Working Group 1.2

Geographic Mobility and its Impacts on Rural Community Structure and Change

Convenors:
David L. Brown, Cornell University, dlb17@cornell.edu
Tony Champion, Newcastle University (CURDS), tony.champion@ncl.ac.uk
Jane Atterton, Newcastle University (CRE), jane.atterton@ncl.ac.uk

This working group will include research on trends and causes of geographic mobility and research on how such mobility affects rural communities. We plan to include the full range of types of geographic mobility such as interregional and urban-rural population redistribution; international migration destined for or originating in rural communities and regions, inter-area job commuting, as well as temporary and seasonal forms of labour migration. Regarding the community impacts of these forms of geographic mobility, we include a broad range of economic, social, environmental and demographic outcomes.  Our preference is to focus on current and evolving trends of geographic mobility, and to examine community-level impacts that are of particular salience to current policy discussions such as social welfare policy, carbon footprints, resource usage and management, civic engagement, local economic development and entrepreneurship, and social inclusion and exclusion.