Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas

An International Research Centre

Who We Are

We are an interdisciplinary team of academics, professors of practice, visiting and honorary fellows and doctoral researchers. We are interested in making a difference to national parks and protected area management. We collaborate widely with those professionals seeking to manage our special places for the benefit of all.

What We Do

We operate a transdisciplinary approach, which focuses on world-class academic excellence with a global reach, the purpose of which is to inform and influence policy making, develop best practice, governance and innovation of resource use and promote knowledge transfer through high-quality translational skills.

We aim to attract internationally and nationally renowned academics in relevant disciplines through conferences, fellowships, research and enterprise projects, whilst encouraging dialogue with policymakers and professional practitioners.

Our Vision

A national and international centre of excellence for transdisciplinary study and research into national parks and protected areas, that addresses complex local and global challenges and develops innovative practices to enhance landscapes and communities.

A short-haired woman smiled under an umbrella.

Meet our Director

Lois Mansfield is the Director of the Centre for National Parks & Protected Areas (CNPPA) and Professor of Upland Landscapes at the University of Cumbria.

Lois participates in active research in the area of upland agriculture and is a recipient of a Winston Churchill Fellowship (2019) related to place-based rural development using cultural capital in Japan.

Find out more about Lois

Meet the Team

Dr Penny Bradshaw
Theme Lead: Cultural Landscapes
Dr Angus I. Carpenter
Theme Lead: Conservation & Ecology
Dr Angela Anthonisz
Theme Lead: Rural & Visitor Economy
Professor Julia Aglionby
Professor of Practice
Sarah Hall
Professor of Practice
Tania Lemmey
CNPPA Development Officer

Our Research Themes

Cultural Landscapes

This theme brings together areas of research that engage with the 'combined works of nature and humankind' (UNESCO) and which explore interpretations of, and creative responses to, the complex and dynamic relationship between humans and nature.

Human Nature Relations

The engagement of people with nature produces a landscape. Personal, social, economic and political actions interact with natural processes, habitats and species in dynamic relations.

Rural and Visitor Economy

The rural and visitor economy theme adopts a transformational business philosophy that encourages the development of innovative thinking and contemporary approaches to planning and management that are linked to supporting a broad range of resources.

Conservation and Ecology

The Conservation and Ecology group take a transdisciplinary action-orientated approach, drawing on natural and social sciences, to conduct research with the aim of protecting species, their habitats and ecosystems from biodiversity loss.

Our Creative Associates

The PLACE Collective is a community of artists engaged with issues of nature, environment and rural societies. It brings artists into a wider process of research, debate and knowledge-sharing and encourages more sustainable approaches.

Founders: Harriet Fraser and Rob Fraser, Visiting Research Fellows.

The PLACE Collective

Latest News & Events

Prof Chris Loynes asks: Outdoor Education - what can it offer urban communities, and how to make it accessible and inclusive?

CNPPA Newsletters

COP26 Joint Statement

Centre for National Parks & Protected Areas (CNPPA) became a founding signatory to the Protected and Conserved Areas Joint Statement (PCAJS) at COP26 in Glasgow.

This is an international statement signed by a number of international national park organisations, government departments, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature's World Commission for Protected Areas (IUCN-WCPA).

The signing took place in the UK Pavilion at COP26 Friday 5^th November 2021. You can watch the recording on YouTube here

Read the PCAJS Report.

Past Events

Free lecture | A Right to See the Stars: Bringing Outdoor Education to All the People | 25 January 2023 | Online & University of Cumbria's London campus |

Prof Chris Loynes asks: Outdoor Education - what can it offer urban communities, and how to make it accessible and inclusive?

Public lecture recording - view here on YouTube.

Cultural Landscapes Talk on Place Names - 7 November 2022, Ambleside

Envisaging landscapes and naming places: the Ordnance Survey name books and the Lake District

Speaker: Professor Fiona Edmonds, Lancaster University

This talk was hosted at University of Cumbria's Ambleside campus, brought to you by the Centre for National Parks & Protected Areas with The Armitt Library & Museum Centre.

A 21st Century ‘People’s Charter’ for Nature, Access & Landscape: Panel Discussion - 31 October 2022

This online panel debate, in partnership with the Campaign for National Parks, will explored powers and legislation required for protected landscapes to address the overlapping crises of health, nature and climate.

The discussion was chaired by Julia Aglionby, Professor of Practice at University of Cumbria. Confirmed panelists include Rose O’Neill, Chief Executive of Campaign for National Parks, Sarah Mukherjee MBE, CEO of IEMA, and Tompion Platt, Director of Operations and Advocacy for the Ramblers.

Further information: cnp.org.uk/event

Landscapes for Nature Recovery Conference - March/April 2022

An evening webinar presenting the context for nature recovery in protected landscapes
An online conference exploring practicalities of nature recovery

These events were hosted by CNPPA in partnership with the Lake District National Park Partnership, RSPB and Nature North.

View the Landscapes for Nature Recovery Conference Programme, 7 April 2022.

View recordings of the main sessions.

National Landscapes Partnership Panel Discussion - February 2022

This event was hosted by CNPPA in partnership with the Campaign for National Parks and explored Defra’s proposed National Landscapes Partnership.

A recording is available on our YouTube channel here.

What is Natural Beauty? Symposium - December 2021

This online event was hosted by CNPPA and run by the PLACE Collective with the Wye Valley AONB Partnership and the Lake District National Park Authority.

The symposium brought together strands from debates about the practicalities and economics of landscape management, within the context of what is considered beautiful and draws people into Protected Landscapes.