Newcastle University

Contested Commons Research Project Starts Programme of Stakeholder Engagement Events

The first of four stakeholder workshops to disseminate the findings of the Law School’s Contested Common Land Research project was held on 12^th November at the Outward Bound Centre at Eskdale Green Cumbria.  Workshops are being held in each of the four case study areas that have been the basis of the interdisciplinary research by Lancaster University‘s History Department and Newcastle Law School. The Eskdale workshop was attended by farmers and graziers who work on Eskdale Common, the National Trust (the principal landowners) and by members of the community interested in the research project’s historical and environmental research. The principal speakers were Professor Chris Rodgers (Newcastle law School) and Dr. Angus Winchester and Dr Ellie Straughton (Lancaster University).

The research project has developed an innovative new landscape modelling tool – known as “Land Note” – that enables community groups and stakeholders to work with terrain maps of their area with overlays of environmental, historical and landscape features in an interactive table top format. This provides a useful tool for planning community activities, for visualising complex land management issues and can also be used for research and teaching purposes. Land Note was demonstrated using a table top at the Eskdale Green workshop and produced an enthusiastic and lively response from the community and farming groups attending the meeting. It can also be accessed from the project website, from which further information about the research can also be obtained:

http://commons.ncl.ac.uk

Further stakeholder engagement meetings are being held at Rhayader (Powys) on 27^th November 2009, Brancaster (Norfolk) on 18^th December 2009 and Ingleton (North Yorkshire) on 7^th January 2010. For further information contact Professor Chris Rodgers.