Brief encounter

Can streetwise townie Sue have anything in common with Relu who has come up from the country for the day? Could it even end in engagement? Like many apparently unlikely partners these two UK research council programmes found they had a lot in common. Sue - or the Sustainable Urban Environment programme to give her full name - and Relu - held a joint workshop in London and found many common interests in stakeholder involvement, interdisciplinarity and communication. Both concluded that cracking the disciplinary language barrier is essential and that could apply to the town and country divide too. It is clear that both urban and rural environments must be sustainable, and in an era of climate change they depend upon one another more than ever. The extended poster session for researchers from the two programmes struck some promising sparks - with several vowing to keep in touch and exchange information. Could this be the start of some fruitful liaisons? And if we were to hold another workshop for Relu and Sue should it be in the countryside? That might provide even more inspiration.