Future Countryside 2025
Tuesday 20 May, Chatsworth House

9.00: Arrival and coffee

9.30: Welcome - Nick Herbert, and Julian Glover, co-founders of Future Countryside

9.35: Welcome from William Burlington, Chatsworth House

9.45: Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A, on the cultural and heritage role of the countryside

WHAT IS THE COUNTRYSIDE FOR - GREEN V GROWTH

10.05: Michael Gove in discussion with Julian Glover on the challenges facing the government about the countryside

10.30: Big room conversation

11.00: COFFEE BREAK

11.20: Provocations on land use and the challenges facing the countryside

Introduction and Chair – Alice Thomson, The Times

What works for the…

  • Access to the countryside - Yvonne Witter, Chair of Trustees at Peak District Mosaic

  • Housing and planning - Roger Mortlock, Chief Executive at CPRE

  • Rewilding, land use and land ownership - Professor Alastair Driver, Rewilding Specialist 

  • Nature - Jo Smith, CEO of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust

  • Carbon offsetting/tree planting - Dr Anna Brown, Director of Forest Services, Forestry Commission 

12.00: Roundtable discussions on the provocations

12.30: Tom Bradshaw, NFU in conversation with Jake Fiennes – reflect on family farms, SFI and wider countryside issues

1.00-2.15: LUNCH

NATURE/HEALTH/WELL-BEING AND YOUNG PEOPLE

2.15: Dr Tony JuniperChair of Natural England, in conversation with Sarah MukherjeeCEO of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment

2.35: Kathy Willisprofessor of biodiversity at Oxford University, Fiona Reynolds, Food and Farming Commission and  Tracey BleakleyNorfolk and Waveney ICB, in conversation about how the natural environment can improve health outcomes 

3.00: COFFEE BREAK

3.15: Panel discussion chaired by Emily Norton, farmer and policy champion for the AgriFoodforNetZeronetwork with McDonald's young farmers & Peak District Youth Impact Collective on Gen Z’s view of the countryside

4.15: Closing plenary – Julian Glover and Nick Herbert

4.30: Wrap up and close