Ruth Wilson

Research

Ruth’s current projects include:

• Principal Investigator, INTANGIBLE: Understanding the socio-cultural dimensions of island population change in Scotland, England, Canada and Japan, funded by the British Academy under its Knowledge Frontiers: International Interdisciplinary Research programme.
• Co-Lead, Covid-19 and shifting mobilities: Exploring new migration flows into rural, island and coastal communities, a Research Network funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
• Leading a Living Lab and assisting in two others for the Rural Economy (E1) and Rural Communities (E2) projects, funded by the RESAS Strategic Research Programme (2022-27).

PhD supervision

Kirsten Gow. Kirsten is exploring the Scottish islands diaspora and the potential for return migration, funded by the Macaulay Development Trust.

Marcus Craigie. Marcus is exploring the role of multiple ongoing crises in population change in Shetland, funded by an ESRC Doctoral Training Centre/SGSSS Collaborative PhD Studentship.

Past research

• Scottish Islands Survey (2023), funded by the Scottish Government (lead)
• Selection and establishment of eight ‘Living Labs’ for the Rural Economy (E1) and Rural Communities (E2) projects, funded by the RESAS Strategic Research Programme (2022-27) (lead)
• WP2 (Conceptual and operational framework for rural community-led development) of RURACTIVE: Empowering Rural Communities to Act for Change, funded by Horizon Europe (lead 2024-25)
• Expert Peer Review of Socio-Economic and Public Attitudes Survey in the Turks and Caicos (2022), funded by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (lead)
• RD 3.4.1 on demographic change in remote areas, funded by the RESAS Strategic Research Programme 2016-22 (co-lead)
• Workpackage on choice behaviour and energy use for EU H2020 project ‘SMARTEES’: Social innovation Modelling Approaches to Realizing Transition to Energy Efficiency and Sustainability (lead)
• First National Islands Plan Survey (2020), funded by the Scottish Government (lead)
• Research on the Edge (2019-2020), funded by SEFARI’s Flexible Fund (lead)
• Islands Revival project (2019), funded by SEFARI’s Responsive Opportunity Fund (co-lead)
• Understanding the response to Covid-19 in rural areas of Scotland and the ongoing impacts of Covid-19 (RESAS Strategic Research Programme 2020-22)

Publications

Journals

• Wilson, R.; Noble, C.; Currie, M. (2024) The changing rural idyll and the ideal migrant The case of Scotland during COVID19, Journal of Rural Studies, 114, art. 103497
• Currie, M.; Wilson, R.; Noble, C.; Hopkins, J.; Marshall, A. (2024) The impact of COVID-19 on the resilience of rural and island Scotland: implications for transitioning to a resilient rural and island future, Scottish Geographical Journal, 140(1-2), 29-48.
• Philip, L.; Wilson, R.; Duffy, P. (2024) Rurality, islandness and public policy in Scotland, Scottish Geographical Journal, 140(1-2), 113-135
• Wilson, R.; Hopkins, J. (2019) The changing shape of Scotland’s digital divide., European Countryside, 11, 563-583.

Books / chapters

• 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

Technical / contract reports

• Wilson, R.; Currie, M.; Dinnie, L.; Marshall, A.; McKee, A.; Nicholson, H.; Noble, C.; Pinker, A.; Williams, I.; Wooldridge, T.; Hopkins, J. (2024) Case Study Update – March 2024, Strategic Research Programme 2022-27: Rural Economy (JHI-E1-1) and Rural Communities (JHI-E2-2)
• Hopkins, J.; Farinelli, V.; Wilson, R. (2023) Rural assets enabling a wellbeing-focused economic recovery: an inventory to inform data collection and analysis, Zenodo, 6th July 2023.
• Gow, K.; Currie, M.; Duffy, P.M.; Wilson, R.; Philip, L.J. (2023) Gows typology of Scotland’s islands: Technical notes, University of Aberdeen Webiste, November 2023.
• Currie, M.; Hopkins, J.; Wilson, R.; Farinelli, V. (2023) Cost of Living Crisis in Remote and Rural Areas in Scotland, Report for UK Government, August 2023.
• Wilson, R.; Hopkins, J. (2023) Summary update on case studies, March 2023, Rural Economy (E1) and Rural Communities (E2) topics of the Scottish Government’s Strategic Research Programme 2022-27
• 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.

Conference papers

• Duffy, P.; Philip, L.; Gow, K.; Wilson, R.; Currie, M. (2024) An internal diaspora opportunities for island repopulation, 12th International Conference on Population Geographies, Queen’s University, Belfast, 30 June -3 July 2024
• Wilson, R.; Noble, C.; Currie, M. (2022) A new idyll: Harnessing newfound appetite for rural migration during Covid-19, Trans-Atlantic Rural Research Network (TARRN), Newcastle, 23-25 May 2022
• Duffy, P.; Wilson, R.; Philip, L. (2022) Rurality, islandness and public policy: do definitions matter?, European Society of Rural Sociology Satellite Events, Birnam, 20-24 June 2022
• Wilson, R.; Noble, C.; Currie, M. (2022) A new idyll Harnessing newfound appetite for rural migration during Covid19, Trans-Atlantic Rural Research Network (TARRN), 23-25 May 2022, Newcastle University
• 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.

Conference posters / abstracts

• Wilson, R.; Hopkins, J.; Piras, S.; Farinelli, V. (2023) The “race for space”: marathon or sprint? Exploring the short and longer-term impacts of Covid-19 on urban-rural migration in Scotland, European Society of Rural Sociology Congress, Rennes, 3-7 July 2023
• Wilson, R.; Currie, M.; Noble, C. (2023) Enabling change in times of crisis: a novel Living Lab approach to policy-oriented rural community research, European Society of Rural Sociology Congress, Rennes, 3rd-7th July 2023.
• Wilson, R.; Currie, M.; McKee, A.; Hopkins, J.; Pinker, A.; Creaney, R.; Piras, S.; Nicholson, H.; Marshall, A.; Wooldridge, T. (2023) A Journey Through Islands Research At The James Hutton Institute, RESAS ENRA Science and Policy Conference, Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, 18th May 2023
• Nijnik, M.; Miller, D.; Valero, D.; Melnykovych, M.; Wilson, R.; Hopkins, J.; Martinat, S.; Brnkalakova, S.; Kluvankova, T. (2023) Empowering marginalised mountain communities to act for change , CANSEE2023 BY DESIGN NOT DISASTER: Grounding Economies During Uncertain Times, 11-13 October 2023, York University, Toronto, Canada
• Wilson, R.; Noble, C.; Currie, M. (2022) New life in the country: Covid-related migration in Scotland, RGS-IBG Annual International Conference, Newcastle, 30 August to 2 September 2022
• 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)