Future Countryside 2025 - the countryside matters
Future Countryside will celebrate the countryside as a vibrant, inclusive rural landscape that benefits everyone. The event will focus on future possibilities rather than past challenges, it will explore how the countryside matters for the economy, communities, culture and environmental well-being. By uniting diverse voices - farmers, environmentalists, entrepreneurs, and policymakers - the conference will foster collaboration and generate actionable insights for rural development. It will emphasise the countryside's relevance in addressing global challenges like climate change, food security, and equitable growth.
Future Countryside brings together a unique coalition of interests and inspires a shared commitment to creating a sustainable, resilient countryside that is a cornerstone of national progress and belongs to everyone. 51 organisations and individuals have signed the Future Countryside declaration and the 2025 conference will build on that commitment.
For 2025, confirmed speakers include:
- Tristram Hunt – Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, former Labour MP
- Tony Juniper – Chair, Natural England
- Professor Kathy Willis – Author of Good Nature, Professor of Biodiversity, Oxford University
- Michael Gove – Former Defra Secretary
We will also look ahead and ask what Generation Z wants from the countryside, and we will explore how people and organisations involved in the countryside today should respond. We will consider rapidly changing patterns of land use and ask how we can ensure these changes strengthen - rather than undermine - the recovery of nature, the beauty of our landscapes, and traditional patterns of rural life.
Future Countryside is now operating a wait list, should you wish to join that list please register your interest here.
Agenda – To be announced.
Chatsworth is easily accessible by car and public transport, with regular direct buses to the house from mainline stations.