South Downs National Park
Caring for England’s newest National Park, from Winchester to the white cliffs of Eastbourne.
About the work
The South Downs National Park Authority looks after the South Downs National Park, which stretches more than 1,600 square kilometres across Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex. Designated in 2010, it’s England’s newest and most populated National Park. Its landscapes run from chalk hills, ancient woodland and heathland to market towns, vineyards and the Seven Sisters cliffs, and the South Downs Way runs its full length. Based at the South Downs Centre in Midhurst, the Authority is the planning authority for the Park and works with farmers, landowners, businesses and communities to conserve its landscape and help people understand and enjoy it.
The South Downs National Park Authority first commissioned Always Possible in 2025 to produce a new economic profile of the National Park, updating earlier profiles from 2018 and 2020. We brought together the latest data on businesses, jobs, productivity, the visitor economy and the land-based sector, and benchmarked the Park against the wider South East and other English National Parks. The profile showed an economy far more diverse than its reputation, with fast-growing knowledge and manufacturing sectors alongside farming, wine and tourism. The Authority published it in late 2025 and it drew coverage across the region, including from the National Farmers’ Union.
In autumn 2026, the Authority appointed us again, this time on behalf of the Protected Landscapes Partnership, to help address the barriers to climate action. Protected Landscape teams already have the climate science. What they need are practical ways to turn it into conversations that move farmers, rural businesses, communities and public partners with very different values and priorities. We’re developing training resources and communication tools built around values-led conversations, which the Park’s own teams will use to speed up climate and nature action across the landscape.
“It’s gone down really well, and was a great piece of work. A big thanks to the team for all your effort on it.”
Chris Hannon, South Downs National Park Authority
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