SRUC

Hi I'm
Dr Carey Doyle

  • Position: Research Associate
  • Location: Edinburgh Campus
  • Expertise:
    • Climate, Environment and Wildlife
    • Forestry and Estate Management
    • Natural Economy
    • Policy

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I am a chartered town planner and social scientist with wide ranging experience across practice and academia. I’ve led on planning and environment consents for major capital projects, developed national policy, and delivered innovative town planning research.  

My PhD from Queen’s University in Belfast interrogated rural demographic change and the town planning system. From 2020 to 2024 I led an urban Community Landownership action research project for Community Land Scotland.  The thread that brings together my diverse experience is career-long dedication to driving forward good practice, and delivering better outcomes for land and people.  I’m happiest innovating, working on practical problems and land governance nuance (ownerless land anyone?), and connecting this applied work to the concepts and policies which can deliver change. 

Areas of expertise and interests

  • Climate, Environment and Wildlife
  • Forestry and Estate Management
  • Natural Economy
  • Policy

I'm currently working on

  • Community Wealth Building policy implementation, and specifically the National Planning Framework 4’s CWB policy

  • Housing, demographic change, repopulation and wicked problems in rural areas

  • Long term impacts of community landownership

  • A review of Community land rights across the UK (Right to Buy, Right to Build, Right to Bid) and outcomes for empowerment

My professional highlights

  • Working with over 100 passionate and talented communities on land buyouts, a number of whom have now purchased land or buildings. With our support the number of Community Right to Buy applications doubled in the Glasgow area.

  • Sharing recommendations from my Urban Community Ownership project with policy makers including Scottish Government, the Scottish Land Commission and the Scottish Land Fund.

  • I’ve been a chartership assessor for the Royal Town Planning Institute since 2018.