Press Release
8 September 2009
Sir Don Curry to open Policy Conference in Cheltenham
Sir Don Curry, Chair of the Sustainable Farming and Food Delivery Group and author of the influential Curry Report, will be opening a major Policy Conference at the Queens Hotel in Cheltenham on 21 October 2009.
The conference, entitled 'Rural Policy and Local Assets', is organised by the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI), a collaboration of the University of Gloucestershire, the University of the West of England, the Royal Agricultural College and Hartpury College, based at the University of Gloucestershire.
The conference 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. As well as 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 the conference page where you can book online. The delegate fee includes lunch.
ENDS
Notes for Editors
The Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) is a collaboration between the University of Gloucestershire, the University of the West of England, the Royal Agricultural College and Hartpury College. It is one of the leading specialist rural research centres in the country with programmes of research in rural community development, rural poverty, agri-environment policies, agri-tourism, local sustainability, local economic development, EU and UK rural development, and the planning system in the countryside.
Dr Paul Courtney, Assistant Director of the CCRI, can be contacted on email pcourtney@glos.ac.uk, or on tel. 01242 714122
Chris Rayfield, the CCRI Business Manager, can be contacted on tel. 00 44 (0) 1242 714121
______________________________________________________________Issued by:
COUNTRYSIDE AND COMMUNITY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Dunholme Villa,
The Park,
Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire
GL50 2RH
