courtney, Peter Gaskell and Jane Mills of the CCRI.

CCRI Winter School

5/1/09

The CCRI Winter School took place prior to Christmas at Hawkwood College, Near Stroud.

The event enabled 16 post graduate students to present their current research to other students and CCRI academics. The guest speaker was a former CCRI Research Fellow, Professor Milbourne of the Department of City and Regional Planning, University of Cardiff, who gave a talk 'placing poverty: material hardship, community and environment in rural Wales'.

Staff and students also enjoyed a tour of Hawkwood College and Stroud Community Farm (see picture above).

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