Dr. Alex Franklin

Prior to joining CAWR Alex was a Research Fellow at the Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff University, and previously, a senior research associate/ research manager at the ESRC Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS). Although originally a human geographer by training, her constant involvement since 2005, in inter- multi- and cross- disciplinary research practice, sees her identifying more closely these days with the broader field of (social) sustainability science.

Alex specialises in qualitative research techniques, with much of her work informed by a participatory action research approach to study design.  She is experienced in researching community-based sustainable place making both within the UK and internationally. This includes, for example, on-going collaboration with colleagues from Colombia, Brazil, Canada, China and mainland Europe. For the period 2011-2015 she was also a co-editor of the international Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning (Taylor and Francis).

External funding sources supporting Alex's research to date have included the UK Economic and Social Research Council, Welsh Government, Canal & Rivers Trust, The Law Society (Wales), Sustrans and the Forestry Commission. She has also previously received funding to participate in international visiting research scholarships in Finland (Ruralia, University of Helsinki) and Hungary (Hungary Academy of Sciences, Budapest). Most recently, under the lead of Wageningen University (and together with partner institutions from five other European countries), Alex has been successful in securing funding for a multi-partner EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie–Innovative Training Network, entitled ‘SUSPLACE’ (2015-2019). The overall aim of SUSPLACE is to train ESRs in innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to studying sustainable place-shaping practices. 

• Dunkley, R. and Franklin, A. (2017, in press) ‘Failing better: the stochastic art of evaluating community-led environmental action programmes’ Evaluation and Program Planning.
  
• Franklin, A., Kovach, I., and Csurgo, B (2016) Governing social innovation: Exploring the role of ‘discretionary practice' in the negotiation of shared spaces of community food growing Sociologia Ruralis Iprint available.
• MacGillivray, B., and Franklin, A. (2015) 'Place as a boundary device for the sustainability sciences: concepts of place, their value in characterising sustainability problems, and their role in fostering integrative research and action'. Environmental Science and Policy 53, 1-7.
• Schuurman, N., and Franklin, A. (2015) ‘Performing expertise in human–animal relationships: performative instability and the role of counter-performance’. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 33 (1), 20-34.
• Franklin, A., and Marsden, T. (2015) ‘(Dis)connected communities and sustainable place-making’.  Local Environment 20 (8), 940-956.
• Franklin, A., and Morgan, S. (2014) 'Exploring the new rural-urban interface: community food practice, land access and farmer entrepreneurialism'. in Sustainable Food Systems: Building a New Paradigm ed. by Marsden, T. and Morley, A. London: Routledge, 166-185
• Marsden, T., and Franklin, A. (2013) ‘Re-placing Neoliberalism: theoretical implications of the rise of local food movements’. Local Environment (Special Issue; Sustainable Local Food Spaces: Constructing Communities of Food) 18 (5), 636-641.
• Enticott, G., Franklin, A and van Winden, S (2012) 'Biosecurity and food security: spatial strategies for combating bovine tuberculosis in the UK' The Geographical Journal 178, 4, 327–337
• Newton, J., Franklin, A., Middleton, J., and Marsden, T. (2012) ‘(Re-) negotiating access: The politics of researching skills and knowledge for ‘sustainable communities’. Geoforum 43 (3), 585–594.
• Franklin, A., and Blyton, P. (2011) (eds.) Researching Sustainability: A Social Science Guide to Methods, Practice and Engagement. London: Earthscan
• Franklin, A., Newton, J., Middleton, J., and Marsden, T. (2011) 'Reconnecting skills for sustainable communities with everyday life'. Environment and Planning A 43 (2), 347-362.
• Franklin, A., Newton, J., and McEntee, J. (2011) ‘Moving beyond the alternative: sustainable communities, rural resilience and the mainstreaming of local food’. Local Environment (Special Issue; Sustainable Communities) 16 (8), 771-788.
• Newton, J., and Franklin, A. (2011) ‘Delivering sustainable rural communities in China: using a sustainable livelihoods framework for reviewing the promotion of eco-tourism in Anji’. Local Environment (Special Issue; Sustainable Communities) 16 (8), 789-806.
• Marsden, T, Franklin, A and Newton, J (2011) Sustainability in Practice: Situated learning and knowledge for the evolving eco-economy Town Planning Review 81, 5, 541-562
• Enticott, G. and Franklin, A. (2009) Biosecurity, Expertise and the Institutional Void: The Case of Bovine Tuberculosis. Sociologia Ruralis, 49, 4, 375-393
• Derkzen, P; Franklin, A and Bock, B (2008) ‘Examining power struggles as a signifier of successful partnership working: A case study of partnership dynamics' Journal of Rural Studies, 24, 4, 458-66 
• Franklin, A and Lee, R (2007) ‘The role of embeddedness in legal service provision: sustaining rural practices; sustaining rural communities’ Journal of Law and Society 34, 2, 218-43