Ruth Wilson
Ruth joined the Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences Department as a social scientist in 2017. Her research focuses on rural and island communities and what helps them to thrive - socially, economically and culturally. Ruth currently works on projects that aim to support a green and resilient recovery process, including coordinating action research-based case studies in rural and island communities across Scotland.
Ruth is a sociologist by background but enjoys working across disciplinary boundaries and in transdisciplinary teams to achieve real-world impacts. She uses a range of methods in doing so, including interviews, surveys and digital methods.
Current research interests
- Lived experiences of rural and island residents during times of change and crisis
- Symbolic understandings of rural and island life
- Depopulation in and migration to rural and island communities
- Community dynamics, identity and belonging
- The relationship between technological, environmental and social change
PhD supervision
Kirsten Gow (due to submit in 2025)
Marcus Craigie (due to submit in 2025)
Past research
- Led the first National Islands Plan Survey for the Scottish Government
- Co-led the Islands Revival project (SEFARI Responsive Opportunity Fund)
- Co-led RD 3.4.1 on demographic change in remote areas (RESAS Strategic Research Programme 2016-22)
- Led workpackage on choice behaviour and energy use for EU H2020 project 'SMARTEES': Social innovation Modelling Approaches to Realizing Transition to Energy Efficiency and Sustainability
- Understanding the response to Covid-19 in rural areas of Scotland and the ongoing impacts of Covid-19 (RESAS Strategic Research Programme 2020-22)
- Pathways to Nature in Childhood
- Climate Change Engagement: Assessing the Impacts of the Climate Challenge Fund
Ruth's PhD (University of Aberdeen, 2015) explored the nature of rural social relations in an increasingly digitalised world. Prior to joining the Institute, she worked at Robert Gordon University as a Research and Impact Officer, helping the university to widen access to students from diverse backgrounds. She was also involved in an AHRC-funded project, with the University of Manchester, about understanding everyday participation, particularly in rural and island societies.
Bibliography
- Colley, K.; Craig, T.; Scholz, G.; Hague, A.; Wilson, R.; Polhill, G.; Salt, D.; Somervail, P.; Nazli Koseoglu, M.; Wooldridge, T. (2022) The role of individuals and households in the transition to a circular economy a social simulation approach, International Association of People-Environment Studies (IAPS) 2022 conference, online
- Currie, M.; Wilson, R.; Noble, C.; Gurd, J. (2022) The ongoing impacts of Covid-19 in Scotland’s rural and island communities, SEFARI webpage
- Salt, D.; Polhill, G.; Craig, T.; Wilson, R.; Colley, K.; Pinker, A.; Scalco, A.; Muhammad, M. (2021) Modelling coconstructed scnearios of district heat network adoption in Aberdeen, Social Simulation Conference 2021, Online, 20-24 September 2021.
- Polhill, J.G.; Salt, D.; Craig. T.; Wilson, R.; Colley, K. (2021) Sensitivity analysis of an empirical agent-based model of district heating network adoption., International Work Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, Online, 16-18 June 2021.
- Currie, M.; Mc Morran, R.; Hopkins, J.; McKee, A.; Glass, J.; Wilson, R.; Meador, E.; Noble, C.; Craigie, M.; Piras, S.; Bruce, F.; Williams, A.; Pinker, A.; Jones, S.; Maynard, C.; Atterton, J. (2021) Understanding the response to Covid-19 - Exploring options for a resilient social and economic recovery in Scotland’s rural and island communities, SEFARI
- Wilson, R.; Hopkins, J.; Currie, M.; Potts, J.; Somervail, P.; Stevenson, T. (2021) National Islands Plan Survey Final Report, Social Research Report for the Scottish Government.
- Wilson, R. (2021) Covid19 and rural regeneration, Research Note for RESAS RD3.4.1 O4.5 - Demographic change and service planning in the SPA.
- Dumitru, A.; Lema Blanco, I.; Albulescu, P.; Antosz, P.; Bouman, L.; Colley, K.; Craig, T.; Jager, W.; Macsinga, I.; Meskovic, E.; Mischkowski, N.; Pellegrini Masini, G.; Polhill, G.; Quinti, G.; Salt, D.; Somervail, P.; Wilson, R. (2021) Policy recommendations for each cluster of casestudies Insights from policy scenario workshops, SMARTEES Deliverable 5.2.
