A National Conversation: Towards a Resilience Culture

Pests and diseases Socio economic research

Many of the priorities for tree and plant health identified by the UK government in the Plant Health & Biosecurity Strategy (2014) and the Tree Health Resilience Strategy (2018) require changes in behaviour from a wide range of stakeholders, including the general public. This research aims to lay the foundations for a National Conversation on plant / tree health and biosecurity, initially by conducting a national-scale survey of the public’s views of biosecurity and plant / tree health issues, followed by targeted research into how biosecure behaviours can be encouraged.

Research objectives

Determine the societal-scale levels of appreciation, awareness and understanding of biosecurity and plant / tree health issues in the UK.
Identify what the general public see as their roles and responsibilities to improving biosecurity.
Canvas key stakeholder groups to see where they would like increased levels of public appreciation, awareness, understanding and support for biosecurity and plant / tree health.
Determine key plant / tree health issues for which behavioural interventions could be part of a solution.
Scope how a National Conversation could be designed and delivered to increase appreciation, awareness, understanding and support for biosecurity in the UK

Funding & partners

This project is part of the Future Proofing Plant Health project funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

Authors

Chris Pollard

Social Scientist

Bianca Ambrose-Oji

Science group leader

Themes

Pests and diseases, Socio economic research