Caitlin Hafferty is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Environmental Social Science, interested in the governance, politics, and democratic participation aspects of nature recovery and Nature-based Solutions. Her transdisciplinary work is theoretically-informed with real-world impact, often collaborating with government, private business, charities, social enterprises, and community organisations, primarily in the UK.
Her current research, funded by the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery and NERC-funded Agile Initiative, examines the governance of nature recovery for transformative change, with a particular focus on case study landscapes and partnerships in the Scottish Highlands. Caitlin is involved in two key projects: Risky Nature Recovery, which investigates how risk and uncertainty influence nature recovery that delivers on multiple benefits, and Participatory Governance for nature recovery and Nature-based Solutions (NbS), which co-designs knowledge with practitioners to support more interconnected and inclusive decision-making.
Caitlin produces both academic and impact-oriented outputs, including the Recipe for Engagement (RfE) guidance for nature recovery and NbS. The guidance has informed participatory governance strategies in private rewilding companies like Highlands Rewilding and Nattergal, as well as local nature recovery partnerships and landscape recovery schemes across England. She has submitted evidence to the House of Lords on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, presented at DLUHC’s 2023 Science Seminar Series, and contributed to DEFRA’s Social Science Expert Group review on public engagement in policy-making.
Caitlin’s background is interdisciplinary and applied, combining public participation and democracy, participatory geographies, digital engagement, and environmental policy. She completed a collaborative PhD in 2022 on ‘Engagement in the Digital Age’ at the Countryside and Community Research Institute, funded by an ESRC studentship. During her PhD, she completed internships at Natural England producing an evidence report on institutionalising engagement that was featured in the 2022 Chief Scientist Report, and at the Welsh Government, where she worked on statistical modelling for national indicators of the Well-being of Future Generations Act.
She is an expert advisor for various initiatives including the BirdLife ELSP Stakeholder Engagement for Restoration Taskforce, Oxfordshire LNRS Engagement Communications Working Group, and Cotswolds National Landscape’s Big Chalk Health, Wellbeing and Engagement Topic Group. Caitlin also advises on community benefit options for natural capital markets, the implications of private finance for high integrity nature-based solutions, and is an Advisory Partner on the NFCA “Community Benefits Standard for UK Nature Credits” project.
Caitlin teaches on several MSc and BSc programmes at the School of Geography and Environment, supervises postgraduate student dissertations on the participatory and socio-economic dimensions of environmental challenges, and is an Associate Member and College Advisor at St Antony’s College. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (2018-present) and a committee member of the RGS-IBG Participatory Geographies Research Group.
Publications
2023-24
Hafferty, C., Reed, M.S., Brockett, B.F., Orford, S., Berry, R., Short, C. and Davis, J., 2024. Engagement in the digital age: Understanding “what works” for participatory technologies in environmental decision-making. Journal of Environmental Management, 365, p.121365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121365.
Reed, M.S., Merkle, B.G., Cook, E.J., Hafferty, C., Hejnowicz, A.P., Holliman, R., Marder, I.D., Pool, U., Raymond, C.M., Wallen, K.E. and Whyte, D., 2024. Reimagining the language of engagement in a post-stakeholder world. Sustainability Science, pp.1-10. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-024-01496-4.
Hafferty, C., Tomude, E. S., Wagner, A., McDermott, C., Hirons, M. Unpacking the politics of Nature-based Solutions governance: Making space for transformative change. (Unpublished pre-print), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4912761.
Hafferty, C., Pánek, J. and Babelon, I., 2024. Problematising digital democracy: the role of context in shaping digital participaton. In: Certomà, C., Iapaolo, F., Martellozzo, F. eds., Digital Technologies for Sustainable Futures: Promises and Pitfalls. Routledge.
Hafferty, C., Babelon, I., Berry, R., Brockett, B., Hogget, J. 2024. Digital tools for participatory environmental decision-making: Opportunities, challenges, and future directions. In: Sherren, K., Thondhlana, G. and Jackson-Smith, D. eds., Opening Windows: Embracing New Perspectives and Practices in Natural Resource Social Sciences. University Press of Colorado.
Charlton, J., Babelon, I., Watson, R. and Hafferty, C., 2023. Phygitally smarter? A critically pragmatic agenda for smarter engagement in British planning and beyond. Urban Planning, 8(2), pp.17-31.
