Staff Profile
Dr Tom Ratcliffe
Lecturer in Sustainability, Tourism and Heritage Management
I specialise in Sustainability, Tourism and Heritage studies including research themes such as:
- Community identity, participation and stakeholder engagement
- Contested landscapes, sustainable land management practices and land ownership and power.
- Social and ecological inequalities and justices
- Health and well-being in green spaces
- Strategy, governance and policy in protected landscapes
- Ecotourism
- Sustainability pedagogies and epistemologies
My research explores culture and nature relationships within the context of the biodiversity and climate crises in the Anthropocene. In particular, my research has focussed on green spaces mainly UK National Parks and has used social science research methods including walking interviews.
Prior to returning to academic life in 2017, I worked as a Heritage and Tourism Consultant for five years designing strategic plans and conducting audience research projects for National Lottery Heritage Fund projects at heritage and landscape sites across the United Kingdom.
I co-ordinate York St John’s Sustainability and Environmental Impact community of practice and our Protected Landscapes and National Parks research network from York Business School.
In addition, I co-ordinate the Ecological Justice Research Group and I am a member of the Visitor Economy and Experience Research Group and the Living Lab at York St John University.
- School – York Business School
- Email – t.ratcliffe@yorksj.ac.uk
- Research - View my work in RaY
- Postgraduate Research Supervisor
Further information
Research
My current research includes the following projects:
- Principles in Responsible Management Education (PRME) sustainability pedagogy research project (Funded by ‘students as researchers’ funding).
- Making connections in National Park landscapes (Funded by QR Funding).
- Sustainable Tadcaster and Circular Malton, circular economy towns in North Yorkshire (Funded by Community Research grants programme 2023-24).
- Health, green space, access and protected landscapes.
- Walking Methodologies in National Parks.
My recent publications:
- Ratcliffe, T. (2024) Walking Methodologies in the Uplands of the North York Moors National Park. Sociological Research Online.
- Ratcliffe, T. (2024) Voices in a contested landscape: Community participation and upland management in the North York Moors National Park. Landscape Research.
- Ratcliffe, T. (2023) The fight against climate change and biodiversity loss: land ownership, management and community voices. Voice of the Moors (151). pp. 16-17.
- Ratcliffe, T. (2022) Walking research in the North York Moors. Voice of the Moors (149). pp. 12-13.
From 2017-2022, I completed an Arts and Humanities Research Council funded PhD thesis titled ‘Contested natural-cultural landscapes in the Anthropocene: Connecting community identity, heritage and influence in the North York Moors National Park’.
The PhD research project investigated how people with a range of invested interests identify with three landscapes within the North York Moors National Park and the role communities have currently in influencing decisions about landscape protection and change within the power structures of these contested landscapes. A variety of social science research methods were used with walking interviews being the primary method.
