Place-based Research

A deep understanding of context is critical to place-based research that acknowledges the lived and felt experience of people and communities located in distributed geographies and island archipelagos. Relations with landscape, land and cultural assets are connected to hybrid communities of place that transcend geographic and virtual contexts and are exemplified by shared values, language and culture. It is these social processes and cultural identities that are embedded within the physical and environmental character of the Highland & Islands and 'rural' communities in Scotland.

In working with communities in the Northern Isles specifically Shetland, Mull, Sanquhar and N. Ireland - DI&L and Resonance followed a transdisciplinary approach - grounded in the practice of Design-led Innovation. Design-led Innovation can be described as the successful creative engagement with people and communities that promotes collaborative ways of working as the means by which new knowledge is generated, exchanged and applied in practice.