Annie McKee

Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences

Social Researcher in Land Management

annie.mckee@hutton.ac.uk

+44 (0)344 928 5428 (*)

The James Hutton Institute
Craigiebuckler
Aberdeen AB15 8QH
Scotland UK

Annie McKee is a senior social researcher in the Social Economic and Geographical Sciences Department (SEGS) [2] and a member of the 'Environmental Governance and Land Management' Group. Annie's background is in geography, environmental management, and sustainable development, with previous dissertation research exploring public perceptions of red deer management and sustainable rural communities. Annie has a BSc (Hons.) in Geography from the University of St Andrews and completed an MSc in Sustainable Rural Development at the University of Aberdeen in 2007.

Annie completed her PhD in 2013 with the Centre for Mountain Studies, Perth College, University of the Highlands and Islands, working as part of the 'Sustainable Estates for the 21st Century' project. Under the supervision of Professor Martin Price (Director, Centre for Mountain Studies) and Dr Charles Warren (University of St Andrews), her PhD aimed to examine the role of private landownership in facilitating sustainable rural communities in upland Scotland, focusing on identifying best practice in community engagement and the practical steps required to ensure sustainability. For further information please see Sustainable Estates for the 21st Century [3] website for further information.

Annie is Convenor of Rural Housing Scotland [4], Scottish Charity Number: SC031239, Secretary of the Andrew Raven Trust [5], Scottish Charity Number: SCO39488, and Chair of Tarland Community Housing [6]. Annie was a Minister-appointed member of the Scottish Government’s Women in Agriculture Taskforce [7] (June 2017 - November 2019).

Current research interests

Annie's research focusses on transdisciplinarity, rural governance and institutions, land management and land use policy, agricultural transitions, gender equality in land governance, the impact of land reform, rural community development, and achieving sustainable development in rural areas. Annie is particularly interested in the development and implications of land reform legislation and policy in Scotland, as well as social justice issues relating to land internationally.

Annie has considerable experience of qualitative data collection (including in-depth interviewing, participant observation, and ethnographic techniques) and analysis (including content, thematic, and discourse analysis), stakeholder engagement, and facilitation techniques. She has a strong reputation within the Institute and externally for high quality workshop organisation and facilitation. Annie pursues diverse pathways to impact for research projects and integrate her role as a researcher with active participation in rural community development projects. She aligns closely with the Hutton Science Challenge: to ‘deliver technical and social innovations that support sustainable and resilient communities’.

On-going and recent projects

Hutton project lead for the H2020 NEFERTITI project [8]: ‘Networking European Farms to Enhance Cross Fertilisation and Innovation Uptake Through Demonstration’ (2018-2022), including ‘Hub Coach’ role, initiating and facilitating on-farm and virtual demonstration events on the topic of ‘farm attractiveness’ and supporting new entrants to agriculture.
Principal investigator: ‘Shifting power in rural Scotland? A longitudinal analysis of post-land reform community-landowner engagement’. British Academy Small Research Grant (2019-2022).
Land acquisition for carbon: opportunities and risks - Special Advisory Group, funded by SEFARI Gateway (part of research team; project led by SRUC) (2021-2022).
Connected Treescapes [9]: A portfolio approach for delivering multiple public benefits from UK treescapes in the rural-urban continuum (Co-Investigator; project led by University of York); funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (2021-2023).
Project team contributing to the Scottish Government’s Strategic Research Programme (2016 – 2022), under the themes of ‘rural economy adaptation to key external drivers’ (Work Package 2.4.2) and 'local assets, local decisions and community resilience' (Work Package 3.4.4) [10]; both projects funded under the Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services (RESAS) Division of the Scottish Government.
Topic lead for ‘E3 – Land Reform’ and Principal Investigator for ‘Scottish Land Reform Futures’ project within the Scottish Government’s Strategic Research Programme 2022-2027 (beginning 1st April 2022).

PhD supervision

Rosalind Corbett: The role of community landownership in increasing access to land for new entrants to agriculture in Scotland (MDT-funded studentship, 2020-2023).
Christopher Murray: The housing ‘trilemma’: geographies of precarity in rural Scotland, (ESRC-funded studentship, 2021-2024).

Past research

Project team contributing to the Scottish Government's commissioned research on 'Women in Farming and the Agricultural Sector [11]' (published 2017), including facilitating and reporting on impact focus groups [12] with women and men in Scottish agriculture in 2021.
Various projects commissioned by the Scottish Land Commission, including a ‘review of international experience of community, communal, and municipal ownership of land [13]’ (2018; collaboration with SRUC), a ‘review of the effectiveness of current community ownership mechanisms and of options for supporting the expansion of community ownership in Scotland [14]’ (2018, collaboration with SRUC), and ‘increasing the availability of farmland for new entrants to agriculture in Scotland [15]’ (2018, Principal Investigator).
Project team contributing to the Centre of Expertise for Waters (CREW) [16] project on community resilience to flood events [17] (2017-2020).
Leading a Macaulay Development Trust project to facilitate an international discussion on Scottish land reform (2019) and undertaking a discourse analysis on the ‘The right to buy land to further sustainable development’ (2021).
Fellowship received from the OECD Co-operative Research Programme: Biological Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Systems in 2016, building links with Ruralis, the Centre for Rural Research, Trondheim, Norway.
FarmPath [18], REFRESH, [19]PROAKIS [20], and 'HUNTing [21] for Sustainability' projects, funded under the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), as well as contributing to the H2020 NEWBIE [22] project.
Scottish Government-funded projects exploring the barriers to community land-based activities [23] and how to overcome these barriers [24], as well as contributing to an exploration of the 'impact of diversity of ownership scale on social, economic and environmental outcomes' [25].
Theme 8, Work Package 8.2 "Governance and decision-making for community empowerment in rural communities" and Theme 3, Work Package 3.6 “Understanding land managers’ attitudes and behaviour towards the management of environmental assets and responding to climate change ", both projects funded under the Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services (RESAS) Division set up by the Scottish Government (Strategic Research Programme 2011-2016).
Undertaking social research within the Scottish Government’s Centre of Expertise for Livestock Disease Outbreaks [26] (EPIC), in particular focussing on the impact of farmer behaviour on disease control and biosecurity.
Developing Learning Landscapes [27] for Scotland’s Protected Areas - A European Perspective (funded by the Macaulay Development Trust).
How can we employ citizen science to determine the extent of soil erosion in Scotland? Report commissioned by SNIFFER (2014).
A methodology for assessing the public interest economic impacts of deer management. Report commissioned by SNH (2013).
‘Sustainable Estates for the 21st Century’ [28]: The role of private landownership in facilitating sustainable rural communities in upland Scotland, funded by The Henry Angest Foundation (PhD awarded November 2013).
Sustainable Estates for the 21st Century [3]: Knowledge Exchange Project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, Scottish Government and Scottish Land & Estates (2011).

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Annie McKee

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