2021-2025

Just transition: sustainable citizen decision-making in a time of economic crises - rural

Dr Bobby Macaulay - Principal Investigator

January 2023 – August 2023

This project, funded by Zero Waste Scotland, seeks to understand how times of economic crisis (such as the period we are currently living through) affects environmental attitudes, behaviour and decision-making in rural communities. In addition, it will investigate the extent to which key environmental concepts (such as the ‘Just Transition’, ‘Circular Economy’ and ‘Community Wealth Building’) are understood, and to what extent they factor in decision-making. The project will work with researchers focusing on urban and business environments to develop a broad understanding and contextual factors affecting environmental decision making.

Developing a Digital Woodland in Lochcarron, Wester Ross Biosphere

Dr Zoe Russell, Project Manager and Lead Researcher

January 2023 – March 2023

Lochcarron Community Development Company has been funded by the Inspiring Scotland fund to explore the possibility of a digital woodland experience at Kirkton. This community owned woodland has potential to offer a new educational experience for locals, students and visitors alike and will use augmented reality to showcase change over time. A key theme of the work to develop the woodland is responding to climate change. CMS has been brought into this project to work with the community and Wester Ross Biosphere to develop content for the experience based on research evidence, and to support the production of a blueprint for implementing the digital woodland in the future.

SEFARI Fellowship with Cairngorms National Park Authority: Cairngorms 2030

Dr Zoe Russell, Fellow

January 2023 - June 2023

SEFARI Fellowships are bespoke, responsive opportunities aiming to develop a shared understanding between researchers and stakeholders, and to prioritise areas for common effort that can be supported by research knowledge and expertise. SEFARI Gateway have funded a Fellowship with the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) as part of Cairngorms 2030. The vision of Cairngorms 2030 is for the CNP to be an exemplar of people and nature thriving together in a rapidly changing world.

The aim of the fellowship is to recommend a set of indicators, and associated data collection/analysis methodologies, to demonstrate progress towards achieving the outcomes of the Cairngorms 2030 programme, and the outcomes of the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF).

HIGHLANDS.3

The HIGHLANDS.3’ goal is to contribute to Inclusive Sustainable Development in Highlands (ISDH) through collective and impact-driven Research & Innovation (R&I), based on capacity building, sharing of local-global knowledge, experience, and tools. It will drive a co-innovation process through secondments and research and innovative sessions (R&IS) involving public/private and non-academic partners, to build a shared vision of ISDH, enhance the capacities of researchers, managers, users, policymakers, thus bridging the gap between research and development.

The project consists of a network of 41 institutions including 30 partners from Europe (~35% non-academic), and skilled and motivated researchers and local stakeholders. The work plan will run 8 successive R&IS (5 in Europe, 3 outside) to promote the exchange among participants as a foundation for innovation. Each R&IS will build upon collective learning principles and a holistic systemic approach, exposing participants to a wide range of world views that will encourage experimentation with practice. Each R&IS will focus on a particular aspect of sustainable highland development and will include collective learning, collaborative research, and capacity building on data collection/analysis, modelling. To complement the R&IS, long-term secondments will be implemented for researchers and practitioners to deeply train and work together on specific issues identified by the consortium.

Collected data on ISDHs will be stored in an online collaborative and interactive decision-support platform that will then be transferred to existing mountain networks.

Visit the HIGHLANDS.3 website for more information

Rural Assets: Policy and Practice Insights from the Devolved Nations

Rural Assets: Policy and Practice Insights from the Devolved Nations

Dr Bobby Macaulay - Co-Investigator

April 2022 – March 2024

Funded by the British Academy and Nuffield Foundation’s Collaboration on ‘Understanding Communities’, The ‘Rural Assets’ Project comprises a partnership between Glasgow Caledonian University, the University of the Highlands and Islands, The James Hutton Institute, Bangor University and Anglia Ruskin University, as well as policy and practice partners. It seeks to understand how the Community Asset Transfer process affects rural communities, and how different UK policy contexts can mediate impacts on resilience, empowerment and wellbeing in rural settings. Through multiple case studies and coproduced methods, this project seeks to inform best practice in this strategic policy objective.

