South West Uplands Initiative (SWUI) project evaluation
The aim of this project is to carry out a longitudinal evaluation study into the impact of the SWUI over its duration (2009-2013). The SWUI comprises three separate projects: the Bodmin Moor Livestock Initiative, the Dartmoor Hill Farm Project, and the Exmoor Hill Farm Project. The SWUI has been created to provide the farming community with the support it requires to access available through Axis I and III of the Rural Development Programme for England with the aim or improving the long-term profitability and sustainability of livestock producers in the project areas. The research will assess the three projects’ effectiveness against their stated aims and objectives. The research will also identify any learning points and make recommendations to improve the delivery and effectiveness of the approach on an annual basis as well as informing any similar future schemes.
An active social learning approach has been adopted for this project in order to maximize the benefits of the evaluation process. At the heart of active social learning is the sharing of knowledge and feeding back the findings of the evaluation as they emerge. The evaluation is being conducted in three phases over a 31-month period:
• Phase 1 - scoping and familiarisation with existing data and data sources.
• Phase 2 - data collection and analysis.
• Phase 3 - continuous evaluation.
A range of different research techniques are being used, including document analysis, telephone surveys, face to face interviews, focus groups and workshops. Participants in the research include farmers, project delivery staff, local stakeholders and industry representatives. The project leader is Peter Gaskell with contributions from Jane Mills, Nick Lewis, Chris Short, Carol Kambites, Michael Clark (all CCRI) and Martin Turner. The project will be completed in 2013.
