Project outline
This project takes angling and the angling community as a lens to explore the scales at which interrelated processes act upon the rural environment. Interdisciplinary teams from Newcastle, Hull and Durham universities- drawing upon different perspectives of rural economic and social development, aesthetics of the environment, geomorphological processes and biodiversity conservation - investigate key intersections within the practice of sustainable development in river catchments.
The Rivers Esk, Swale and Ure in North Yorkshire, UK are the study areas. Importantly they offer: a range of fishing types and practices, different land uses, problems of siltation, key biodiversity species, come under the remit of several rural and environmental development agencies, and build upon the experience and knowledge of the researchers. Regulatory change planned through the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and changes in delivery of rural services (Haskins Report) make the river catchment an appropriate scale of study for policy development and end users needs.
Continuing dialogue with river catchment stakeholders combined with the collection and analysis of empirical data will help to critique and inform the process of change.