Land use
Far from a neatly-parcelled mosaic, and much less a unified landscape in terms of use, the UK rural is riven with a complex of intersecting land-uses, designations and ownership. Projects within the Land Use theme will seek to unpick this complexity, and its impact on the ability of the rural to adapt to change – whether required by a changing climate, demanded by net-zero, enforced by markets or decided by rural dwellers themselves.
Projects in this theme might investigate:
- How community-led rural activities that promote food security, biological, economic or energy sustainability might be supported within existing frameworks, or lead to their reform and recasting.
- More-than-human intersections of varied landscapes – for example, crop production, lifestock rearing, pollination, conservation, fishing, nesting, forestry, water storage, migration, energy production/distribution, geological extraction, industry, transport and warehousing, waste disposal or tourism and leisure.
- Histories and resonances (community and multi-species) of land ownership patterns, regulatory frameworks, environmental and cultural designations, political concerns, and their relationship with ecological realities.
- Land-use knowledge and informal/hidden land-use tolerance.
SURF
William Smith Building
Keele University
Keele
Staffordshire
ST5 5BG
Email: surf@keele.ac.uk
Admissions enquiries: enquiries@keele.ac.uk