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Communitarianism, Complexity and Confusion in the Governance of Rural Sustainability Transitions in Advanced Industrial Economies: The Case of Scotland
Slee, B. Collaborative Action, Policy Support and Rural Sustainability Transitions in Advanced Western Economies: The Case of Scotland. Sustainability2024, 16, 870.
Slee, B. Collaborative Action, Policy Support and Rural Sustainability Transitions in Advanced Western Economies: The Case of Scotland. Sustainability 2024, 16, 870.
Slee, B. Collaborative Action, Policy Support and Rural Sustainability Transitions in Advanced Western Economies: The Case of Scotland. Sustainability2024, 16, 870.
Slee, B. Collaborative Action, Policy Support and Rural Sustainability Transitions in Advanced Western Economies: The Case of Scotland. Sustainability 2024, 16, 870.
Abstract
Rural areas of advanced industrial countries have frequently experienced a dualistic set of policies: one designed for the land-use sector, especially agriculture; and another dealing with rural development [1]. As problems of industrialised agriculture and forestry emerged, a more joined up approach to policy was advocated. Since the 1980s, at national and international level, new elements of rural policy have emerged to connect these two policy fields, including environmental payments, farm diversification grants, woodland creation within the farm sector and support for community-led local development. Rural land is also closely connected to the biodiversity and climate crises which have become important policy drivers. Policy towards community-led local development has moved further in Scotland than almost anywhere else as a result of policies for community-based land reform, community empowerment and community asset transfer. These communitarian approaches connect closely to collaborative landscape management as it addresses environmental challenges. As collaborative place-based and area-based approaches emerge as the guiding stars of the new rural development, this paper explores the challenges in the governance of sustainability transitions in moving from a sectoral rural policy hinging around support for land use to one based much more on communitarian values and place-based development.
Social Sciences, Geography, Planning and Development
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
