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?
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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