Field\work

The Field\work network takes as its frame an archetypal feature of agricultural landscapes: the field. Perhaps the best visual example of how humans and land interact , fields epitomise the imagined rural landscape, whilst inherently signifying the work that landscape cultivation requires and the notion of ownership that enclosure represents. The network aims to explore and build narratives of agri-culture (ager =field) that bring classical philosophies into dialogue with present political and geographical concerns regarding the cultural values and meanings of landscape.

The network aims for a better understanding of the field as an iconic landscape form by formulating a methodological toolkit emerging from Classics and Cultural Geography, and using this to interrogate understandings of cultural value in relation to narrative, time, and ethics. We address fields as multifunctional sites of invisible labour, and through close and innovative dialogue with non-academic partners aim to pluralise meaning in agricultural landscapes, and to open up routes for relating this to land stewardship. To do this we will combine text-based approaches (using Virgil's Georgics as a model to elicit new thinking) with phenomenologically engaged research-in-practice (thinking walks, artworks); we will also experiment with crowdsourcing via a website and a stand at the Mid-Devon show. These can be used to answer questions such as: How can we develop more cross-disciplinary and temporally-sensitive accounts of the role of culture and heritage in the creation of landscape values? What are the roles of text and experience in the creation of agricultural ethics? How can textual and embodied research together uncover a more detailed perspective on cultural ecosystems services with respect to agricultural places? And how can social values in relation to agricultural landscapes be discovered together through art and practice? To achieve this, the network will bring a range of stakeholders with interests in landscape decision-making (including estate managers, farmers, policy-makers and charities) into dialogue with practising artists and academics with expertise from across AH and social sciences: scholars who share research concerns on the interaction between human and landscape, but from different perspectives and disciplines (Classics, Cultural Geography, Cultural History, Economics, English, Landscape Architecture, Medicine, Philosophy, and Rural Policy). This novel combination will work to establish sustainable collaborations, rooted in the concept of the field.

This research network focuses on Devon. Devon is a particularly appropriate setting in which to consider questions of landscape-value; it houses one of the largest UK agricultural economies, and Devon hedgebanks (field borders) are more ancient and extensive than in any other county. North Devon's UNESCO designated Biosphere Reserve is the UK's only Landscape Pioneer within the 25-year Environment Plan, and has stakeholders interested in testing approaches to natural capital. Our proposal has been shaped through conversation with a range of partners, who have explicitly requested that the network create disruptive outcomes accessible beyond the academic community.

This is an engaged research project that involves working from the outset in dialogue with a range of stakeholders such as estate managers, policy practitioners, charities, an arts organisation, and the regional MEP. A key aim is to build a more detailed perspective on cultural ecosystems services with respect to agricultural places and to contribute to current policies relating to land usage by developing meaningful dialogues across different interest groups. The network has been put together with a view to closely involving a range of non-academic partners with an interest in decision-making about landscape, in order to embed knowledge exchange at the core. The research process aims to have impact at a local and national level throughout the life of the project and beyond, by informing the practices and policies of the participants with respect to understandings of culture and heritage in the creation of landscape values, and, through them, by feeding into the wider political environment.

The key impact objectives are: to challenge understandings of cultural production and heritage in the context of agricultural landscapes and instigate changes in attitude and practice in relation to 'value' (beneficiaries: landowners, estate managers, farmers, policy makers, regional MEP); to inform creative practice (beneficiaries: artists, arts organisations); to embed in the key findings a broad understanding of landscape narratives by direct and indirect engagement with the general public (beneficiaries: charities, rural communities, urban communities, self-defined communities based around the concept of the 'field'). The principal target users and beneficiaries of our research outside the academic community to achieve these objectives are:

1. Non-academic network participants. These comprise almost half the named participants in the network. The steering group includes three major landholders in the area with different remits: a private estate, a charity, and a farm. They will contribute to the shaping of the overall research programme by ensuring the outcomes are kept relevant to the fast-paced political changes expected to take place over the next two years. The involvement of these participants will ensure that the key findings of the research will be fed into national conversations about land use; conversely, the aim is to impact upon their own practice through involvement in the network. They will partake in workshop discussions and will receive a copy of the 'key findings' from the research network. Other non-academic collaborators include representatives from a local charity, an arts organisation, policy-advisors, and the regional MEP. Findings will also be circulated to all of the project partners at the end.

2. Creative practitioners. Two artists will partake in discussion as well as producing artworks, so that the impact of the research will permeate their pieces. They will also benefit from the support enabled through the network by Beaford Arts, an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

3. Devon public. Key findings of the research will be disseminated to the wider public through the magazine article, art exhibition, 'Fieldnotes' website, and the Mid-Devon Show stand; they will also benefit from co-creating the website as a community resource. The exhibition will be held at the UoE, the Mid-Devon show and in rural communities, allowing for different sectors and stakeholders to be targeted.

Overall, we seek to gather a public-facing network which has reciprocal benefits for research and different sectors of the public by integrating a wide range of participants, and involving them in discussion and dissemination.

Other direct users and beneficiaries include:
i. Agricultural workers and farmers attending the Mid-Devon Show.
ii. Those interested in learning more about regional 'field narratives' via the website.
iii. Those with an interest in regional cultural history.
iv. Art enthusiasts.