Project Overview
This project aims to understand the impacts of the processes of community asset acquisition upon the empowerment, resilience, and well-being of rural communities across the four nations of the UK. The project is funded by the Nuffield Foundation and British Academy and was developed through the Understanding Communities Scheme.
Rural communities face long-standing challenges, such as out-migration of young people and geographic isolation, that affect local socioeconomic development and threaten community resilience and well-being. These issues are potentially exacerbated by contemporary events such as Brexit, COVID-19, and climate change, making rural communities more vulnerable to spatial injustices and inequalities.
Across all jurisdictions of the UK, the acquisition of local assets, such as land and buildings, is promoted at a policy and public authority level as a valued means of strengthening local networks and the sense of community empowerment that contributes to resilience and well-being. However, there is divergence in policy application and local level practice in each nation. While research has established that community assets can enhance wellbeing in rural contexts, less is known about the conditions under which processes of asset acquisition lead to increased empowerment, wellbeing, and resilience. This novel study seeks to facilitate knowledge exchange across policy, practice and community levels, and across the four UK nations, to better enable processes of asset acquisition that achieve greater resilience, empowerment and wellbeing of rural communities.
The project will run for 24 months from May 2022 until April 2024.
Rural communities face long-standing challenges, such as out-migration of young people and geographic isolation, that affect local socioeconomic development and threaten community resilience and well-being. These issues are potentially exacerbated by contemporary events such as Brexit, COVID-19, and climate change, making rural communities more vulnerable to spatial injustices and inequalities.
Across all jurisdictions of the UK, the acquisition of local assets, such as land and buildings, is promoted at a policy and public authority level as a valued means of strengthening local networks and the sense of community empowerment that contributes to resilience and well-being. However, there is divergence in policy application and local level practice in each nation. While research has established that community assets can enhance wellbeing in rural contexts, less is known about the conditions under which processes of asset acquisition lead to increased empowerment, wellbeing, and resilience. This novel study seeks to facilitate knowledge exchange across policy, practice and community levels, and across the four UK nations, to better enable processes of asset acquisition that achieve greater resilience, empowerment and wellbeing of rural communities.
The project will run for 24 months from May 2022 until April 2024.