This major project aimed to understand how the different types of estate owners and managers in upland Scotland make decisions that ensure that their estates fulfil their diverse roles while being 'sustainable'.
Integrating sustainable development into upland estate management presents a great challenge as estate activities encompass property and land management, agriculture and sport, forestry, as well as access, recreation and other community aspects.
Four integrated research projects have been ongoing since September 2007 in order to explore the concept of 'sustainable estate management'. Funded by the Henry Angest Foundation, the work will make a major contribution to our understanding of Scotland's upland economies, environments and communities. Related key issues under examination are: the economic and employment benefits of estates to local communities; the motivations of private landowners; the role that landowners play in facilitating sustainable rural communities, and how actors in community organisations experience community landownership. A 'Sustainable Estates Toolkit' has also been developed in tandem with a representative panel of sustainability and estate managemnet professionals, researchers and policy-makers.
You can read more about the project on the Sustainable Estates for the 21st Century research website. Please note that information will be added to this site between September 2011 and April 2012.
Project results and feedback
The Sustainable Estates team are holding three feedback workshops in October and November 2011:
- Wednesday 26th October 2011, 2-6pm. Braemar Village Hall, Mar Road, Braemar AB35 5YL.
- Wednesday 2nd November 2011, 2-6pm. Lochinver Village Hall (opposite Assynt Visitor Centre), Main Street, Lochinver IV27 4LX.
- Thursday 3rd November 2011, 2-6pm. Here We Are Centre, Clachan, Cairndow, Argyll PA26 8BH.
These workshops will be for people who kindly took part in the research, as well as for anyone else interested in hearing more about the work. Each workshop will run from 2-6pm.
First, we will present some of the findings of the project, focusing particularly on the interactions between landowners and rural communities. We will be drawing on our case study research and identifying key opportunities and challenges for joint working.
At the end of 2011 we shall be publishing a short booklet about landowners and communities, based on the evidence that we have gathered over the past four years. At the workshops, participants will have the opportunity to comment on a draft version of the booklet and offer their feedback.
Each workshop will start with some short presentations of the findings. Then, there will be time for networking and commenting on the booklet in a relaxed, informal environment.
If you would like to book a place at one of the workshops, please e-mail us at feedback@sustainable-estates.co.uk. There is no fee for attending the workshops and refreshments will be provided.
In more detail
One distinctive characteristic of Scotland’s upland areas is the significant proportion of the land in private ownership. A number are owned and managed primarily for field sports; others as businesses with diverse sets of income streams, from traditional primary sectors such as field sports, agriculture, and forestry through to tourism, renewable energy, property development and the provision of both affordable rural housing and public goods (e.g., biodiversity, recreation, watershed maintenance). While many of these estates are owner-occupied, a significant number have non-resident owners.
Estate ownership and management in modern day Scotland has undergone a transformation from past centuries, with an increasing spectrum of ownership types, changing estate management styles and objectives, and revolutionary legislation.
Notably in the last two decades, a number of estates have been purchased by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with conservation, recreation and/or sustainable development interests, for example the John Muir Trust and the RSPB.
More recently, and especially since the 2003 Land Reform (Scotland) Act, estates are also being bought by their local communities. This is one of many major policy changes affecting the land, people, and economy of the uplands of Scotland; and there are others, particularly with regard to subsidies and incentives for different land uses, often for public goods.
Strategic importance
Estates are highly characteristic of Scotland’s upland areas, and are bound up with the region’s culture, identity and environment (e.g., heather burning on grouse moors).
There are many strong opinions, both positive and negative, concerning all types of estates. In particular, statements are often made regarding their economic and employment benefits, whatever the ownership. This project will make a major contribution to our understanding of a key element of the region. There are few recent, integrated studies of estates, and most of them have tended to address only a few aspects (e.g., deer, forest management).
In political and policy terms, the project will feed into the Scottish Government's Sustainable Land Use Strategy and provide objective and independent research on the likely longer-term socio-economic and environmental impacts of the Land Reform Act.
The individual projects and project partners
Two of the dissertations focus on privately-owned estates:
- Landowner motivation and perceptions of sustainability; exploring visions for the future of the Scottish uplands (Pippa Wagstaff)
- The role of private landownership in facilitating sustainable rural communities in upland Scotland (Annie McKee)
One is studying community-owned estates:
- A study of the experiences of internal and external actors in community-owned estate initiatives in Scotland (Dr Rob Mc Morran)
The final project takes a broader approach to investigating sustainability in the context of upland estate management. This has led to the development of a 'Sustainable Estates Toolkit' in tandem with a panel of key stakeholders. The toolkit will be piloted on NGO-owned estates (Dr Jayne Glass).
The dissertations are being supervised by Professor Martin Price, Director of the CMS, together with Dr Charles Warren (University of St. Andrews) and Dr Alister Scott (Birmingham City University).
To ensure the on-the-ground and policy relevance of the project, an Advisory Group has overseen the project's progress at regular intervals. This group includes representatives from the Scottish Government, the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association (SRPBA), Scottish Environment LINK, Cairngorms National Park Authority and the Knoydart Trust.
Results and future work
The project is currently in a synthesis phase which is ongoing until April 2012 and funded by the henry Angest Foundation. A Knowledge Exchange phase has also been supported by the Economic and Social Research Council, Scottish Land and Estates and the Scottish Government. In this time, the team will be organising Feedback Workshops and are available for policy and professional briefings.
The team and supervisors are also currently writing 'Lairds, Land and Sustainability: Scottish perspectives on upland management': an edited book to be published by Edinburgh University Press in 2012.