- Wilson R.; Colley, K.; Somervail, P.; Polhill, J.G.; Craig, T.; Salt, D.; Scalco, A.; Tiru, L-G.; Albulescu, P.; Macsinga, I.; Pellegrini-Masini, G.; Löfström, E.; Jager, W.; Antosz, P.; Bouman, L.; Dumitru, A. (2021) Integrated overview of choice behaviour and energy transitions in SMARTEES case studies, Report for SMARTEES Deliverable 4.2
- Polhill, J.G.; Salt, D.; Craig, T.; Wilson, R.; Colley, K. (2021) Sensitivity analysis of an empirical agent-based model of district heating network adoption, In: Rojas, I.; Gonzalo, J. & Català (eds.). Advances in Computational Intelligence. IWANN 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 12862. Cham: Springer, pp 118-127
- Irvine, K.N.; Msika, J.; Dinnie, E.; Craig, T.; Fischer, A.; Hague, A.; Rajagopalan, D.; Roberts, M.; Wilson, R. (2020) Climate change engagement: assessing the impacts of the Climate Challenge Fund., ClimateXChange Report, 164pp.
- Wilson, R.; Hopkins, J. (2019) The changing shape of Scotland's digital divide., European Countryside, 11, 563-583.
- Hopkins, J.; Atterton, A.; Copus, A.; Wilson, R. (2019) How can we improve the evidence base for place-based policy making?, Presentation, 17th Rural Entrepreneurship Conference, Inverness, 17-19 June 2019.
- Wilson, R.; Copus, A. (2019) A collaborative approach to developing an index of rural service delivery., Rural Entrepreneurship Conference, Inverness, 17-19 June 2019.
- Copus, A.; Dax, T.; Grunfelder, J.; Kovacs, K.; Taggai, G.; Meredith, D.; Scardaccione, G.; Spiegeldalhder, M.R.; Ferrandis Martinez, A.; Weber, R.; Kahila, P.; Pósfai, I.; Wilson, R.; Piras, S.; Machold, I.; Tamme, O. (2019) European shrinking rural areas: challenges, actions and perspectives for territorial governance. (ESCAPE)., Applied Research. Inception Report (Appendices),version 13 May 2019., ESPON, 97pp.
- Brooks, E.; Currie, M.; Wilson, R.; Copus, A.; Pinker, A.; Madanipour, A.; Shucksmith, M. (2019) D6.2 National Report United Kingdom, RELOCAL Project Deliverable
- Hopkins, J.; Wilson, R.; Atterton, J.; Copus, A. (2019) Stakeholder views on the small area-level evidence base for place-based policy in Scotland., Report to RESAS, RD3.4.2: Place-Based Policy and Rural Scotland, Objective 5.3i, March 2019, 28pp.
- Hopkins, J.; Copus, A.; Wilson, R.; Atterton, J. (2019) What is place-based rural policy and what evidence base does it need? research and knowledge exchange activities., Report for RESAS RD 3.4.2. Place-based Policy and Rural Scotland, Objective 5.1., December 2018 (and updated February 2019), 17pp.
- Wilson, R.; Copus, A. (2018) Well this works for us: Unpacking the complexity of changing SGI provision in Sparsely Populated Areas - and implications for the transferability of "good practice"., Nordic Ruralities, Denmark, 14-16 May 2018.
- Wilson, R.; Copus, A. (2018) Services of General Interest (SGI) in the Scottish Sparsely Populated Area (SPA): Exemplar services., RESAS RD 3.4.1 Demographic Change in Remote Areas. Working Paper 7 (Objective O4.2i), Version 3, August 2018, 42pp.
- Wilson, R.; Copus, A. (2018) Services of General Interest (SGI) in the Scottish Sparsely Populated Area (SPA). Introduction, classification by delivery mode, and selection of exemplar services., RESAS RD 3.4.1 Demographic Change in Remote Areas. Working Paper 4, Objective O4.1i, January 2018, 28pp.
