Hi I'm
Dr Carey Doyle

Position: Research Associate
Location: Edinburgh Campus
Expertise:
- Climate, Environment and Wildlife
- Forestry and Estate Management
- Natural Economy
- Policy

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I joined the Rural Policy Centre at SRUC as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in 2024, where my research focuses on land reform, community empowerment, and governance. I am a Chartered Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute and regularly speak and facilitate on land, planning, and community landownership.

My current commissioned work considers topics such as community landownership, rural communities policy, and community wealth building. My main research interests include land governance, property and land rights, inequality and social diversity, and the relationships between power and community development. I specialise in action research and community‑led methodologies, with a strong focus on how evidence can support more equitable and practical policy outcomes.

Before joining SRUC, I led the Community Ownership Hub at Community Land Scotland (2020-2024) and previously worked in planning consultancy. I completed my PhD at Queen’s University Belfast; this investigated population change and rural town planning, developing the conceptual basis for superdiversity over land and a normative framework for inclusive rural planning.

Areas of expertise and interests

Climate, Environment and Wildlife
Forestry and Estate Management
Natural Economy
Policy

I'm currently working on

Community Wealth Building policy implementation, and specifically the National Planning Framework 4’s CWB policy
Housing, demographic change, repopulation and wicked problems in rural areas
Long term impacts of community landownership
A review of Community land rights across the UK (Right to Buy, Right to Build, Right to Bid) and outcomes for empowerment

My professional highlights

Working with over 100 passionate and talented communities on land buyouts, a number of whom have now purchased land or buildings. With our support the number of Community Right to Buy applications doubled in the Glasgow area.
Sharing recommendations from my Urban Community Ownership project with policy makers including Scottish Government, the Scottish Land Commission and the Scottish Land Fund.
I’ve been a chartership assessor for the Royal Town Planning Institute since 2018.

Find out more about our research services

Research services

Our work addresses health and productivity in animals, animal welfare and crops, promotes low carbon farming and increases farm output through efficiency and innovation.