Rachel Lasko

Rachel Lasko is a social scientist with expertise in policy co-design, environmental governance, and agri-environmental policy. Her research centres on the green Brexit transition, specifically evaluating farmers' policy concerns during the post-Brexit agri-environmental policy shift. As the UK undertakes its first major agricultural policy overhaul in over three decades, Rachel investigates how farmers in England are responding to the introduction of new Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS), which are being co-designed to align the agriculture sector with environmental targets such as the 25-Year Environment Plan and Net Zero by 2050. Working at the intersection of academia and policy, she collaborates directly with farmers, policymakers, and local communities to co-develop practical, participatory solutions for sustainable agriculture and biodiversity restoration. Her work bridges theoretical inquiry with applied, impact-driven research, ensuring that those most affected by climate change and policy transitions are central to shaping resilient agricultural futures.

Agri-Environmental Policy & Governance

She takes part in a Defra-funded research project in the School of Geography and the Environment, investigating the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) Pilot and Environmental Land Management (ELM) test and trials. This work employs participatory methods to assess how new agri-environmental schemes can be designed to be both effective for farmers and beneficial for nature.

• Dodsworth, J., Lasko, R. and Little, R. (2024) Stick your wellies on: messy development and co-design processes with England’s new Environmental Land Management (ELM) policy. In, Reid, N., Norton, D. and Smith, R. (eds.) Managing Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes: Conservation, Restoration and Rewilding. Cambridge: Burleigh Dodds.