Katrina Brown
Norwegian Centre for Rural Research, Resource management, environment & landscape, Department Member
Katrina is a human geographer researching practices of rural and environmental governance. Her core area of expertise concerns the interrelations between law, regulation and policy, and everyday cultural norms and spatial practices, in understanding and managing multiple, competing claims to land. Recent projects have developed innovative mobile and visual methods – particularly using ‘minicam’ video techniques - for investigating human and animal social practices as they relate to specific environments.
Katrina’s current aim is to contribute to the social and cultural dimensions of understanding and delivering multiple ecosystem services, with a particular interest in justice, inclusion, equity, responsibility and ethics, informed by detailed work on the following themes:
Outdoor environments, health & wellbeing
Current research examines the relationship between health and wellbeing on one hand, and access to – and experiences of – outdoor environments, landscapes and ‘greenspace’ on the other. We focus on deepening understanding of the social, cultural and institutional mechanisms through which people’s engagements with environments influence their health; for example, how meanings and emotional and sensory experiences of environments (which can produce wellbeing) are shaped by multiple and contested social orderings. This informs knowledge of how we can better enable and manage participation in outdoor activity and recreation to deliver wellbeing benefits.
Human-animal-landscape relations
This theme examines how human-animal relations shape (predominantly upland) landscapes and ecologies, focussing on three main types of cross-species dynamics: 1) the relational practices required between land managers, sheep and dogs in upland grasslands to generate and maintain particular spatial patterns of grazing pressure and, in turn, desired assemblages of vegetation and landscape; 2) how responsible human-animal relationships are achieved in practice in key cross-species contact zones, focussing on the case of the relational competencies and attunements demanded between dogs, humans and environments to be able to choreograph outdoor recreation practices so as to avoid wildlife disturbance and harm to livestock; and 3) interactions between outdoor recreation and reindeer herding practices.
Understanding and managing rural and land-use conflicts
This research integrates the above two themes by examining how institutional practices mediate and balance objectives relating to land and environmental management on one hand, and participation, health and social inclusion on the other. It centres on understanding and resolving conflicts, such as those concerning: outdoor leisure and reindeer herding; mountain biking in upland environments; and, dogs and disturbance of ground-nesting birds.
Twitter: For updates on research and happenings relating to outdoor access issues and the governance of rural conflicts follow @outdooraccess (https://twitter.com/#!/OutdoorAccess)
Mobile and visual methods
Katrina and colleagues are working now to extend the work on Mobile Video Ethnography (with minicams) and Participatory Video to explore how video can be used as a tool to: a) understanding and reduce land use conflicts; b) understand animal-human interactions and their governance.
Katrina’s current aim is to contribute to the social and cultural dimensions of understanding and delivering multiple ecosystem services, with a particular interest in justice, inclusion, equity, responsibility and ethics, informed by detailed work on the following themes:
Outdoor environments, health & wellbeing
Current research examines the relationship between health and wellbeing on one hand, and access to – and experiences of – outdoor environments, landscapes and ‘greenspace’ on the other. We focus on deepening understanding of the social, cultural and institutional mechanisms through which people’s engagements with environments influence their health; for example, how meanings and emotional and sensory experiences of environments (which can produce wellbeing) are shaped by multiple and contested social orderings. This informs knowledge of how we can better enable and manage participation in outdoor activity and recreation to deliver wellbeing benefits.
Human-animal-landscape relations
This theme examines how human-animal relations shape (predominantly upland) landscapes and ecologies, focussing on three main types of cross-species dynamics: 1) the relational practices required between land managers, sheep and dogs in upland grasslands to generate and maintain particular spatial patterns of grazing pressure and, in turn, desired assemblages of vegetation and landscape; 2) how responsible human-animal relationships are achieved in practice in key cross-species contact zones, focussing on the case of the relational competencies and attunements demanded between dogs, humans and environments to be able to choreograph outdoor recreation practices so as to avoid wildlife disturbance and harm to livestock; and 3) interactions between outdoor recreation and reindeer herding practices.
Understanding and managing rural and land-use conflicts
This research integrates the above two themes by examining how institutional practices mediate and balance objectives relating to land and environmental management on one hand, and participation, health and social inclusion on the other. It centres on understanding and resolving conflicts, such as those concerning: outdoor leisure and reindeer herding; mountain biking in upland environments; and, dogs and disturbance of ground-nesting birds.
Twitter: For updates on research and happenings relating to outdoor access issues and the governance of rural conflicts follow @outdooraccess (https://twitter.com/#!/OutdoorAccess)
Mobile and visual methods
Katrina and colleagues are working now to extend the work on Mobile Video Ethnography (with minicams) and Participatory Video to explore how video can be used as a tool to: a) understanding and reduce land use conflicts; b) understand animal-human interactions and their governance.
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