- Byg, A.; Faccioli, M.; Kyle, C.; Wilson, R. (2018) Factors influencing agriculture, water and biodiversity in the Ugie area, Aberdeenshire., Report published on PROVIDE and James Hutton Institute webpage, 14pp.
- Wilson, R.; Hopkins, J. (2019) The changing shape of Scotland's digital divide., European Countryside, 11, 563-583.
- Polhill, J.G.; Salt, D.; Craig, T.; Wilson, R.; Colley, K. (2021) Sensitivity analysis of an empirical agent-based model of district heating network adoption, In: Rojas, I.; Gonzalo, J. & Català (eds.). Advances in Computational Intelligence. IWANN 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 12862. Cham: Springer, pp 118-127
- Currie, M.; Wilson, R.; Noble, C.; Gurd, J. (2022) The ongoing impacts of Covid-19 in Scotland’s rural and island communities, SEFARI webpage
- Currie, M.; Mc Morran, R.; Hopkins, J.; McKee, A.; Glass, J.; Wilson, R.; Meador, E.; Noble, C.; Craigie, M.; Piras, S.; Bruce, F.; Williams, A.; Pinker, A.; Jones, S.; Maynard, C.; Atterton, J. (2021) Understanding the response to Covid-19 - Exploring options for a resilient social and economic recovery in Scotland’s rural and island communities, SEFARI
- Wilson, R.; Hopkins, J.; Currie, M.; Potts, J.; Somervail, P.; Stevenson, T. (2021) National Islands Plan Survey Final Report, Social Research Report for the Scottish Government.
- Wilson, R. (2021) Covid19 and rural regeneration, Research Note for RESAS RD3.4.1 O4.5 - Demographic change and service planning in the SPA.
- Dumitru, A.; Lema Blanco, I.; Albulescu, P.; Antosz, P.; Bouman, L.; Colley, K.; Craig, T.; Jager, W.; Macsinga, I.; Meskovic, E.; Mischkowski, N.; Pellegrini Masini, G.; Polhill, G.; Quinti, G.; Salt, D.; Somervail, P.; Wilson, R. (2021) Policy recommendations for each cluster of casestudies Insights from policy scenario workshops, SMARTEES Deliverable 5.2.
- Wilson R.; Colley, K.; Somervail, P.; Polhill, J.G.; Craig, T.; Salt, D.; Scalco, A.; Tiru, L-G.; Albulescu, P.; Macsinga, I.; Pellegrini-Masini, G.; Löfström, E.; Jager, W.; Antosz, P.; Bouman, L.; Dumitru, A. (2021) Integrated overview of choice behaviour and energy transitions in SMARTEES case studies, Report for SMARTEES Deliverable 4.2
- Irvine, K.N.; Msika, J.; Dinnie, E.; Craig, T.; Fischer, A.; Hague, A.; Rajagopalan, D.; Roberts, M.; Wilson, R. (2020) Climate change engagement: assessing the impacts of the Climate Challenge Fund., ClimateXChange Report, 164pp.
- Copus, A.; Dax, T.; Grunfelder, J.; Kovacs, K.; Taggai, G.; Meredith, D.; Scardaccione, G.; Spiegeldalhder, M.R.; Ferrandis Martinez, A.; Weber, R.; Kahila, P.; Pósfai, I.; Wilson, R.; Piras, S.; Machold, I.; Tamme, O. (2019) European shrinking rural areas: challenges, actions and perspectives for territorial governance. (ESCAPE)., Applied Research. Inception Report (Appendices),version 13 May 2019., ESPON, 97pp.
- Brooks, E.; Currie, M.; Wilson, R.; Copus, A.; Pinker, A.; Madanipour, A.; Shucksmith, M. (2019) D6.2 National Report United Kingdom, RELOCAL Project Deliverable
- Hopkins, J.; Wilson, R.; Atterton, J.; Copus, A. (2019) Stakeholder views on the small area-level evidence base for place-based policy in Scotland., Report to RESAS, RD3.4.2: Place-Based Policy and Rural Scotland, Objective 5.3i, March 2019, 28pp.
