Katrina Rønningen’s work has focused on rural and agricultural restructuring; European and Norwegian agri-environmental policies; agriculture’s multifunctionality; sustainability issues linked to agriculture; and rural areas as productivist food/fibre provider and as an arena for amenity consumption. She has examined processes of commodification of natural resources and outlying fields, and conflicts between conservation and use. Rønningen is currently leading a strategic institute programme on upland communities caught between marginalisation, commercialisation and conservation. She is also the leader of a research project on coastal scenarios involving conservation interests, aquaculture, fisheries and rural viability issues in peripheral areas.
