Research
Protected landscapes and National Parks
Research from York Business School with protected landscapes and National Parks.
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In York Business School, our researchers work with a diverse range of protected landscapes, including National Parks, across the UK and at an international level.
Through creative research methods, our community focused approach explores cultural-natural relationships in these landscapes by investigating the following research themes:
- Ecotourism and events tourism
- Regenerative tourism and the visitor economy
- Health and wellbeing
- Heritage management
- Social and ecological justice and inequalities
- Land ownership and management
- Strategy and governance
- Stakeholder engagement
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Research projects
Our research projects explore these specific themes within the context of 'wicked' global sustainability problems in protected landscapes across the world, such as the climate change and biodiversity loss emergencies. Our research projects include the following:
Current projects
- The Dark Matters: Understanding the impact of public engagement in a protected international dark-sky reserve in the United Kingdom.
- Making connections in UK National Park landscapes.
- Climate change and tourism in protected areas in the Global South.
- REConnect climate action: North York Moors National Park.
Previous projects
- A Study on Visitor Management for Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park in Hong Kong (2022-23).
- Climate Change Attribution within New Zealand Flooding Events.
- Consultation and policy-making on Zero-net Parks and equity of access in Climate Change, Auckland Council, New Zealand (2022-23).
- Marine conservation and recreational diving activities in marine protected areas of Hong Kong and China (2020-22).
- Contested natural-cultural landscapes in the Anthropocene: connecting community identity, heritage and influence within the North York Moors National Park (2017-22).
- Improving the sustainability of tourism activities in South African national parks focusing on Kruger National Park (2017-19).
- Sustainable Tourism Development for the Wolong National Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China (2014-16).
- Qeshm Global Geopark Ecotourism Development, Iran (2009-13).
Our research has a major impact on the ways people engage with protected landscapes, policy making, governance, sustainability and habitat conservation in these protected areas.
List of researchers
Our researchers are also members of the Visitor Economy and Experience research group and the Ecological Justice research group at York St John University.
Please feel free to get in contact with us if you want to be involved in this type of research or have any new research project ideas. Email t.ratcliffe@yorksj.ac.uk.
Selected publications
Burns, A., Hall, J. and Paddison, B. (2024). The Dark Matters. [Video]
Burns, A., Relton, G., Hall, M., & Hall, J. (2023). Nature Matters. Yorkshire & North East Film Archive.
Cheung, L. T. O., Ma, A. T. H., Wong, G. K. L., Lo, A. Y.. & Jim, C.Y. (2022). Perceived benefits, negative impacts and willingness-to-pay to improve urban green space. Geographical Research, 60(3), 414-430.
Esfehani, M. H., & Albrecht, J. N. (2018). Roles of intangible cultural heritage in tourism in natural protected areas. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 13(1), 15-29.
Esfehani, M. H., Abooali. G. (2020). Planning and provision for event tourism in National Parks: challenges and implications, African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 9(1).
Esfehani, M. H. (2016), Where culture and nature meet: recreating spiritual and religious practices for site management and governance in Takht-e Soleyman Lake, Iran. Verschuuren. B & Furuta, (Eds.), Asian Sacred Natural Sites: Philosophy and Practice in Protected Areas and Conservation (pp. 274-286). NY: Routledge.
Hall, J. (2024) Women on Everest: a summit beyond. In J. Westaway, P., Hansen, P. and Gilchrist, eds. Other Everests: One mountain, many worlds (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
Hall, J., Avner, Z., & Boocock, E., (2023). Moving Mountains: Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering. United Kingdom, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-031-29944-5, doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2
Hall, J., Moisieiev, D., and Paddison, B. (2023) North York Moors National Park: Resident Survey Results. Project Report. York St John University.
Lucrezi, S., Esfehani, M. H., Ferretti, E., & Cerrano, C. (2019). The effects of stakeholder education and capacity building in marine protected areas: A case study from southern Mozambique. Marine Policy, 108, 103645.
Ratcliffe, T. (2024). Voices in a contested landscape: community participation and upland management in the North York Moors National Park. Landscape Research, 1-17. doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2024.2329600
Ratcliffe, T. (2023). The fight against climate change and biodiversity loss: land ownership, management and community voices. Voice of the Moors, 151, 16-17.
Ratcliffe, T. (2024). Walking methodologies in the uplands of the North York Moors National Park. Sociological Research Online. doi.org/10.1177/13607804241275350
Wong, G. K. L., Ma, A. T. H., Cheung, L. T. O., Lo, A. Y., & Jim, C. Y. (2024). Visiting urban green space as a climate-change adaptation strategy: Exploring push factors in a push–pull framework. Climate Risk Management, 43, 100589.