Field-stations become a hub of local/regional knowledge, with active links to other emerging regional projects.
Such projects (seeking to demonstrate new ways that humans and nature can thrive together) often occur as ‘niche’ experiments, protected from the mainstream. They can be obscured by their size, or novelty. They may focus on a specific area of regenerative action – land-use or wetlands; ocean and river systems; multi-species recovery; food production and agriculture; rewilding; natural carbon-sequestration; renewable energy; social networks; tourism; circular systems, and so on.
Field-stations will map and connect to these niche activities in their region, to amplify and support their viability.
Knowledge from these protected niches can influence the work of the local Field-station or the activities of the network as a whole.
Identifying regional niche projects forms part of the early research conducted by the university partners, who will map their place and characteristics