Sustainable Intensification Platform

1 January 2014 - 30 November 2017

Project webpage(s)

Sustainable Intensification Platform

About the research

Professor Michael Winter along with Associate Professor Matt Lobley and Gavin Huggett, and with help from Dr Becca Wheeler are leading an exciting cross-disciplinary project under the Sustainable Intensification Research Platform (SIP), a multi-organisation research programme exploring the opportunities and risks for the sustainable intensification (SI) of farming across England and Wales.

As part of this programme the University of Exeter was awarded a £2million contract by Defra in 2014 for a 3-year project to investigate the Opportunities and Risks for Farming and the Environment at Landscape Scales. The research will focus on collaboration between farms and other stakeholders as a potential means to enhance agricultural output, reduce environmental impact and increase benefits to society (e.g. recreation and rural employment) across the scale of a river catchment or group of multiple-farms.

Michael and Matt are also involved in another SIP project, led by NIAB, exploring integrated management at the farm-level in order to enhance economic, environmental and social performance of farms.

‌A third project, a scoping-study led by ADAS in 2014, examined external impacts, such as market forces, supply chains and climate change, on the sustainability and productivity of English and Welsh farming.

The Sustainable Intensification Research Platform contains much more information about the purpose of the research and the huge variety of work being carried out under SIP. Here you can also download the latest edition of SIPScene – the platform newsletter, and sign up to future editions.

For further information please contact:

Gavin Huggett
Defra SIP Project 2 Manager
Email:  g.huggett@exeter.ac.uk
Tel:      +44 (0) 1392 725042