- Hopkins, J.; Copus, A.; Wilson, R.; Atterton, J. (2019) What is place-based rural policy and what evidence base does it need? research and knowledge exchange activities., Report for RESAS RD 3.4.2. Place-based Policy and Rural Scotland, Objective 5.1., December 2018 (and updated February 2019), 17pp.
- Wilson, R.; Copus, A. (2018) Services of General Interest (SGI) in the Scottish Sparsely Populated Area (SPA): Exemplar services., RESAS RD 3.4.1 Demographic Change in Remote Areas. Working Paper 7 (Objective O4.2i), Version 3, August 2018, 42pp.
- Wilson, R.; Copus, A. (2018) Services of General Interest (SGI) in the Scottish Sparsely Populated Area (SPA). Introduction, classification by delivery mode, and selection of exemplar services., RESAS RD 3.4.1 Demographic Change in Remote Areas. Working Paper 4, Objective O4.1i, January 2018, 28pp.
- Byg, A.; Faccioli, M.; Kyle, C.; Wilson, R. (2018) Factors influencing agriculture, water and biodiversity in the Ugie area, Aberdeenshire., Report published on PROVIDE and James Hutton Institute webpage, 14pp.
- Colley, K.; Craig, T.; Scholz, G.; Hague, A.; Wilson, R.; Polhill, G.; Salt, D.; Somervail, P.; Nazli Koseoglu, M.; Wooldridge, T. (2022) The role of individuals and households in the transition to a circular economy a social simulation approach, International Association of People-Environment Studies (IAPS) 2022 conference, online
- Salt, D.; Polhill, G.; Craig, T.; Wilson, R.; Colley, K.; Pinker, A.; Scalco, A.; Muhammad, M. (2021) Modelling coconstructed scnearios of district heat network adoption in Aberdeen, Social Simulation Conference 2021, Online, 20-24 September 2021.
- Polhill, J.G.; Salt, D.; Craig. T.; Wilson, R.; Colley, K. (2021) Sensitivity analysis of an empirical agent-based model of district heating network adoption., International Work Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, Online, 16-18 June 2021.
- Hopkins, J.; Atterton, A.; Copus, A.; Wilson, R. (2019) How can we improve the evidence base for place-based policy making?, Presentation, 17th Rural Entrepreneurship Conference, Inverness, 17-19 June 2019.
- Wilson, R.; Copus, A. (2019) A collaborative approach to developing an index of rural service delivery., Rural Entrepreneurship Conference, Inverness, 17-19 June 2019.
- Wilson, R.; Copus, A. (2018) Well this works for us: Unpacking the complexity of changing SGI provision in Sparsely Populated Areas - and implications for the transferability of "good practice"., Nordic Ruralities, Denmark, 14-16 May 2018.
- Nijnik, M.; Miller, D.; Melnykovych, M.; Wilson, R. (2022) At the crossroads of possibilities for smart mountain villages the role of social innovation , Session: 60_Smart Mountain Villages, International Mountain Conference 2022, September 11-15 2022, Innsbruck, Austria
- Colley, K.; Wilson, R.; Craig, T.; Polhill, G.; Salt, D.; Pinker, A.; Somervail, P. (2021) SMARTEES: Modelling household uptake of a city-wide district heat network in Aberdeen, Scotland. Virtual poster for Behavior, Environment and Climate Change Conference 2021, Virtual poster for Behavior, Environment and Climate Change Conference 2021, 8-10 November 2021, Online
- Polhill, J.G.; Craig, T.; Salt, D.; Wilson, R. (2020) Simulating the dynamics of trust in one-off decisions such as joining a heat network., BEHAVE 2020: 6th European Conference on Behaviour and Energy Efficiency, Copenhagen, Denmark, 21-23 October 2020. Abstract.
- Wilson, R.; Copus, A. (2019) Islands Revival: Stories of island population turnaround in Scotland and beyond., Scottish Consortium for Rural Research Mini-Conference, Inverness, 13 November 2019. (Poster)
