Social injustice in urban neighbourhoods with high concentrations of socially excluded people is often seen as quite different from injustice in rural areas. Yet the proportions experiencing poverty and other forms of injustice may actually be similar in rural and urban areas of Scotland. Recent research suggests many of the underlying processes may be common to both, or at least interlinked. The conference will explore differences in the nature and causes of injustices between urban and rural areas, and in the effectiveness of urban and rural policies. The interdependencies between rural and urban areas are also examined.
"Area-based partnerships are one example of policies common in development and regeneration policy in both rural and urban areas," Professor Mark Shucksmith will tell the conference. "These partnerships are meant to listen to and involve local communities, and build community capacity in their work to counter social exclusion. But in both urban and rural localities it has proved a challenge to secure inclusive community involvement and capacity building, engaging with a range of local interests and with residents at different 'levels' of deprivation and disadvantage."
Principal C Duncan Rice, at the University of Aberdeen welcomes this partnership between Aberdeen's Arkleton Centre for Rural Development Research and Glasgow's Department of Urban Studies, and the close links with research users. "I am delighted that these two ancient universities have come together to develop research capacity, conceptual clarity, expertise and research methods on social justice in Scotland and to enhance the evidence base for effective policy and practice."