Bidwell Brook Living Laboratory (BLL)
The Bidwell Brook Living Laboratory is a collaborative initiative between the Bidwell Brook Partnership (BBP), the University of Plymouth, and the Westcountry Rivers Trust, with support from partners including Devon Wildlife Trust, South West Water, and the Connecting People and Landscape in the Bidwell Valley (CPLB) project.
The Living Lab transforms the Bidwell Brook catchment into an open-air research and learning environment — where scientists, farmers, landowners and community members work together to better understand and restore the health of the river and its surrounding landscape.
Our shared vision is a coordinated programme of academic and citizen-science research that informs nature-friendly land and water management, drives biodiversity recovery, and deepens the connection between people and place. The long-term ambition is to establish the Bidwell catchment as a UNESCO Ecohydrology Demonstration Site, showcasing how collaborative research can deliver measurable ecological and social benefits.
What the project does:
Builds a formal research consortium linking universities, research bodies and the local community.
Develops an open-access website and data portal, including shared GIS mapping and research outputs.
Trains and equips citizen scientists to monitor water quality, biodiversity and land-use change.
Coordinates applied research into soil health, pollution, sediment transport and habitat restoration.
Supports farmer-led innovation, translating research into practical on-the-ground improvements.
Through this work, the Bidwell Brook Living Laboratory aims to create a replicable model for small catchments elsewhere in the Dart system, one where collaboration, evidence and community stewardship combine to shape a more resilient future for people and nature.