CULTIVATE: Co-creating cultural narratives for sustainable rural development

See project website for full information: CULTIVATE

Dr Rosalind Bryce - Principal Investigator

May 2021 - October 2024

CULTIVATE seeks to understand the role of cultural heritage in shaping sustainable landscapes and communities in the context of societal challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate emergency and transitions required to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This research will explore how cultural narratives are co-created, contested and negotiated at community, regional and national scales using methods that bring to the fore cultural values, identity and relationships between people and land. CULTIVATE aims to make conceptual advances by integrating cultural heritage paradigms with socio-ecological systems (SES) to design a methodology to analyse how cultural narratives emerge in relation to stakeholder dynamics, landscape features and drivers of change.

CULTIVATE will explore different meaning of heritage through a participatory co-creation approach thereby contributing to JPICH CHIP project and also informing progress towards SDGs. Cultural narratives will be reshaped using the 'Seeds of a good Anthropocene' methodology which focuses on using inspirational visions and stories to achieve transformations to sustainability. CULTIVATE will have valuable impact in real world socio-ecological systems by conducting research across 4 Biosphere Reserves which represent a diverse spectrum of rural cultural landscapes with an ethos of scientific-based management and community engagement. Cultural narratives in the BR communities will be contrasted with those at regional and national level to explore how cultural heritage is conceptualised in different parts of SES.

Findings will be synthesised for dissemination both regionally/nationally and internationally. A bank of narratives expressed in written and arts-based forms will be produced as a resource and other outcomes will include policy recommendation for the integration of intangible heritage into planning and management.

CULTIVATE will have lasting impact on communities through the empowering nature of its co-creation approach. The role of Biosphere Reserves as demonstration regions will lead to international impact through global Biosphere networks.

ESPON – Non Standard Geographies (NOSTAGEO (2024 – 2025)

Rosalind Bryce, Catriona Mallows and Mike Daniels

The European funded ESPON project Territorial governance of non-standard geographies - Nostageo, studies emerging ‘non-standard geographies’, defined as areas characterised by environmental, natural, or social interrelationships and networks that do not conform to traditional ‘designations’ and are hard to tackle within traditional administrations and governance. The project is looking at water supply in metropolitan regions, ecological connectivity of protected areas, Brown to Just Green Transition and Energy transition and energy saving. As well as inputting overall we are focussing on case studies of ecological connectivity.

Assessing dotterel, human and dog interactions in the Cairngorms – (April 2025 – September 2025)

Mike Daniels, Catriona Mallows and Rosalind Bryce

Funded by the Cairngorm National Park Authority (CNPA) and in partnership with Abernethy (RSPB), Balmoral, Invercauld and Mar Lodge (NTS) estates this project aims to look at the interactions between humans, dogs and dotterel on four mountains in the Cairngorm plateau. Dotterel are particularly robust to human disturbance yet there is concern that their long-term decline may be being exacerbated by disturbance. We will use a range of innovative techniques to track dog, human and dotterel and record interactions.

Contemporary Crofting (June 2024 – October 2024)

Catriona Mallows and Mike Daniels

Contemporary Crofting Report October 2025

Funded by UHI Knowledge Exchange Challenge fund, in partnership with the Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF), this project explored research opportunities and knowledge exchange around the potential for delivery of public benefits by contemporary crofting.

SEFARI Fellowship with Cairngorms National Park Authority: Cairngorms 2030

Catriona Mallows, Research Associate

• January 2025 - September 2025

Catriona’s fellowship is to work with the Community Landownership Academic Network (CLAN) to develop practical guidance which can be used by researchers, community organisations and other stakeholders to promote and encourage improved robust research practice in this area. This work will run until September 2025 and includes two phases: a review of existing best practice for engaged research with communities, and consultations with stakeholders including community landowners, students and researchers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7ZKmRX2aZA

This project, in collaboration with Community Landownership Academic Network (CLAN), was a direct response to the increasing demands placed on community landowners to participate in research projects. Catriona's project uncovered best practices for both researchers and communities encourage improved ethical research practice. You can read more about this fellowship work here: Getting Research Right: Ethical Engagement with Scotland’s Community Landowners | SEFARI.