Projects per year
Organisation profile
Organisation profile
The Rural Policy Centre is a hub for generating and sharing up-to-date evidence on rural and natural economy issues, including the environment, climate change, agriculture, food and rural businesses and communities. The Rural Policy Centre operates as a focus for research and knowledge exchange work on rural policy issues, informing and contributing to policy debates through:
- Issuing regular briefings based on recent research and policy developments
- Serving as Secretariat for the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on Rural Policy
- Conducting research projects and organising high profile events
Through our work, we aim to improve the evidence and expand the knowledge base on rural Scotland and to inform the development of future policies. Our research outputs share valuable and straightforward insights on the big issues affecting rural lives. Research outputs are organised into four themes:
- Environment and climate
- Land use and land reform
- Food, health and wellbeing
- Rural economies and communities
Keywords
- land reform
- rural livelihoods
- natural capital
- rural policy
- climate policy
- agricultural policy
UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Our work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 1 No Poverty -
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy -
SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth -
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure -
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities -
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities -
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production -
SDG 13 Climate Action -
SDG 15 Life on Land
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics where Rural Policy Centre is active. These topic labels come from the works of this organisation's members. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
Profiles
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Jane Atterton
- Rural Economy Environment And Society, Rural Policy Centre - Senior Lecturer
- Scotland's Rural College - Senior Lecturer
Person: Academic contract that is research only
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Carey Doyle
- Rural Economy Environment And Society, Rural Policy Centre - Research Fellow
- Scotland's Rural College - Research Fellow
Person: Academic contract that is research only
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INTANGIBLE: Understanding the social and cultural dimensions of island population change in Scotland, England, Canada and Japan
Winship, A. (PI), Wilson, R. (PI), Brinklow, L. (CoPI), Dilley, L. (CoPI) & Atterton, J. (Other)
29/03/24 → 30/11/26
Project: Research
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WalesSFS24-26: Economics of Sustainable Farming Scheme
Thomson, S. (PI), Naab, F. (Researcher), Barnes, A. (Researcher), Thompson, B. (Researcher), McMillan, J. (Researcher), McVittie, A. (Researcher) & Glenk, K. (Researcher)
17/01/24 → 16/01/27
Project: Research
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Bitesize Biosecurity: A Tool and Framework for Curating and Summarising Expert Biosecurity Advice for Farmers using Artificial Intelligence
Carmichael, A., Pate, L., Duncan, A. J., Melville, L. & Lamont , K., Jun 2026, In: Veterinary Record Open. 13, 1, :e70035.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Downloads (Pure) -
Community Wealth Building in Rural and Island Scotland: Beyond the Pilots
Doyle, C., Vuin, A., Pate, L. & Atterton, J., 2026Research output: Book/Report/Policy Brief/Technical Brief › Research report
File -
Delivering robust measurement pathways for a Scottish carbon land tax: an evidence review and feasibility study
Reed, M., Glendinning, J., Glenk, K., McVittie, A., Millard, N., Cowap, C., Gearey, R., Brennand, J. R., Carr, S. & Mckay Fletcher, D., 18 Feb 2026, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC). 99 p.Research output: Book/Report/Policy Brief/Technical Brief › Commissioned report › peer-review
Open AccessFile
Datasets
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Identifying Hot Spots in Rural Community Resilience in Scotland - data generation code
Spencer, M. (Creator) & Meador, E. (Contributor), Zenodo, 25 Oct 2019
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3519006, https://zenodo.org/record/3519006
Dataset
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Mapping access to services to estimate community resilience - Edina geoforum
Spencer, M. (Creator) & Meador, E. (Creator), Zenodo, 3 Mar 2020
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3695519, https://zenodo.org/record/3695519
Dataset
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TGRAINS: CSA Twitter database - Periphery Database
Meador, E. (Creator), Bellamy, A. S. (Creator), Milne, A. (Creator), Clear, A. (Creator), Mills, S. (Creator), Finnigan, S. M. (Creator), Sharp, R. (Creator) & Furness, E. (Creator), Zenodo, 10 May 2021
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4748678, https://zenodo.org/record/4748678
Dataset
Activities
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Rural Entrepreneurship Conference
Naab, F. (Participant)
20 May 2026 → 22 May 2026Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participating in a conference, workshop, ...
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Embracing Complexity: How to Implement Integrated Land-Use Initiatives for Sustainable Development
Glass, J. (Speaker)
19 Jan 2022Activity: Talk, evidence or presentation types › Invited talk
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The Thai edible insect industry: Poised for export growth?
Tiwasing, P. (Invited speaker)
27 Apr 2022Activity: Talk, evidence or presentation types › Invited talk
Press/Media
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Opportunities and risks of large-scale land acquisition
Rudman, H., Reed, M., Glass, J. & Bauer, A.
31/05/22
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media
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Rural Policy - the landscape post-Brexit and Scottish election (podcast)
Atterton, J., McCracken, D., Thomson, S., Fischer-Moller, M., Glass, J. & McMorran, R.
27/05/21
1 Media contribution
Press/Media
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