Catherine Broomfield
Postgraduate Research Associate
Overview
I am a social scientist and Research Associate at the Centre for Rural Policy Research (CRPR), University of Exeter. My research focuses on areas relating to the social dimension of farming's - and farmers' - relationship with wider (nonfarming) publics.
Research
My research focuses on areas relating to the social dimension of farming's and farmers' relationship with wider (nonfarming) society. My current research interests are:
Understanding approaches to in-person engagement between farming and nonfarming people conducive to relationship-building and mutual sharing of knowledge and learning in support of a co-created social licence to farm.
The role, nature and performance of dialogic communication between farming and nonfarming people in enabling transition to sustainable food systems.
The interdependencies and co-benefits of in-person engagement between farming and nonfarming people to farmer wellbeing.
By prioritising a transdisciplinary, co-production approach to research through collaboration with policy, industry and community-based actors, I want to focus on delivering research outcomes which are impactful and socially useful. I am particularly interested in developing my skills and experience in participative research methods.
Research group links
Publications
Copyright Notice: Any articles made available for download are for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the copyright holder.
2024
- Broomfield C. (2024) Towards a social licence to farm: an Aristotelian approach to farmers' engagement with nonfarming people.
2022
- Broomfield CY, Maher A. (2022) 26. What role for England’s grassland farming regions in the transition to a sustainable food system?, EurSafe 2022, Transforming food systems: ethics, innovation and responsibility, DOI:10.3920/978-90-8686-939-8_26. [PDF]
- Broomfield C, Nye C, Wells R. (2022) Media framing of migrant labour in UK fruit and vegetable production: An analysis of reporting in UK farming and mainstream print press, Journal of Rural Studies, volume 95, pages 423-437, DOI:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2022.09.033.
Biography
I completed an MSc Food Policy (Distinction) City, University of London (2020) before undertaking my PhD at Centre for Rural Policy Research (2020-2023). My thesis 'Towards a social licence to farm: an Aristotelian approach to farmers' engagement with nonfarming people' explored beef and sheep farmers' purpose and practice of engagement with nonfarming people using an original theoretically-informed conceptual framework which drew on social licence to operate theory, aspects of communication theories and Aristotelian moral philosophy. The qualitative study used a combination of in-depth interviews and a participative polyphonic workshop involving farming and nonfarming people, to understand the extent to which farmers' engagement practices were conducive to co-creating their social licences to farm and ways forward at the farmer and industry level to develop practice towards that goal.
I aim to deliver relevant, impactful research by prioritising a transdisciplinary, participatory research approach in collaboration with policy, industry and community-based actors.
As part of developing my skillset in participative research methods, I completed the Rural Link/FWAG Rural Facilitator Training (2024).
Before turning to academic study, I farmed cattle and sheep in an organic nature-friendly farming system for 15 years. I am interested in all things food and farming, a lover of cows, especially Red Ruby Devons.
More information
Member of Exeter Food Network, Exeter University
Member of the European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS)
