Annemarieke de Bruin

Measuring Inequality in Rural England: The Effects of Changing Spatial Resolution

The sustainability of rural development depends on the distribution of the social and environmental resources needed to maintain and improve the vitality of rural areas. Here we examine the complexity of measuring patterns of distribution using examples of socioeconomic data on rural poverty and affluence as well as data on environmental quality and species richness. We demonstrate how changes in the base spatial units used for analysis have different effects on different measures of inequality. The effects of such changes in spatial resolution also depend on the underlying processes that generate the data. The results of our investigations into the effects of scale on the assessment of inequality suggest that, where data come from both the social and natural science sources, the most appropriate level for analysis is that of the finest common resolution. This may result in redundancy of effort for some types of data but any such disadvantage is offset by the benefits of identifying inequalities that are masked at coarser resolutions.

Simulated water resource impacts and livelihood implications of stakeholder-developed scenarios in the Jaldhaka Basin, India

This paper shows how multidisciplinary research can help policy makers develop policies for sustainable agricultural water management interventions by supporting a dialogue between government departments that are in charge of different aspects of agricultural development. In the Jaldhaka Basin in West Bengal, India, a stakeholder dialogue helped identify potential water resource impacts and livelihood implications of an agricultural water management rural electrification scenario. Hydrologic modelling demonstrated that the expansion of irrigation is possible with only a localized effect on groundwater levels, but cascading effects such as declining soil fertility and negative impacts from agrochemicals will need to be addressed.

Social and environmental inequalities and injustice in the rural uplands of England

Inequalities may lead to injustice, and are recognized increasingly as contributing to a wide range of social problems. The English uplands are characterized by low population densities, few services and low household incomes compared with other rural areas, giving rise to the potential for injustice. We use a dataset combining social, economic and environmental variables to develop a new integrative characterization of rural areas in England. We show that, despite lower income and fewer services, upland areas have some advantages compared with other rural areas, such as greater social and environmental ‘richness’, less pollution and less reported crime. For the more financially- and physically-mobile people living in upland areas, these benefits may outweigh the costs. However, for other sectors of society, such as the young, the old and the disabled, there may be a sense of injustice stemming from the lack of affordable housing, transport and other public services.

Towards a More-Than-Human Approach to Tree Health

New ways of working and thinking in relation to tree health and plant biosecurity are required. The climate is changing, and the number of pests and diseases is increasing. A review of the social science literature on plant health reveals that scholars are not quite sure what this ‘new thinking’ might entail. In this chapter, we begin the process of reimagining tree health by starting with the trees and our research engagement with them. Trees are acknowledged in this chapter as never static, but rather fluid, shape-shifters, translated across time and space. Health and disease are revealed as relational, and a fixed approach to tree health management won’t work. In a world of rapid change, this way of working is not just relevant for trees.