School of Social and Political Science

Background

PhD Title

Whose Transition Is It Anyway? An Interdisciplinary Study on Governance, Participation, and Empowerment in the Cairngorms 2030 Programme

My PhD focuses on the Cairngorms 2030 project, a large scale interdisciplinary initiative that is implementing and supporting 20 projects across the park. These projects focus on nature restoration, health and well-being, transportation and empowering communities, all with the goal on creating more just and sustainable practices and behaviours within the park, as well as helping to achieve the goal of becoming the first National Park to hit Net-Zero. My research takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine the Cairngorms 2030 programme within the context of the politics of participation, the contested nature of empowerment, and the tensions between changing governance practice, examining who defines sustainability, how it's enacted, and what it means for communities and institutions.

Using relational ethnography, I will explore how participation, empowerment, and local agency shape (and are shaped by) broader environmental governance frameworks. My research critically engages with transitions management theory, social innovation, and Foucault’s concept of the dispositif to unpack how sustainable futures are negotiated on the ground.

I am part of the Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences DTP, funded through the ESRC. 

Supervisors

Dr Zoe Malcolm

Dr Sarah Parry

Dr Rosalind Bryce

Dr Chris Mackie