Carey Doyle

My research sits at the intersection of land, communities, governance, and power, with a particular focus on how legal and policy frameworks shape — and are contested by — community-led approaches to development.

My recent work has centred on Land Reform and Community Empowerment in Scotland, fields in which I have been an active researcher and policy contributor since 2020. This has included directing a major action research project on urban community landownership, working closely with communities, practitioners, and policymakers. As a Research Fellow at SRUC, my work continues to inform policy development at national and local levels, and I continue to collaborate with communities on their projects.  

My doctoral research examined rural demographic change and land use planning, developing concepts and a normative framework for inclusive rural planning that continues to shape my scholarly and applied work. I have published on community landownership, housing, spatial analysis, social division, and inclusive engagement, and have twenty years of experience leading large multidisciplinary teams and delivering complex, policy-facing research projects.

Recent projects include: 

2024-2026:        “Scottish Rural Communities Policy Review”. £275,000, Co-I and Project Manager.  Large scale rural policy review for Scottish Government.  Reviewing Community Led Local Development funding system, Scottish Rural Action and Scottish Rural Network and proposing recommendations for a new rural communities support system in Scotland.

2024-2026:          “Exploring the effects of community landownership in Scotland”, SRUC work package lead as part of Land Reform Futures Project (E3)  in the Scottish Government’s Strategic Research program.  This research considers the effects of community land purchases.

2024-2026:          “Community Wealth Building in Rural and Island Scotland.” Work package lead as part of the Novel Insights on Rural and Island Economies Project (NISRIE) in the Scottish Government’s Strategic Research program (E1). 

2025:                  Measuring the impact of climate engagement in Scotland . For Climate X Change.  £48,393. Team member. 

2020- 2024:        “Community Ownership Hub: Glasgow and Clyde Valley”, for Community Land Scotland.  £450,000, funding from Scottish Government, William Grant Foundation and Tudor Trust.

2023-2024:        Creative Climate Communities, for Community Land Scotland with SNIFFER, Creative Carbon Scotland, SCCAN, GCVS, and Glasgow City Council.  £400,000 from the UK levelling up fund.

I am a chartered town planner, and have 20 years of career experience across land use planning, having worked in private consultancy, the third sector, and academia. 

My employment history incudes: