Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

This qualitative data collection is part of the Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) programme. Government agencies are now starting to consider deer and their impacts in the wider context of ecosystem services. This research project developed a participatory framework which has informed disputes over deer management among neighbours and between policy makers and practitioners. This showed the value of co-construction of maps to combine practitioner and scientific knowledge to create a better landscape-scale understanding and provide a vehicle for negotiating adaptive management options. To build on these results, this follow-on project provided support and training to help conservation agency staff and land managers to incorporate this participatory framework into practice, to build transferable skills in participatory planning via shared resource maps and foster collaboration over public and private objectives. Further information for this study may be found through the ESRC Research Catalogue webpage: Building capacity through participatory action learning for implementation of sustainable natural resource management.

Main Topics:

Researcher-stakeholder collaboration to develop engagement, communication and collaborative planning strategies for the deer sector in Scotland (NE) and England (Cumbria); collaborative deer management; landscape-scale natural resources management; participatory mapping.

Purposive selection/case studies

Face-to-face interview

Telephone interview