Communicating our science
We communicate in a variety of ways in order to reach and target different audiences, ranging from peer academics, to rural communities through to policy-makers.
Our materials and approaches range from presentation at conferences, academic publications, seminars, policy briefings, use of social media, webinars, podcasts, virtual farm tours, exhibitions and market stalls. Much of our research is co-constructed with particular stakeholder groups (for example, rural communities or policy-groups), which fosters dialogue and meaningful mutual understanding with non-academic groups.
Our academic publications
SEGS researchers publish in a variety of high-quality social science and interdisciplinary journals. Increasingly we focus on publishing in open-access journals, such as the Journal of Rural Studies, Land Use Policy, which can be freely accessed by all, in line with the Hutton’s commitment to open science.
We use a wide range of research methods which sometimes overlap with methods for communication and engagement.
Our non-academic publications and outputs
We also publish many non-academic publications including policy briefs, digital stories, documentaries, participatory videos, virtual “market stalls”, tours and exhibitions and also podcasts. We have compiled a selection of briefings and short reports, which are available here. Most of these outputs arise from and are most easily understood in the context of specific research projects, each of which usually produces a mixture of materials and outputs. As an example, one of our past projects on the Ecosystem Approach resulted in a mixture of briefings, reports, talks, papers and workshops. Visit our SEGS methods page for examples of our visual methods.
Conferences
We communicate our research through and contribute to a wide range of academic and practitioner-centred conferences and network events. Some of the conferences where you can often find our work include: ESRS (European Society for Rural Sociology); Royal Geographical Society (RGS); Nordic Ruralities: Nordic Conference for Rural Research; Trans-Atlantic Rural Research network (TARRN)
Seminar series
The group has a highly active research seminar series which involves both internal and external speakers and participants. If you would be interested in presenting at or joining the seminar mailing list please get in touch with our seminar coordinators: Laura MacLean and Keith Marshall.
Recent seminars have focused on topics including older people’s experiences of home and of technology, changes to food behaviours throughout COVID-19, community land ownership and the climate emergency.
We are always keen to hear from new potential presenters, so please get in touch with us.
