Engaging Communities in Resilient, Nature- and Climate-positive Land Use Futures: towards a shared agenda for cultural HNV landscapes in Europe and Japan
Event
REGULAR SEMINAR IN BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION
Janet is an experienced policy analyst and researcher working in the domain of sustainable agri-rural and environmental systems, and rural resilience. Trained in biological sciences and agricultural economics, she has expertise in rural development and agricultural policies, agri-environmental and innovative approaches to sustainable land management, and interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research methods. She has 40 years' experience and an established international reputation in complex, mixed-methods policy evaluation and development, working principally in the UK and Europe. More recently Janet has extended her work to Japan, from where she now leads the 'Satoconn' project: Satoyama reconnections - Engaging Communities in Resilient, Nature- and Climate-positive Land Use Futures. Janet is Professor of Rural Policy and a former Director of the Countryside and Community Research Institute at the University of Gloucestershire, a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies of the UK and Membre Associe of the Academie d'Agriculture, France. In June 2022 she was honoured with the award of an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II for her services to Rural Research.
May 08th, 2026
Janet Dwyer, University of Gloucestershire & Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) | 15h30 | Hybrid Seminar
REGULAR SEMINAR IN BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION
Our 4-year project "Satoconn" aims, through close collaboration with local actors and stakeholders in Living Labs, to identify transferable approaches to rural resilience in high-nature-value cultural landscapes: 'Satoyama', in Europe and Japan. Angela Lomba from CIBIO is a key member of the project team, managing the Portuguese case study and contributing to our transdisciplinary methodology which combines natural and social sciences with arts practice, and respectful and reciprocal community engagement. Other case studies are located in Dartmoor, UK; Vindelalven, Sweden; Sarnen, Switzerland; Sado island, Japan; and Hira-Ogi, Shiga, Japan. Janet will present an overview of the Satoconn project and progress so far, drawing on detailed work by colleagues in the Japanese Hira-Ogi case to illustrate some emerging findings and key themes of engagement. We seek to stimulate discussion on the similarities and contrasts with Portuguese and other European sites, and on the need for more effective international policies for managed cultural landscapes (Social-Ecological Production Landscapes or SEPLs; IPSI, 2014) such as these.
Janet is an experienced policy analyst and researcher working in the domain of sustainable agri-rural and environmental systems, and rural resilience. Trained in biological sciences and agricultural economics, she has expertise in rural development and agricultural policies, agri-environmental and innovative approaches to sustainable land management, and interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research methods. She has 40 years' experience and an established international reputation in complex, mixed-methods policy evaluation and development, working principally in the UK and Europe. More recently Janet has extended her work to Japan, from where she now leads the 'Satoconn' project: Satoyama reconnections - Engaging Communities in Resilient, Nature- and Climate-positive Land Use Futures. Janet is Professor of Rural Policy and a former Director of the Countryside and Community Research Institute at the University of Gloucestershire, a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies of the UK and Membre Associe of the Academie d'Agriculture, France. In June 2022 she was honoured with the award of an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II for her services to Rural Research.
[Hosts: Ângela Lomba, Biodiversity in Agricultural and Forest Ecosystems - AGRODIV]