Society & Community
Gloucestershire is defined as a rural county with 70% agricultural land and woodland. It is also a county of great contrast with its distinctly rural districts, market towns, forest and wilderness and its busy urban hubs, Cheltenham and Gloucester.
The county is characterised as environmentally savvy, innovative, and entrepreneurial with a thriving SME community and a selection of nationally recognised businesses and institutions.
The county has areas of great prosperity sitting alongside pockets of deprivation, some enjoy an exciting food culture, while others struggle to access nutritious food.
Gloucestershire has a higher-than-average ageing population and loses too much of its young talent, who build their lives outside the county. These young people are passionate about the environment and powerful champions for the transformation required in the food system.
Inequality is felt throughout our County, our country and our food and farming system. Whether it is access to food, housing, green space, transport or employment, how we work together through an Integrated Local Delivery (ILD) and systems approach is a key part in solving many of the crises of our age. If we are to have a chance of addressing the food and fuel poverty, environmental and ecological emergencies we face, then we must ensure that all voices, particularly those who have been marginalised, are heard.
Transformation is needed from the ground up. The ILD approach taken by The Farming and Wildlife Advisory SouthWest inspires and enables communities to come together to build resilience, supported by an all-inclusive partnership of organisations working together at a local level.
Picture Credit: Just Kidding