Event rapporteur Heather Hancock reports back with her reflections and calls to action

Today marks an important step forward for Future Countryside with the launch of a report from our rapporteur based on this year’s event.  We are extremely grateful to its author, Heather Hancock, Chair of the Royal Countryside Fund and Master of St John’s College Cambridge.  The report brings together the discussions at Hatfield where we were united, as she writes, “by a deep commitment to our rural places and spaces” and distils five principles.

 Heather’s report captures both the complexity and importance of countryside policy today.  “Today’s existential demands have multiplied”, she argues.  “Our climate, biodiversity, and water resources need urgent repair.  Carbon must be sequestered.  We want green spaces and natural beauty to strengthen and soothe our minds and bodies.  We still need feeding - but feeding better.  Rural families and communities hope, or fear, for sustainable local futures.  After decades lost in the political backwaters, the countryside is back in vogue because it offers solutions for the long term.  The UK countryside, already poised, will rise to these”.

You can read the full report here.