An internationally excellent Research Institute” (REF, 2021). Shaping rural development policy and practice in the UK, Europe and further afield.

The Countryside & Community Research Institute is a collaboration between the University of Gloucestershire, the Royal Agricultural University and Hartpury College for the purposes of research, education and knowledge exchange. 

The CCRI is one of the largest specialist rural research centres in the UK, working at the interface of agriculture, society and the environment on issues relevant to rural and urban development, in the UK, Europe and further afield. Working with colleagues and partners in the physical as well as social sciences the CCRI's research ranges from soil science, sustainable agriculture, to the culture of food, and the limits of the food system.

As we prepare for the policy, technological and environmental challenges before us, we look to work with those engaged in agriculture, food and environmental management as well as rural communities.

Related Organisations

Connected Content

Farm-PEP aims to bring together all the sources of useful knowledge for Agriculture, whether from academic science, applied research projects, industry trials, farmers own trials or simple on-farm experience. Listed below are useful websites, organisations and websites that we know of.  Add any we've missed in the comments box or by adding as new content, or better still, as a new Group.  

The Farmer-Led Innovation Network (FLIN) are UK based organisations driving farmer-led innovation - working together to power up and increase the impact of farmer led innovation initiatives.

Share your views on how we can improve Farmpep.net

The initial Farm-PEP project funded under the Innovate UK competition 'UKRI Ideas to address Covid-19'.  ADAS led consortium to assess the impact of Covid-19 on knowledge exchange in agriculture, and to develop the Farm-PEP web solution at www.farmpep.net. The initial Farm-PEP project began in January 2021 and ran to February 2022.

Building the right skills for the agricultural industry has been recognised as crucial to its future success.

Farm-centric research generally involves On-Farm Experimentation and may be better described as 'Farm Action Research', i.e. research conducted at least in part by and for beneficiaries who also farm. 

The ideas behind Farm-PEP came together in ~2018, drawing from the developments of Agronomics, the YENs, AHDB's Monitor Farm programme and the idea of a 'What Works' Centre for Agriculture. 

Thrive through change with the Royal Agricultural University

MINAGRIS is an EU-funded project which is aiming to contribute to healthy soils in Europe by providing a deeper understanding and tools to assess the impact of microplastics and nanoplastics in agricultural soil health.

Agricultural research is conducted by a range of organisations, from individual farmers, through advisors, distributors, manufacturers, charities, societies, supply chain companies, levy bodies, universities and research institutes.  This page aims to connect across these often disparate sources.

A range of digital technologies promise to transform agriculture, including sensing, robotics, artificial intelligence, wireless networks & IoT, big data, decision support tools, modelling, digital twins and precision farming. 

Knowledge Exchange in Agriculture in the UK is diverse, with many organisations involved. That is part of the reason for creating Farm-PEP, to help provide connections to what many percieve as a fragmented landscape.

Many of the most telling innovations that make a difference on-farm come from farmers themselves, or from close collaboration between farmers, advisors, industry and researchers

Hybrid conference held in Montpellier in October 2021 exploring Farmer Centric On-Farm Experimentation.  

The Agriculture Knowledge & Innovation System