A Troubling Demographic Legacy for Scotland’s Sparsely Populated Areas

Rural depopulation is a topic which seems to have slipped down the policy agenda in Scotland in recent years. The popular narrative about the Highlands and Islands has become more positive – highlighting the growth of Inverness and its immediate hinterland, opportunities for renewable energy, or tourism and leisure based on the region’s rich natural environment.

Dr Ruth Wilson

Ruth is a research assistant in the Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences (SEGS) group. Ruth works on projects about demographic change in remote areas, place-based policy and community resilience. Her current research interests include:

  • Lived experiences of remote, rural and island societies and cultures
  • Community dynamics, identity and belonging
  • The relationship betwen technological and social change

Ruth Wilson

Social Economic and Geographical Studies Group

James Hutton Institute 

Craigiebuckler

Aberdeen

AB15 8QH

Dr Mags Currie

Mags is a health and well-being social scientist in the Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences groups at the James Hutton Institute, within the theme of society, institutions and governance. Mags is interested in how different types of spaces affect health and wellbeing of people, more specifically how being in a space can affect peoples – both positively and negatively – and the ways in which interventions (policy or otherwise) can impact this.

Mags is interested in:

Mags Currie

The James Hutton Institute

Craigiebuckler

Aberdeen

AB15 8QH

Dr Jane Atterton

Jane is the manager of the Rural Policy Centre at SRUC. Her research focuses broadly on rural and regional development issues, with a particular focus on rural economies and businesses, rural policies and the policy-making process, urban-rural interations and linkages and demographic change in rural areas. She has undertaken projects for the European Comission, Defra, the Scottish Government and a number of local authorities and enterprise agencies.

Jane Atterton

Scotland’s Rural College
Peter Wilson Building, The King's Buildings
West Mains Road
Edinburgh
EH9 3JG

The Demographic Challenges Facing Scotland's Sparsely Populated Areas

This case study summarises ongoing work exploring how changes in the population of remote and rural areas in Scotland affect the social, economic and ecological resilience of these areas. The Sparsely Populated Areas (SPA) of Scotland have a demographic legacy which, in the absence of intervention, will result in decades of population decline, and shrinkage of its working-age population, on a scale which implies serious challenges for economic development, and consequences for its landscape and ecology which are poorly understood.

Protecting our soil and securing the way ahead

A large proportion of the Scottish strategic road network in the Highlands is vulnerable to landslides. Landslides in Scotland have significant economic impact and they may increase in frequency with the intense rainfall events associated with a changing climate. The potential of vegetation to decrease vulnerability to landslides has been demonstrated in the laboratory, and increased vulnerability to landslides has often been noted after vegetation clearance in the field.

Dr Liz Dinnie

My research interests focus on community initiatives, social change and social justice. I am particularly interested in the ways in which local and grassroots movements for change are influencing and being influenced by changes in governing. Further details can be found on my James Hutton Institute staff page.

Liz Dinnie

The James Hutton Institute
Craigiebuckler
Aberdeen AB15 8QH
Scotland UK