Rural and Sustainable Development
Rural areas face particular problems when it comes to economic development. Accessibility to services and markets can be especially challenging, while long term trends in areas such as agricultural reform, commuting patterns, and an ageing population mean that the future is equally uncertain.
Our rural work is focused on project and programme evaluation, but we are also engaged in some potentially groundbreaking research and project development activity on accessibility to rural productivity services.
Our clients have included the East Midlands Development Agency, Yorkshire Forward and Northern Marches Leader+.
Sustainable development is increasingly a major part of government thinking at all levels – local, regional and national. While the general understanding of sustainable development is reasonably widespread, the application of its principles to policies, strategies and programmes can be complex and confusing.
Helping the public sector to integrate sustainable development into their activities is a growing area of expertise for us. Recent clients have included Sustainability West Midlands and Government Office West Midlands.