The International Handbook of Rural Studies was recently released with three contributions from Centre for Rural Research. The book presents status quo in rural research and points the way forward on key challenges. Editors are Professor David Brown, Cornell University, USA and Professor Mark Shucksmith, Newcastle University, UK.

Katrina Rønningen is the editor on the topic of Environment and Resources, and has written the introductory chapter for this section, titled “Environment and Resources: New and old questions for rural landscapes”.
Rønningen and Frode Flemsæter, both from Centre for Rural Research, have in the chapter “Multifunctionality, rural diversifications and the unsettlement of rural land use systems” demonstrated how changing preferences, interests and norms change the value, vision and use of the countryside and outfields. At the intersection between economic forces and moral assessments, the use of our (joint) areas is shaped, and an increasing privatization and fragmentation of land and landscape is taking place.
Marit S. Haugen from Centre for Rural Research, along with Berit Brandth from Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), contributed to a section in the book about the changes in gender and rural communities. The chapter “Rural masculinity” is a review of the last decade’s research literature on rural masculinity. During this period, a central theme has been change and variability in the masculine practices and discourses as a result of crises and changes in rural industries.
M. Shucksmith & D. L. Brown (2016) (ed.) International Handbook of Rural Studies. London, New York: Routledge