The connections between rural people and the land are vital to the distinctiveness and sustainability of rural England, but these connections are changing. Rural policy tends to separate agriculture and land-use from social issues, such as affordable housing, services and deprivation, but the links between the two are important.

So that we can best advise Government policy makers, it's vital to understand these changing connections between rural communities and the land and to develop appropriate responses to the opportunities and solutions to the problems arising from them.

We've identified a number of things that connect people and the land, or have done so in the past. We've explored one of these in depth, by commissioning the Countryside and Community Research Unit of the  University of Gloucestershire to research, using ethnographic methods, the Social Contribution Land Based Industries to Rural Communities, at five case-study locations.

The report 'The social contribution of land based industries to rural communities' shows that the nature and scale of interactions between land-based industries and rural communities vary greatly from place to place. Overall, it appears that any 'fault line' between the two is less significant than divisions within communities between newcomers and established residents.

We launched the report at the Royal Show as part of a reception and discussion hosted by our Chair and Rural Advocate, Stuart Burgess. The aim of this event was for us to hear the views of rural practitioners, especially those in the farming industry, on the connections between rural communities and the land, and on where we, in our roles as rural advocate, watchdog and adviser, should focus our efforts.