The report outlines how the rural cultural strategy and creative rural economy initiatives were initially developed as a response to two major economic shocks and related rural crises, provoked first in 2001 by the Foot and Mouth (FMD) epidemic, which cost the country c. £8 billion in compensation and lost tourism revenue. And later, in 2008, with the second shock of the world banking crisis and the ongoing negative impacts since of the economic downturn on both urban and rural communities.