A new project 'Crop-MATCHING' sees NICRE involved in the development of a thematic network to boost small-scale farming through the adoption of sustainable cropping practices. The 4-year initiative is funded under the European Commission's Horizon-Europe and, running from October 2025 until September 2029, brings together 13 partner organisations from research and industry from 16 countries across Europe.
The overall project aims to identify and connect smallholder farmers and foresters with validated sustainable cropping practices and evidence-based training, which can deliver both economic and environmental benefits.
Curated Practices - Evidence-based sustainable cropping practices validated by research and on-farm demonstrations across Europe.
Short Training Modules - 10-35 minute courses designed for busy farmers, with practical checklists and certificates.
In the UK, NICRE will be working alongside European partners to bridge the gap between research and practical implementation, in the identification of best crop matching practices, building a multi-actor co-creation community for thematic exchanges, development of training materials and learning resources, and a campaign launch to change social norms on crop matching.
The NICRE team brings together academics from across Newcastle University, including Matthew Gorton and Cezara Nicoara from the Business School, and Paul Bilsborrow and Barbara Tocco from the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences.
I’m Deputy Director of NICRE and Professor of Marketing at Newcastle University Business School. My research on rural business began with a PhD on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in rural England. For the last twenty years, I have worked at Newcastle University. I have been involved in several projects related to rural enterprises, food supply chains and food marketing. I teach marketing and collaborate extensively with colleagues in the Centre for Rural Economy. I am currently the coordinator of the EU Horizon 2020 project Strength2Food. This project considers the economic, social and environmental impacts of food quality schemes, public sector food procurement and short food supply chains.
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