Professional Services
Please select a service for further information.
Preparation of Strategies and Action Plans
Our countryside and towns face many challenges and opportunities, from climate change to the need for new housing. A variety of policy tools are available to address these, including the planning system and agri-environment schemes.
Public Engagement and Participation
There is growing mistrust by many citizens of ‘experts’ and public decision making processes, a trend that is visible across much of the western world. Organisations working in rural areas are not immune from this.
Spatial Data Analysis and Mapping
We live in a world in which places, their characteristics and relationships to one another are increasingly important to people. The data available to us are becoming ever more sophisticated and there is remarkable technology that can be used to analyse and portray it.
Evaluation of Rural Projects and Programmes
Monitoring and evaluation are essential tools for the organisations who commission or deliver publicly-funded projects. These organisations need to be able to take stock and learn lessons as their work develops, reviewing their results and listening to the views of their intended beneficiaries and partners, enabling ongoing adjustment and improvement.
Landscape Planning & Management
Rural Focus draws on a detailed understanding of landscape planning policy and practice in England, including the operation of sub-regional scale partnership programmes, use of the ecosystems approach and the delivery of multi-functional green infrastructure.
Institutional Governance Arrangements
Faced with the ongoing squeeze on the UK’s public finances, many public authorities and initiatives are looking again at how they deliver services. There is a new focus on streamlined and responsive decision-making and delivery, frequently involving wider partners in the charitable and business sectors, and using new sources of funding.