Dr Fiona Williams

BA., M.Phil., PhD., FHEA.

Senior Lecturer in Rural Land Use and Management

Fiona is a social scientist with a specialist interest in rural geography, reflected in a broad range of research and consultancy experience in rural sectors. Much of her work has taken place at the policy-practice interface in relation to the digital economy, agriculture, rural health, rural tourism, and rural enterprise. Fiona’s more recent work focused on Digital Society: particularly means of digital engagement, inclusion and resilience in rural areas; and inequalities of access and opportunity. Since joining Harper Adams University, Fiona has returned to the subject of her earlier work around the family farm in transition and new entrants to agriculture: intergenerational behaviour and change; the implications of technological change for values and culture; and the broader implications and impacts of shifts in policy direction for farming communities.

Fiona’s teaching focuses on rural geography, rural land use policy and management, research methods, and Honours research project supervision. Fiona has supervised two PhD students to successful completion: A Critical Review of Rural Proofing in England (2019); Practitioners’ Perceptions of the Process of Innovating in Health and Social Care in Rural Wales (2014). She is currently supervising a PhD student investigating social vulnerability amongst rural riparian communities in the context of flooding.

Professional Memberships

Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society - Institute of British Geographers (FRGS)

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Academic Department: Harper Adams Business School

Research: Rural Resilience Research Group (3RG)

Office: F.64 Jubilee Adams, Tudor Lodge and NW Building

Publications

Other publications

Jones, D., Bhattacharya Mis, N., Williams, F. (2024) The evolution of the disaster risk management cycle and its continuing applicability to an evolving flood threat. In J. Lamond, D. Proverbs, N. Bhattacharya Mis (Eds), Research Handbook on Flood Risk Management, pp 9-24. Elgar Publishing
Ingram, J., Maye, D., Bailye, C., Barnes, A., Bear, C., Bell, M., Cutressf, D., Davies, L., de Boon, A., Dinnie, L., Gairdner, J.,Hafferty, C., Holloway, L., Kindred, D., Kirby, D., Leake, B., Manning, L., Marchant, B., Morse, A., Oxley, S., Phillips, M., Regan, A., Rial-Lovera, K., Rose, D.C., Schillings, J., Williams, F., Williams, H., Wilson, L. (2022) What are the priority research questions for digital agriculture? Land Use Policy 114
Halfacree, K., Williams, F. (2021) Advancing rural as ‘something more than a human estate’: Exploring UK sheep-shaping. Journal of Rural Studies 87
Barton, C., Buckley, J.P, Samia, P., Williams, F., Taylor, S.R., Lindoewood, R.D. (2020) The efficacy of appropriate paper-based technology for Kenyan children with cerebral palsy. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology 17
Philip, L., Williams, F. (2019) Healthy Ageing in Smart Villages? Observations from the Field. European Countryside 11
Philip, L., Williams, F. (2019) Remote rural home-based businesses and digital inequalities: Understanding needs and expectations in a digitally underserved community. Journal of Rural Studies 68
Williams, F. (2018) Digital Connectivity. In Reuschke, D. and M. Domecka. Policy Brief on Home-Based Businesses, OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Papers, No. 11, OECD Publishing, Paris. pp 28-30
Philip, L., Cottrill, C., Farrington, J., Williams, F., Ashmore, F. (2017) The digital divide: patterns, policy and options for connecting the final few in rural communities across Great Britain. Journal of Rural Studies 54
Williams, F., Philip, L., Fairhurst, G. Farrington, J. (2016) ‘Digital by Default’ and ‘the hard to reach’: exploring solutions to digital exclusion in remote rural areas. Local Economy 31
Corbett, S., Williams, F. (2014) 'Striking a professional balance: interactions between nurses and their older rural patients'. British Journal of Community Nursing 19

Additional Information

Former Individual Member of Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership Board (AONB), and Strategy and Performance Committee

Local Assessment Panel member of Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme

Committee Member of the RGS-IBG Rural Geography Research Group (Dissertation Prize Co-ordinator for RGRG, 2016-22)

Dr Fiona Williams

Senior Lecturer in Rural Land Use and Management

Professional Memberships

Publications

Other publications

Contact

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