South West Partnership for Environmental and Economic Prosperity (SWEEP)

What is SWEEP?

The South West Partnership for Environmental and Economic Prosperity (SWEEP) is a collaborative initiative that will help deliver economic and community benefits to the South West, whilst also protecting and enhancing the area’s natural resources.

Funded by Natural Environment Research Council’s (NERC) Regional Impact from Science of the Environment programme for 5 years, SWEEP aims to bring together academic experts, businesses and policy makers to solve some of the challenges involved in managing, utilising and improving the natural environment.

SWEEP is a collaboration of three research institutions: the University of Exeter, the University of Plymouth and Plymouth Marine Laboratory – working together with a large group of highly engaged business, policy and community partners.

Natural capital

At the heart of SWEEP’s work is the concept of natural capital:

Natural capital is another term for the stock of renewable and non-renewable resources (e.g. plants, animals, air, water, soils and minerals) that combine to yield a flow of benefits to people.

All this means is that any part of the natural world that benefits people, or that underpins the provision of benefits to people, is a form of natural capital.

Natural capital is a way of talking about any element of the environment that shows we understand that it has a benefit – often multiple benefits – to us. This might be a financial benefit (a value), or it might be a benefit to society or health and wellbeing or conservation.

SWEEP's Impact Projects

SWEEP is working on a diverse range of impact projects co-designed with partners from the business, policy or community sectors. SWEEP academics and Impact Fellows are working in close collaboration with these partners to realise environmental, economic and or community benefits for the SW region. Projects include coastal monitoring, sustainable drainage, whole catchment water management and sustainable seafood.

Find out more about SWEEP’s work at https://sweep.ac.uk/ and download the excellent whole catchment illustration below.

We are delighted to work with SWEEP to increase the exposure of their Impact Projects to the geography school community.