• Highclere Consulting

    Who we are.

We are a privately owned consultancy company based in Braşov, Romania.

Established in 2006,

our company provides high quality consultancy, training and policy analysis services for governmental and non-governmental organizations working on agricultural, rural development and environmental issues in south-east Europe and beyond.  

Clients to-date include

the European Commission, Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), World-wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Danube-Carpathian Programme, International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) and World Bank. We have also worked for the Romanian government on a range of rural development and environmental issues. 

Our main areas of activity are

  • social sciences research;
  • technical assistance and policy analysis;
  • rural networking;
  • facilitation and training.

We have a broad base of on-going policy analysis work, plus we are actively involved as a non-academic SME partner in several Horizon 2020 projects. We are currently consortium partners in the SALSA, AgriLink, LIAISON and B.I.T projects – with many more projects under development in the near future.

Watch this website for news of forthcoming projects and company activities!

View all news here

Highclere Consulting Team

Highclere’s technical capacity is based upon the knowledge, practical experience and commitment to rural development of its co-owners, Mark Redman and Raluca Barbu, complemented with the diverse skills and enthusiasm of its associates and collaborators. We’re always interested to find new people to work with. Contact us via e-mail at office@highclere-consulting.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Mark Redman

Mark is the co-owner and Director of Highclere Consulting.  He has a PhD in agricultural science and 30 years of experience in research, consultancy, teaching and training activities in agriculture, rural development and the environment.  Mark has provided hands-on freelance consultancy support to around 60 projects in over 15 countries, including comprehensive experience in rapid rural assessments and the provision of technical assistance to the development of agri-environment schemes, Rural Development Plans and rural network facilities in EU candidate/accession countries and new Member States.

mark (at) highclere-consulting.com

Raluca Barbu

Raluca is the co-owner and Administrator of Highclere Consulting.  She has over 15 years of experience in rural development policy-making and related activities, with a particular focus upon sustainable food systems and nature conservation and small-scale farming.  She has held positions as European Integration Counsellor to the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; as Nature and Prosperity Co-ordinator for the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme in Romania, and; as EU Agriculture and Budget Reform Policy Officer for the WWF European Policy Office in Brussels. 

raluca (at) highclere-consulting.com

Alina Alexa

 Alina is our Communication Specialist and local ‘connector’ (she knows everyone locally). She has an MA in marketing and experience in journalism, social media, strategic communication, training, participatory processes, lobby and advocacy activities.  She has worked for over 15 years with private companies and environmental NGOs, including the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, Association of Ecotourism in Romania and the Propark Foundation for Protected Areas. 

alina (at) highclere-consulting.com

Irina Toma

Irina is our Research Associate and policy analyst. She has an MSc in Environmental Management & Policy from Utrecht University and over 5 years of experience in supply chain sustainability and advocacy at the Global Reporting Initiative in Amsterdam. Before this she managed the research backbone of several advocacy campaigns at Fairfood International focused on increasing incomes for agricultural workers and smallholder farmers in the Philippines, Central America and Madagascar.

irina (at) highclere-consulting.com

Elena Palău

Elena is our Office Manager and Junior Consultant.  She has a bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management from the Transilvania University in Brasov and a background of intensive English and French studies. She is a quick learner and can adapt to any  problem in a minute to find the best way to fix it. She is very keen on learning everything about the human resource side of our work and is to build a career which can bring real benefit for others.

office (at) highclere-consulting.com