Professor Paul Milbourne

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Research

Research interests:

I am a human geographer whose main research interests lie in the field of social geography and, more specifically, the geographies of welfare, poverty, homelessness and injustice. I also have interests in environmental geography, particularly the interplay between social and environmental forms of injustice. My research has been undertaken in rural, urban and ex-industrial areas in the UK and other countries in the Global north. My recent and ongoing research projects focus on food poverty and justice, community-led responses to rural poverty, urban food systems, community gardening, migrant work and rural futues. Previously, my work has covered the themes of housing and homelessness, mobility and migration, cultural identities and conflict, and landscape and nature.

Research awards:

I have been awarded more than 40 research grants totalling £39 million across my career. Funding organisations include the European Commission, UKRI, RCUK, ESRC, Welsh Government, Scottish Government, Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, Finnish Academy, Home Office, Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Forestry Commission, Countryside Agency, Big Lottery Fund, local government and anti-poverty organisations.

Funded research projects:

• 2024 – 27: Rural Wales Local Policy and Innovation Partnership: Phase 2. Funded by ESRC, £4.8 million (with Aberystwyth, Bangor and Gloucestershire Universities and non-academic partners).
• 2023: Rural Wales Local Policy and Innovation Partnership: Phase 1. Funded by ESRC, £50,000 (with Aberystwyth, Bangor and Gloucestershire Universities and non-academic partners).
• 2022 – 27: FoodCLIC: Developing Sustainability Co-benefits, Spatial Linkages, Social Inclusion andSectoral Connections to Transform Food Systems in City-Regions. Funded by European Commission (Horizon Europe), €12 million (with European partners).
• 2020 – 24: FOODTRAILS: Building Pathways Towards Inclusive and Integrated Urban Food Policies. Funded by European Commission (Horizon 2020), €12 million (with European partners).
• 2018: National Development Framework for Wales, Regions and Rural Areas Research Study. Funded by the Welsh Government, £73,000 (with Arup)
• 2017 – 23: Rural Futures. Funded by the Big Lottery Fund, £2 million (with Severn Wye Energy and Bro Consultancy).
• 2017: Generating a Research Strategy for the Post-Brexit Agri-food sector. Funded by ESRC, £5,200 (with G Enticott and K Morgan).
• 2014: Alternative Urbanisms. Funded by GW4, £15,000, with C Barnett (University of Exeter), G Bridge (University of Bristol) and G Brown (University of Bath).
• 2017 – 18: Farm Workers in Scottish Agriculture – Case Studies in the International Seasonal Migrant Labour Market. Funded by Scottish Government, £69,000 (with Scotland’s Rural College).
• 2014: Growing spaces: community gardening in disadvantaged urban communities. Funded by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, £5,000.
• 2014 – 15: Growing healthy diets: developing community gardening and food projects within schools. Funded by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, £4,900, with J Hawkins, A Fletcher and K Morgan.
• 2009 – 14: Climate Change Consortium for Wales (C3W). Funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, £4 million (with colleagues at Cardiff, Aberystwyth and Swansea universities).
• 2003 – 13: Wales Rural Observatory. Funded by the European Commission and the Welsh Government, £4.05 million (with Aberystwyth University).
• 2011 – 13: Growing a healthy older population: community and allotment gardening amongst older people in the South Wales Valleys. Funded by the National Institute for Social Care and Health Research, £150,000, with D Clayton et al. (Cardiff Metropolitan University).
• 2010 – 12: Connecting Communities: the economic, social and cultural impacts of Broadband in rural Wales. Funded by the Welsh Government, £210,000, with S Hurley (School of Computer Science).