Berry, R., Hafferty, C., Scott, O., and Clarke, L. 2023. Exploring the evolution of GIS research using bibliographic data. In: Geographical Information Science Research UK (GISRUK) Annual Conference, 19th-21st April 2023, Glasgow. (Unpublished)
2021-22
Hafferty, C., 2022. Engagement in the digital age: practitioners’ perspectives on the challenges and opportunities for planning and environmental decision-making. Doctoral dissertation, University of Gloucestershire), https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/13450/.
Hafferty, C. 2022. Embedding an evidence-led, best practice culture of engagement: learning from the evidence. Natural England Commissioned Report NECR448, https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5365328451469312.
Hafferty, C., 2022. Best practice stakeholder engagement: learning from the evidence. https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/11434/1/11434_Hafferty_%282022%29_Best_practice_stakeholder_engagement_learning_from_evidence.pdf.
Ingram, J., Maye, D., Bailye, C., Barnes, A., Bear, C., Bell, M., Cutress, D., Davies, L., de Boon, A., Dinnie, L. and Gairdner, J., 2022. What are the priority research questions for digital agriculture?. Land Use Policy, 114, p.105962.
Chivers, C.A., Hafferty, C., Reed, M. and Raseta, S., 2022. Exploring the socio-economic dynamics and innovation capacities of rural food and farming microbusinesses. NICRE Research Report No. 10: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/11449/1/11449_Chivers_Hafferty_Reed_Raseta_(2022)_Exploring_the_socioeconomic_dynamics_and_innovation_capacities_of_rural_food_and_farming_microbusinesses.pdf
Hafferty, C., Montuori, B., Börner, S., Meziant, K., Stirton, F.D. and Wingfield, T., 2021. Participation for sustainable, resilient, and equitable futures: where is it heading?, Participatory Geographies Research Group, https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/en/publications/participation-for-sustainable-resilient-and-equitable-futures-whe.
Hafferty, C., Berry, R. and Ordford, S., 2021. Geo-information tools for stakeholder engagement in environmental decision-making:“best practice” recommendations from a UK case study. In: 29th GIS Research UK Annual Conference, 14th to 16th April 2021, Online (Cardiff), https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/9625/1/9625-Berry-(2021)-Geo-information-tools-for-stakeholder-engagement.pdf.
Ingram, J., Hafferty, C., Adamson, H. and Outhwaite, S., 2021. Evaluating the impacts of Covid-19 on knowledge exchange in agriculture. Stakeholder interview analysis: Final report. https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/11294/7/11294_ingram_hafferty_2021_evaluating_the_impacts_of_covid-19_on_knowledge_exchange_in_agriculture_stakeholder_interview_analysis_final_report.pdf.
2019-20
Short, C.J., Breyer, J., Bell, G., Jackson-Matthews, S., Hafferty, C., McLaren, C. and Ord-Hume, D., 2020. LM0481: Assessment of the impact of agri-environment schemes on SSSI recovery. Evidence Review, https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/8828/7/8828-Short-(2020)-LM0841-Assessment-of-the-impact-of-agri-environment-schemes.pdf.
Hafferty, C., 2020. Key themes linked to a selection of national indicators for the well-being of Wales. Welsh Government Research Report: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/8383/7/8383-Hafferty-%282020%29-Key-themes-linked-to-a-selection.pdf.
Hafferty, C., 2020. What factors are linked to people agreeing that their local area has a sense of community?. Welsh Government Research Report: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/8381/7/8381-Hafferty-(2020)-What-factors-are-linked-to-people-agreeing.pdf.
Hafferty, C., 2020. What factors are linked to people being satisfied with the area that they live in?. Welsh Government Research Report: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/8380/7/8380-Hafferty-%282020%29-What-factors-are-linked-to-people.pdf.
Hafferty, C., 2020. What factors are linked to people living in households that are in material deprivation?. Welsh Government Research Report: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/8379/7/8379-Hafferty-%282020%29-What-factors-are-linked-to-people-living.pdf.
Hafferty, C., 2020. What factors are linked to people feeling safe in their local area?. Welsh Government Research Report: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/8384/7/8384-Hafferty-(2020)-What-factors-are-linked-to-people-feeling.pdf.
Hafferty, C., 2020. What factors are linked to people speaking the Welsh language?. Welsh Government Research Report: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/8382/7/8382-Hafferty-(2020)-What-factors-are-linked-to-people-speaking.pdf.
Hafferty, C., 2019. Engaging communities in the sustainable management of river environments. Salmo Trutta, pp.74-77. https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/6846/9/Engaging%20communities%20in%20the%20sustainable%20management%20of%20river%20environments.pdf.