The OICSD convened a small a small, and varied group of academics met for the first of a series of day-long workshops, held on the Blenheim Palace Estate. The purpose was to initiate the development of a theoretical framework to reconcile the broad impacts of different land management choices.

This framework aimed to draw in diverse land management goals, and the interactions between them, to guide policy makers on how land parcels should be used. The group worked to find an objective method to guide land management decisions, before contextualising this using the Blenheim Palace Estate, taking political-economy and societal norms into account.

Participants included Tom Curtis, a sustainable land management consultant; Dr Lisa Norton, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology; Dr Laurence Smith, Organic Research Centre; Dr Patrick Clibbens, historian, Prof Philip Kreager, anthropologist; George Geddes, archaeologist. Roy Cox – Rural Enterprises Manager to the Estate, also presented to the group.

Further reading?

Mansfield and Somerville Colleges’ Joint Statement on the Emergency Brake on Student Visas

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Mansfield and Somerville Colleges’ Joint Statement on the Emergency Brake on Student Visas

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‘Secret Genius’ Comes to Somerville

Janet Vaughan Society Dinner 2026

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