• 2009 – 12: Grey and Pleasant Land? An interdisciplinary exploration of the connectivities of older people in rural society (with Plymouth, Swansea, West of England and Bournemouth Universities). Funded through the RCUK’s New Dynamics of Ageing research programme, £1.1 million
• 2009 – 10: Homelessness and Central and Eastern European Migrants. Funded by the Big Lottery, £92,000, with Shelter Cymru and Swansea University.
• 2008 – 10: Planting Spaces, Growing Places: Community gardening and regeneration in disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods in the UK. Funded through research overheads, £45,000.
• 2008 – 10: Welfare, Restructuring and Regionalisation in Finland. Funded by the Finnish Academy, €300,000 (international partner, with S Hanninen and T Silvasti, University of Helsinki).
• 2007 – 08: Commission on Rural Housing in Wales. Funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, £18,000
• 2004 – 05: The Future of Rural Services. Funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, £114,000 (with University of Gloucestershire).
• 2003 – 07: The Shifting Governance of State Forestry in Britain. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (CASE award), £12,000.
• 2003 – 06: Rural Governance and Forestry. Funded by the Forestry Commission, £108,000 (with T Marsden).
• 2003 – 05: Forestry, Community and Social Research in Wales. Funded by the Forestry Commission, £105,000 (with T Marsden).
• 2003 – 05: The Role of the Housing System in Rural Wales. Funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, £80,000 (with B Edwards and S Orford).
• 2003 – 05: Rural Economy and Society Study Group Seminar Series. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (Research Seminar Series), £11,900
• 2002 – 05: The Social Regulation of the Rural Environment. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (CASE award), £14,500
• 2002 – 03: Forests, Nature and Society in Post-industrial Spaces. Funded by the Forestry Commission, £40,000
• 2002 – 03: Age Balanced Communities in Rural Wales. Funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, £83,000 (with Newidiem consultancy).
• 2000 – 03: Forestry, Land and Community in Wales. Funded by the Forestry Commission, £120,000 (with K Bishop and T Marsden).
• 2000 – 02: Rural Economy and Society Study Group Seminar Series. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (Research Seminar Series), £8,200
• 2000: The Effects of Hunting with Dogs on the Social and Cultural Life of the Countryside of England and Wales. Research Project for the Burns Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs funded by the Home Office, £49,000
• 1999 – 2001: Forest of Bere Countryside and Community Project. Funded by Hampshire County Council, £17,000 (with M Winter, University of Gloucestershire).
• 1999: Tackling Homelessness in Rural Areas. Funded by the Countryside Agency, £2,200 (with P Cloke and R Widdowfield)
• 1998 – 2001: Complementarities and Conflicts Between Farming and Incomers to the Countryside in England and Wales. Funded by the Department for Food and Rural Affairs, £90,000 (with M Winter, University of Gloucestershire).
• 1998: Rural Disadvantage in Hampshire. Funded by Hampshire County Council, £9,400.
• 1997 – 98: Poverty and Social Exclusion in Wiltshire. Funded by Wiltshire County Council, £10,500.
• 1996 – 98: The Homeless Poor in Rural Areas. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, £102,500 (with P Cloke).
• 1996 – 97: Anti-Poverty Strategies in Rural Areas. Funded by the National Local Government Forum Against Poverty, £10,000.
• 1996 – 97: Assessing the Impact of Experimental Village Design Statements. Funded by the Countryside Commission, £17,000 (with S Owen and G Metcalf, University of Gloucestershire).
• 1995 – 96: Poverty and Deprivation in Rural Wiltshire. Funded by Kennet District Council , £17,500.
• 1992 – 93: National Forest Community Study. Funded by the Countryside Commission, £19,000 (with P Cloke and C Thomas, University of Bristol).

