Agriculture and the Rural Economy in the frame for Governance After Brexit seminar

The next academic seminar in a series by Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre has been announced, with agriculture and the rural economy taking the spotlight.

Brexit and COVID-19 have transformed the context for Welsh and UK agriculture, and have changed the dynamics of the rural economy. This seminar, hosted by the ESRC’s Governance After Brexit Programme and Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre, will hear from three major ESRC funded research projects that interrogate different aspects of the challenges and opportunities facing the agricultural sector and the rural economy.

Professor Daniel Wincott, seminar convener said:

“Agriculture and rural economies across the UK face fundamental changes after Brexit. The COVID-19 pandemic has also posed deep challenges for agriculture, while the sector has played a key role maintaining food supply throughout. At this seminar, leading researchers will present on these key issues.”

Presentations will focus on three topics. Firstly, the COVID-19 pandemic posed additional challenges around seasonal migration and food security. Drawing on their ‘Feed the Nation’ project led by Dr Roxana Barbulescu, Dr Bethany Robertson of the University of Leeds and Dr Carlos Vargas-Silva of COMPAS at the University of Oxford will analyse these issues.

Dr Ruth Little and Dr Judith Tsouvalis-Gerber of the University of Sheffield will then present findings from their ‘Agri-Environmental Governance Post-Brexi’ project, including an exploration of DEFRA’s new approach to Environmental Land Management.

Finally, the potential of Geographical Indications of Origins as a means of preserving and strengthening food heritage and supporting producer growth and rural economies will be examined by Professor Stephen Roper of the Enterprise Research Centre at Warwick Business School, drawing on the results of his project on ‘English Champagne? and Geographical Indications’.

This online seminar, hosted by Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre, will be held from 13.00-14.30 on July 2^nd 2021, with registration available at this link.