The Relu Programme and

Animal and Plant Disease Management

The Relu Programme

Relu is promoting interdisciplinary research collaborations to advance understandings of the social, economic, environmental and technological challenges facing agriculture and rural areas

UK venture involving Economic and Social Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and Natural Environment Research Council (plus Defra and the Scottish Government) Budget = £25 million 2004-2011

Rural areas have encountered change and upheaval in recent years. Key public challenges include:

Restoring trust in food chains

Tackling animal disease in a socially acceptable manner

Sustaining agriculture in a liberalised economy

Promoting robust rural economies

Mitigating threats from climate change and invasive species

Reducing stress on water catchments

Key Public Challenges

Joined-up science (committed to interdisciplinary

research between social and natural sciences)- 65 projects, 450 researchers, over 40 disciplines

- Aim to build capacity for interdisciplinary research

Socially accountable science

- Two-way exchange between researchers and users

- Building networks between research, policy and practice

- Building capacity for knowledge exchange

- Diverse forms of engagement

- Active partners in setting priorities of research

New ways of doing science

Re-Framing Science

The management of animal and plant diseases

There are environmental risks and social and economic consequences of narrowly based technical decision making

Interdisciplinary research brings together different perspectives and methodologies to reframe such problems

The research will consider how the constraints on, and options for, disease prevention and management are being altered by changes in the countryside, shifting social, economic, environmental and ethical concerns, technological developments and globalisation

Reducing E coli risk in rural communities The governance of livestock disease Assessing and communicating animal disease risks for countryside

users Assessment of knowledge sources in animal disease control Lessons from Dutch Elm Disease in assessing the threat from Sudden

Oak Death Assessing the potential rural impact of plant disease Overcoming market and technical obstacles to alternative pest

management in arable systems Interdisciplinary Fellowships:

Reinventing the wheel? Farm health planning 1942-2006 Science communication on badgers and TB

The Projects

Defra has provided additional funding to support the work of Relu projects, to: enable additional research and analysis to be carried out support a programme of knowledge exchange (work

shadowing, visiting fellowships, briefing and policy notes etc.)

Interaction between teams and policy staff will be supported by Dr Abigail Woods, Relu Research Fellow

Defra Funding

Knowledge exchange: the history

• Consultation on parameters of call for projects• Stakeholder evaluation of bids• Stakeholder engagement plans – each project

develops its own• Relu-wide engagement workshops (e.g May

2008)

Knowledge exchange: plans for the future

• Events run by project teams (eg animal welfare seminar in May)

• Relu engagement workshops (2nd planned early autumn 2009)

• Relu Animal and Plant Disease Stakeholder Forum• Work shadowing and visiting fellowships• Web-based communications• E-newsletter• Relu publications (eg policy and practice notes,

special issue of journal)• Specialist and mainstream media coverage