Teaching

I have played a significant role in development of new courses in the School of Geography and Planning. In 2011-12, I led the development of a new Human Geography undergraduate degree course, which commenced 2012-13. As Head of School, I initiated and oversaw the development of four new Masters courses:

• Food, Space and Society (2015)
• City Futures (2016)
• Environment and Development (2018)
• International Planning and Urban Design (2018)

During my time at Cardiff University, I have led or contributed to the following modules:

• Culture, Space and Place (UG)
• Rural Geography (UG)
• The Global Countryside (UG)
• Research Methods (UG)
• Social Geography (UG)
• Food Security and Justice (PGT)
• Worlds of Food (PGT)

Biography

Education and qualifications

1988 – 1991                 Ph.D., Department of Geography, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

1985 – 1988                 B.A. (Hons.), Human Geography, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

Career overview

2013 –  2021                Head of School, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University

2005 –                          Professor, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University

2003 – 2005                 Reader, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University

1999 – 2003                 Cardiff Senior Fellow, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University

1993 – 1999                 Research Fellow Senior Research Fellow, Countryside and Community Research Unit,

 University of Gloucestershire

1992 – 1993                 Research Associate, Department of Geography, University of Bristol

1991 – 1992                 Research Officer, Department of Geography, University of Wales, Lampeter

Honours and awards

Elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences (2011 –)

Elected Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (2019 –)

Professional memberships

Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences (2011 –)

Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (2019 –)

Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society

Committees and reviewing

Cardiff University

Director of the Sustainable and Just Food Systems Research Centre, School of Geography and Planning (2022-)

Head of the School of Geography and Planning (2013–21)

Director of Research, School of Geography and Planning (2009–13)

Member of Council (2016–19)

Member of Senate (2011–21)

Founder and Director of Cardiff University’s Centre for Research on Environment, Society and Space (CRESS) (2005 –)

Member of the University’s Education Portfolio Steering Group (2017-19)

Member of the School of Geography and Planning’s Athena Swan Working Group (2017-21)

Member of the University’s First Choice Admissions and Recruitment Steering Group (2017-19)

Member of the GW4 Social Sciences Group (2013-14)

Member of the Cardiff University – National Museum of Wales partnership steering group (2014-21)

Member of the Sustainable Places University Research Institute steering group (2013-21) and co-leader of Sustainable Cities work programme (2015-21)

Chair of the Social Science Research Park Financial Steering Group (2014-15)

Director of Research and Chair of Research Committee, School of Geography and Planning (2009-13)

Chair of REF 2014 Strategy Group (2009-13), member of the RAE Strategy Group (2005-07), School of Geography and Planning

Member of Senior Management Team, School of Geography and Planning (2005-)

Postgraduate Research Admissions Officer, School of Geography and Planning (2005-09)

External 

Editor, The Geographical Journal (2024-)

Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Rural Studies (2012-)

Member of the Editorial Board of Social Sciences (2018-)

Member of the Department For Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' Social Science Expert Group (2023-)

Academic Chair of the 2018 Royal Geographical Society International Research Conference

Member of the Royal Geographical Society’s Policy Committee (2015-18)

Member of the Royal Geographical Society’s Research and Higher Education Committee (2012-15)

Secretary (2011-14) and Committee Member (2014-17) of the Geographies of Justice Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society. Past committee member of the Rural Geography Research Group.

Member of the Economic and Social Research Council’s Evaluation Committee (2010-14)

Member of the Editorial Board of Sociologia Ruralis journal (2002-09)

Director of the Welsh Government-funded Wales Rural Observatory (2003-14)

Member of the Welsh Government’s Financial Inclusion Steering Group (2009-12) and Rural Development Programme Monitoring Committee (2011-17)

Member of the Department for Food and Rural Affairs Forestry Expert Review Panel (2011-12)

Special Advisor on poverty and disadvantage to the Commission for Rural Communities (2005-06)

Lead Academic for Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Commission on Rural Housing in Wales (2007-08)

Member of the Council of the International Rural Sociology Association (IRSA) (2004-12)

Member of the Executive Committee of the European Society for Rural Sociology (2003-07)

Supervisions

Poverty, inequality and injustice

Food insecurity, poverty and in/justice

Urban food systems

Community gardening, urban agriculture and community growing

Rural welfare, poverty and well-being

Rural society, culture and politics

Rural housing and homelessness

Current supervision

Jing Chu

Xiang Li

Osama Asiri

Past projects

Tezcan Mert Cakal (ESRC funded) Community gardening in Wales: food security, community and justice

Rohit Madan (ESRC funded) PhD Agri-tourism in the Global South

Hannah Pitt (University funded) PhD Becoming a community garden

Matthew Nouch (ESRC funded) PhD Participation and democracy for all: gender, queer and racial expression in Porto Alegre

Jon Radcliffe (staff candidate) PhD Visualising rural statistics: a case study of Wales

Laura Smith (ESRC funded) PhD The geographies of environmental restoration

Nerys Owens (ESRC funded, CASE) PhD The shifting governance of state forestry in Britain

Katie Jones (ESRC funded) PhD Home zones: regulating new residential spaces in UK cities 

Karen Parkhill (ESRC funded, CASE) PhD The social regulation of the rural environment

Mark Walker (university funded) MPhil A white and unpleasant land?: ethnicity and identity in rural England

Michael Clark PhD (university funded) Telematics and flexible workspaces in rural areas