Communication strategies for the effective delivery of landscape-scale conservation schemes.

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ESRC : Aimee Morse : ES/P00069X/1This research will build on Marr et al's (2016) paper which explores the differences in agri-environment policies in Ontario and England. While the UK has moved away from a productivist framework, Ontario employs a land-sparing strategy to ensure its agricultural land can be used to its productive potential (Marr et al, 2016). Where environmental stewardship has been encouraged this is only on a voluntary basis, as opposed to the payments farmers receive for stewarding their land in the UK. Despite their differences, both countries now recognise the value of collaborative working in landscape protection and encourage collaborative projects in a number of ways. With this in mind, I propose a project which seeks to understand how effective communication can facilitate successful collaborative working for the delivery of landscapescale conservation schemes. Communication is an essential part of successful collaboration; thus, for collaborative working to reach its full potential the specific goals and motivations of land manager groups, or environmental organisations, must be clear and communicated to all members (Ostrom, 1998; Mills et al, 2011; Emery and Franks, 2012). Where communication is lacking, there can be detrimental effects, both to the social capital of the group and also to the environment they are working together to conserve. The proposed project would discover multiple stakeholders' perspectives on the potential success of landscape-scale conservation in Ontario (lending geographic novelty to this work) through interviews facilitated by the strong working relationships among faculty staff at the University of Guelph, policy makers and advisers in Agri-Food Canada and a multitude of agricultural and environmental organisations in Ontario. In particular I would focus on their views regarding the communication of environmental program aims in three areas: within their own organisation; between themselves and other organisations; and with farmers and land managers. After gaining an understanding of the issues they raise with regards to communication, I will assess the positive and negative impacts of their communication strategies on the conservation efforts they are involved in. Where these are negative, I would aim to suggest means by which these barriers might be overcome to promote the successful delivery of landscape scale conservation by multiple stakeholders. I will compare their perspectives with those of the land managers and facilitators I will be interviewing for my doctoral research in England to lend a comparative insight to the work. An early evaluation of the CSFF in England reflected a broadly positive response to the outcomes of the scheme (ADAS, 2018), however through my research I hope to discover more about how and why these collaborations have worked through assessing group members' perspectives on collaborative working and the relationships and skills they have gained from being a part of a funded group. This will include discussions around how well the group have communicated their views and intentions during the period in which they were funded.