About the Taskforce

Shaping policy to help coastal and rural places thrive

The North East Coastal and Rural Taskforce brings together partners from different sectors and parts of the region to tackle long-standing issues facing coastal and rural places. It works together, drawing on local experience and insight, to shape future policy and investment in ways that genuinely reflect what these communities need. The learning from this can help make sure devolution works for coastal and rural areas in all parts of the UK.

The Taskforce will operate until September 2027, developing a set of Coastal and Rural Economy Transformation Blueprints for the region. These blueprints will offer practical models, policy recommendations and insights that can be shared not only across the North East but nationally.

The Taskforce is aligned with the Environmental Stewardship, Coast and Rural Investment Plan which allocates £17.5m between 2024 and 2029 to support nature recovery, rural and coastal business growth, and evidence and innovation.

Our focus

The Taskforce centres its work around three themes:

Agriculture, land use and nature
Climate adaptation and resilience
Coastal and rural communities

These themes are shared priorities for the North East and resonate strongly with national policy discussions and DEFRA's interests in understanding barriers and enablers in rural and coastal areas.

Working with partners and communities, the Taskforce will explore the challenges within these themes, develop solutions, and test new ideas in real places.

View Taskforce Members Taskforce Updates

What the Taskforce is for

Bringing together local, regional and national partners to jointly develop new policy solutions for coastal and rural communities.
Creating a Coastal and Rural Economy Transformation Blueprint for the North East.
Piloting and evaluating practical interventions in selected localities to understand what works and what can be scaled.
Identifying policy barriers and enablers at local, regional and national levels.
Supporting learning and connection with other coastal and rural initiatives across the UK.

What the Taskforce is not for

Creating policy directly - its role is to develop ideas, insights and models that inform policy.
Providing significant funding or being a grants programme
Managing individual casework or resolving local disputes.
Duplicating existing engagement - instead, it builds on structures that partners already have in place.

Coastal and rural policy lens

At each meeting, the Taskforce explores regional or national policy proposals through a coastal and rural lens, helping policymakers understand local impacts and identify opportunities to improve outcomes for these places.

Solution Sessions

Working with partners and communities, the Taskforce runs Solution Sessions to explore shared challenges, test practical ideas in real places, and develop models and recommendations that can inform future policy and investment.

To see how these work in practice, visit our ‘Rural Climathons’ page.

Timeline

The Taskforce’s work will run from October 2025 to September 2027.

For enquiries about the Taskforce, please email nicre@newcastle.ac.uk