Relating Physical and Social Science Perspectives on the Use of Rural Catchments

Project Status: Completed (See Final Report Summary)
Type of Project: Scoping Study
Principal Investigator: Dr Elizabeth Oughton, University of Newcastle (Email)

 

Objectives

The aim of this research is to develop a practical framework for interdisciplinary discourse between science and non-science based stakeholders. This will provide a conceptual and methodological basis for further research on the multiple interactions of rural populations and landscape resources. The research will be based upon a case study of the upland, rural River Esk catchment.

Currently we have a limited understanding of the ways in which socio-economic behaviour of humans in rural areas impact on physical landscape processes. This is a crucial issue that holds the key to developing sustainable land use policies; the new mandate for DEFRA. This project aims to develop a framework for interdisciplinary discourse between scientists and social scientists, all with research expertise based within rural environments. The areas of expertise range from soil erosion and sediment transfers, water quality, livelihoods and entitlements to rural policy.

The project will be undertaken using social science methodologies, using a case study and a series of workshops with rural stakeholders, to investigate the impact of human behaviour on the landscape. This will be developed into a conceptual mapping of the interface between the human and physical environment. Particular attention will be paid to the relative scales on which human behaviour and physical processes map. The project will also build interdisciplinary capacity through learning and shared epistemologies in the design and implementation of research and data analysis. The outcomes of the research will be new tools for interdisciplinary research, the identification of new directions for scientific research, and improved routes for communication between stakeholders.

Conference Papers and Presentations

Oughton, E. A. (2004) Paper on problems of communication in interdisciplinarity. Paper presented to Insititute of British Geographers, Edinburgh, January.

Oughton, E.A. and Wheelock, J. (2005) "A framework for understanding the processes involved in introducing an innovation" Presentation to conference on Local development and innovation in rural areas in Europe, Kokkola, Finland.

Oughton, E.A. and Wheelock, J. (2005) "Conservation in context: A view from below: Implementation of conservation policies on the North York Moors" Presentation to Multilevel policy making in a democratic context : European Nature Conservation Policy, its local implementation and the growing salience of legitimacy, Wageningen, Netherlands.

Oughton, E.A., Wheelock, J., Bennett, K. and Bracken, L. (2005) "Physical and social science perspectives on the use of rural catchments" Presentation to RELU Workshop People and the Environment: Scoping the Research Agenda, York.
http://www.relu.ac.uk/events/WorkshopMay05/2AOughton.pdf

Oughton, E.A., Wheelock, J., Bennett, K. and Bracken, L. (2005) "Talking about each other: physical and social science perspectives on the use of rural catchments" Presentation to 37th World Congress of the International Institute of World Sociology : Frontiers of sociology, Stockholm, Sweden.