9.00 am

Registration & Tea/Coffee

9:30 am

Welcome by Prof Gerry Boyle, (President AESI) Director of Teagasc

Session Theme: Balancing competitiveness and environmental sustainability:
 future challenges facing agriculture

9.45 am

Professor Frank Convery, University College Dublin (available shortly)

Frank will provide an overview of the direction in which environmental policy constraints are moving, the challenges in meeting the targets required to contain Global Warming (with special emphasis on agriculture) and the implications of existing and possible future policy measures for agriculture, food and the wider economy.

10.15 am

Tom Arnold, CEO Concern Worldwide and member of the UN Hunger Task Force

Tom will review the impact of climate change and environmental policies on global food supply, assess current and future global food requirements and discuss the effect of food prices volatility on developing countries.

10.45 am

Tea/Coffee Break (Atrium)

11.15 am

Fergus McReynolds, Environmental Manager- Dairy UK

Fergus will outline the potential impact of compliance with environmental policies on the food processing sector and at farm level, looking at the various means by which the sector can address these challenges and minimise the impact on its international competitiveness.

11.45 am

Professor David Harvey, Newcastle University

David will discuss the policies required to promote a sustainable agricultural sector while meeting the challenges outlined by previous speakers. He will also provide an overview of the role of the agricultural economist in designing, implementing and evaluating these policies.  

12.15 pm

Panel to discuss

1:00 pm

Lunch (IMI Restaurant)

Session Theme: Understanding and promoting better Rural Development policy:
UK and Ireland experience

2.10 pm

Chair: Professor Berkeley Hill, (President AES) Imperial College, London

2.15 pm

Professor Peter Midmore, Aberystwyth University

Peter’s paper will outline that a clear understanding of the mechanisms underlying rural change is essential for an accurate evaluation of rural policy. Specifically, recent research into the spatial distribution of the positive effects of globalisation and the negative effect of economic security concerns require an urgent revision of rural development policy.

2.45 pm

Dr. Janet Dwyer and Dr. Damian Maye, University of Gloucestershire

The Rural Development Programmes of the CAP's 'second pillar' have been developed within a common EU framework, but each is influenced by local political, institutional and socio-economic contexts.  Using examples from Ireland and the UK this paper will outline what the analysis of these aspects of policy design reveal about what the potential success of the policies.

3.15 pm

Dr Sally Shortall, Queen’s University Belfast

Examining the relationship between rural policy and evidence in the UK and Ireland- a comparative analysis. Sally's presentation will draw on research she has conducted in Ireland and the UK to examine how evidence is used to inform rural policy.

3.45 pm

Tea/Coffee Break (Atrium)

4.15 pm

Panel Discussion – Irish Rural Development Policy Makers and Practitioners

Dr. Jim Kinsella, University College Dublin  and Brendan Kearney, Kearney and Associates

Speakers in this panel will outline the Leader experience in Ireland and provide an evaluation of its success.

5.15 pm

Conference Concludes

6.00 pm

Drinks Reception and Registration for AES Conference (Atrium)

7.00 pm

Dinner and Topical Speaker (IMI Restaurant)