Call for ideas!

I've started to work on my design and research project with London Metropolitan University in conjunction with the company I work for, General Public Agency. Broadly speaking it's on the spatial (planning and architectural) challenges faced by rural areas. It will start with some general research on current pressures and demands on differently located and sized rural communities and then focus in quite quickly on the potential for intervention/direct action in a few chosen places. This might range from working with a community group or parish council on a small building project, through to formulating a masterplan for new development or regeneration. A range of these projects (hopefully fairly radical, based in real places but seen also as 'prototypes' for other communities facing similar issues) would be worked up in outline form, in collaboration with local groups/agencies. One of them will ideally reach some sort of fruition by the end of the year - either being built or in motion towards a tangible outcome. The idea is to take some lessons from Alabama about direct intervention and activism and see whether it's possible to use similar approaches here.

So if any of you out there have ideas about places that you think I should be looking at, people (from heads of goverment agencies to local social workers) I should be talking to, particular issues that you think I should look at, any enterprising community organisations that might like to collaborate, please let me know! I'm aiming to talk to as many people as possible about this so absolutely any suggestions would be gratefully received.