Rural Visions | University of Lincoln

Rural Visions

Rural Visions is a collaboration of researchers at the University of Lincoln embracing an eclectic range of expertise spanning rural economics, community development, landscape histories, demography, animals and nature, environmental issues, rural poverty and the impacts of technology. Our work is focused on improving understanding of rural places and informing action to enhance lives in rural places.

Our Visions

Economic Visions

Rural economies are evolving thanks to new migration flows, new technologies and enhanced urban-rural connectivity. New opportunities created by visionary entrepreneurs and innovators are essential to sustain the vitality of rural places.

Aesthetic Visions

Rural landscapes and rural built environments are often cherished as part of a national identity, especially in the UK. The ‘idyllic’ rural visions that are portrayed, however, do not reflect all types of rurality, so a critical understanding of the power of rural representations and imagery is essential to inform rural research.

Policy Visions

This theme of our research is about creating a vision for the future of rural places. How can government at different scales design and implement policies that will move towards a vision of a more sustainable rural future that addresses multiple demographic, climatic, technological and cultural threats to contemporary rural life?

Projects

Releasing the Potential of Your Rural Economy

The University of Lincoln Schools of Geography and Business have teamed up with Roger Turner of Rural Enterprise UK (Newcastle University) to launch a guide for economic policy-makers to ensure that rural areas are properly recognised within new Local Industrial Strategies.

For further information contact Gary Bosworth or Liz Price.

Download a Copy of the Guide

Connecting Remote Areas with Digital Infrastructure and Services (CORA)

To address a growing ‘Digital Divide’ across rural Europe, CORA seeks to stimulate digital infrastructure development through a collaboration of partners around the North Sea region of Europe trialling new innovations and working with policy-makers to evaluate innovative solutions.

For further information, contact Fiona Ashmore or Liz Price.

Find Out More

Saline Farming (SalFar)

SalFar is addressing threats to conventional agriculture deriving from increases in soil salinity. Increased coastal flooding and summer droughts are just two features of climate change that are impacting soil salinity. SalFar will carry our crop trials in a number of EU countries, including here in Lincolnshire, as part of a project assessing the wider market potential for salt-tolerant varieties and innovative halophytic crops.

Staff involved: Gary Bosworth, Iain Gould, Mark Macklin, Simon Pearson, Marian Rizov, Eric Ruto, Domna Tzemi, Isobel Wright.

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Lincolnshire Beekeeping Survey

The importance of bees for the nation’s food security is well known. The importance of beekeepers, however, receives less attention. This survey seeks to understand more about the people who keep bees and their motivations – are they just hobbyists, are they environmentalists or are they business people? With this knowledge, policy designed to support bee populations can more effectively engage beekeepers leading to better implementation.

For further information contact Gary Bosworth or Will Hamilton.

Health and Wellbeing Among UK Farmers

Members of Rural Visions have recently carried out a study highlighting some of the challenges faced by farmers and other agricultural workers. Their findings indicate that increased stress and poor health can arise from combinations of farm-level and community factors interacting with economic and technological changes.

Health and Wellbeing Research Report

Farmer 200x200

Events, Research and People

Events

Rural Visions runs a series of regular internal research seminars, including events discussing current research within the Rural Visions group and sessions offering tips and guidance to those writing research proposals.

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Postgraduate Research Opportunities

Rural Visions aims to support PhD students working in the broad field of rural research. Students apply to a chosen School/Department which will be their academic home during their studies but please contact Gary Bosworth and refer to Rural Visions in your application if you feel that your research ideas fall within the remit of this group.

Three students walking down the staircase in the Joseph Banks Laboratories, with a large University of Lincoln crest on the wall to the right

People

Rural Visions is led by Dr Gary Bosworth in the School of Geography. The group includes members from all four Colleges at the University of Lincoln.

Full People List

Rural Visions and our Civic Mission

With the official launch of the Rural Visions research group, we begin with a discussion about the group's role in contributing to Lincoln’s mission to be a New Civic University.

Read the Blogpost

New Civic Image

Contact Us

School of Geography, College of Health and Science
University of Lincoln, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7DW

Tel: +44 (0)1522 835576