Environment
The Environment Group's work focuses broadly on environmental and rural research themes. It's staff and research students are actively engaged in research on sustainability, governance, social inclusion, and development in rural and environmental contexts. Individual research interests of Group members include nature - society relations (forestry, hunting and mining), agri-food systems (animal welfare and school meals), rural society and economy (social change, cultural conflicts, economic restructuring, welfare and services) and the environment (sustainability, regulation and environmental identities). Further details of the research interests of Group members can be found on their individual home pages, which can be accessed through the link on this page.
Members of the Group have strong links with the ESRC funded Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society and Centre for Rural Environment and Society. The Group runs the Sustainability, Planning and Environmental Policy Masters and is involved in the European Masters in Rural Development (with Wageningen and Pisa universities). Group members have also been involved in the organization of three ESRC Research Seminar Series - Rural Economy and Society Study Group, Local Food, and Rural Policy.
Current Research Projects
Major funded research projects involving members of the Environment Research Group include:
Welfare Quality
The topic of animal welfare is a new research strand within the Environment Group. Our main concern is for the treatment of animals in the food chain and thus the research on animal welfare complements on going work on other food sector issues. We are currently involved in a large EU Integrated Project 'Welfare Quality' which aims to assess current welfare standards in the European food sector. Mara Miele is responsible for coordinating the social science component of this project which looks at consumer attitudes, retailer strategies, and producer practices. Mara Miele has additional responsibilities for science society dialogue across the whole project. Welfare Quality will run from 2004-2009.
Wales Rural Observatory
The Wales Rural Observatory undertakes independent research and analysis on social and economic issues in rural Wales. It is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government to support evidence-based rural policy-making in Wales. The Observatory is directed by Paul Milbourne and involves a team of specialist rural researchers based in the School for City and Regional Planning, Cardiff University and the Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Wales, Aberystwyth. The Observatory's activities are focused on two main areas: first, the collection and analysis of rural data, and the presentation of these data within a Geographical Information System (GIS); and second, undertaking research on social and economic issues in rural Wales. The Observatory is focusing its activities around the following five broad themes: Rural Economy and Employment; Environment, Sustainability and Land-use Planning; Social Inclusion and Exclusion; Housing and Service Provision; Society and Community.
Social Forestry
A major partnership programme of social forestry research involving Cardiff University and the Forestry Commission has been running since 2000. Directed by Terry Marsden and Paul Milbourne, this programme has explored the linkages between forestry, forests and society in rural Britain. Involving ten case-study rural areas in Wales, England and Scotland, critical attention has been given to the shifting governance of nature, social and environmental justice, social capital and community relations with nature within these areas.
Creative Procurement of School Meals
This ESRC funded research project, involving Terry Marsden, Mara Miele, Roberta Sonnino and Kevin Morgan (Urban and Regional Governance Group) assesses the role of the public sector in fostering sustainable food chains in light of the recommendations provided by the Curry and the Obesity reports. It examines their claims about the role of public procurement for relocalising the agri-food sector and preventing the devastating effects of obesity on national health and economy. The focus of the study is on school meals. Attention is given to the macro-regulatory context of EU legislation on public procurement; the national interpretation of this legislation in Italy and the UK; and the local authority contexts of five case studies.
The Role of the Housing System in Rural Wales
This project is being funded by the Welsh Assembly Government to examine the inter-relations between housing, society and economy in rural Wales. It involves analyses of housing and socio-economic statistics, interviews with national housing and rural stakeholders, unitary authority housing and planning officers, and detailed case-studies of five local housing markets in rural Wales. The research is being led by Paul Milbourne and involves Scott Orford.
Developing the Entrepreneurial Skills of Farmers
This is a European Commission Framework Six funded project examining the economic, social and cultural factors hindering or stimulating the development of entrepreneurial skills amongst farmers. The Cardiff component of the project is being led by Mara Miele and Terry Marsden.
Recent Publications
Recent and forthcoming books by Environment Group members include:
Worlds of Food (2005, in press), Oxford University Press (Marsden, Murdoch, Morgan).
Handbook of Rural Studies (2005, in press), Sage (Marsden, Cloke, Mooney).
International Perspectives on Rural Homelessness (2005, in press), Routledge (Milbourne, Cloke).
Post-structuralist geographies: a critical introduction (2005, in press) Sage (Murdoch).
Rural Poverty: marginalization and exclusion in Britain and the United States (2004), Routledge (Milbourne).
The Differentiated Countryside (2004), Routledge (Murdoch, Marsden, Lowe, Ward).
The Condition of Rural Sustainability (2003), Van Goram (Marsden).
Rationalities of Planning: development versus environment in planning for housing (2003), Ashgate (Murdoch and Abram).
Rural Homelessness: issues, experiences and policy responses (2002), Policy Press (Milbourne, Cloke and Widdowfield).
Land and Limits: interpreting sustainability in the planning process (2002), Routledge, (Cowell and Owens).