Dr Clive Mitchell

Personal statement:

I’m Head of Terrestrial Science at NatureScot and lead our approach on climate-nature. I’ve worked as a geologist, delivering operations in Orkney, on climate, energy, sustainable development, corporate strategy and resource management.

In the 2000s I was seconded to the UK Sustainable Development Commission as team leader for climate, energy, transport and buildings policy.

I’m an Associate Lecturer for the Open University teaching final year courses on Earth Systems and the environment, including climate, nature and food systems – and environment/ social sciences. I’m and advosr for WWF Scotland and the Sustainable Scotland Network.

Key topic areas of research or interest:

In NatureScot our interests, from a social science perspective, lie in governance and accountability for nature, including

• Issue framing and power relations
• Environmental justice (distributive, procedural, recognition)
• Risk and resilience – especially across property rights and associated markets
• Cultures of conservation
• Measuring adult and children’s use and enjoyment of nature; impact on wellbeing; and pro-environmental behaviours.
• Access to nature and inclusion outside, including quality/ quantity of greenspace
• Responsible access to the outdoors
• Public service reform – especially collaboration and preventative spend
• Human wildlife co-existence
• Fishers, coastal resilience and nature recovery
• Farmers, land managers and nature recovery

Publications:

Jones A, Bridle S, Denby K, Bhunnoo R, Morton D, Stanbrough L, Coupe B, Pilley V, Benton T, Falloon P, et al. (2023) Scoping Potential Routes to UK Civil Unrest via the Food System: Results of a Structured Expert Elicitation. Sustainability; 15(20):14783. https://doi.org/10.3390/su152014783

Stirling, A. & Mitchell, C. (2018) Evaluate power and bias in synthesizing evidence for policy, Nature 561, 33 doi: https://doi-org.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/10.1038/d41586-018-06128-3

Juliette Young, Clive Mitchell and Stephen Mark Redpath (2020 ) Approaches to conflict management and brokering between groups pp 230-241 in Sutherland, William J. and Brotherton, Peter N.M. and Davies, Zoe G. and Ockenden, Nancy and Pettorelli, Nathalie and Vickery, Juliet A., eds. (2020) Conservation Research, Policy and Practice. Cambridge University Press ISBN 978-1-108-63821-0.