The lead partner (beneficiary) for the project is NLWKN who is the link to the Commission. In the UK the lead partner is UKWIR.
The delivery partners in the UK are:
• ADAS UK Ltd (ADAS);
• Environment Agency (the Agency);
• National Farmers’ Union (NFU);
• Wessex Water Services Ltd (WW); and
• UK Water Industry Research Ltd (UKWIR).
Click here for more information on the Partners
The management structure for the UK partnership is shown in the diagram below. The UK Steering Group oversees the project and reports back to the International Steering Group.
In order to deliver the project it is necessary to form Local Farmers Groups so that the UK Steering Group can liaise with the farmers as a community, to share ideas and disseminate findings.
The important link is that between the Catchment Advisers and the individual farmers. It at this level that an understanding of the farm issues are identified; mitigation methods discussed, based upon the programme of measures; and implementation agreed on a case by case basis.
In addition a Local Stakeholders Group has also been established. The representatives on this group are from other agencies/bodies that have an interest in land management and water quality issues.
The project is co-funded by the partnerships and by a contribution from the LIFE financial instrument of the European Community. Additional co-funding has been made available by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in the UK and Niedersachsisches (Nds. MU) in Lower Saxony.
The UK Steering Group meets every two months to review progress and to take the project forward. The meetings are both management and technical in nature. There are also technical meeting of the specialists. In order to engage with the local farmers and other stakeholders the UK partners meet with thoses groups to appraise them of the project progress and to discuss common issues necessary to take the project forward.
In addition there are meetings with the Lower Saxony partners and in particular Expert Groups. These groups ensure there is an exchange of information, experiences to learn from each other. The two expert groups cover catchment modelling and agricultural practice. Allied to these meeting is the farmer interaction. It is seen as the opportunity for farmers from each country to meet and learn from each other thereby adding value to the projects outputs. There has been five International Group meetings and farmer exchange visits during the progress of the project.
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Farmers exchange visit in September 2006
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