Scottish Rural Communities Policy Review: Lochalsh and South Skye case study
Six place-based case studies have been produced as part of Stage 3 of the Scottish Rural Communities Policy Review. This is the Lochalsh and South Skye case study. The others are East Borders, East Moray, Harris and Scalpay, Orkney and West Lothian.
Introduction
In 2024, the Scottish Government asked a research team to review three core elements of funding and support for rural communities:
- Community Led Local Development, which gives communities the power to tackle their own, local challenges. Local Action Groups are made up of local people and organisations manage funding in their area.
- Scottish Rural Action, which works to build and champion a grassroots rural movement in Scotland.
- The Scottish Rural Network, which supports and encourages rural development by connecting communities and sharing information, ideas and good practice.
During 2025, researchers worked with people and organisations across Scotland to understand experiences of engaging with these initiatives. Evidence was gathered from many different people and sources through interviews, surveys, workshops and the analysis of existing data.
The experiences of residents of rural and island communities were fundamental to this work. Six case studies were selected in order to gather perspectives from a range of locations and contexts:
- East Borders
- East Moray
- Harris and Scalpay
- Lochalsh and South Skye
- Orkney
- West Lothian
In addition, a case study focused on the experiences of young people, aged 18 to 30, living or working in rural and island areas of Scotland.
The findings from these case studies are being published as short standalone reports. All reports from the research can be found online online.
This report presents findings from the Lochalsh and South Skye case study. Interviews were carried out with people and organisations covering a range of sectors including the arts, heritage, environment, land management, and broad community development. Three Community Development Trusts, whose remit is rural development, were interviewed. Participants were a mix of individuals in Kyle of Lochalsh, Kyleakin, Broadford, Raasay, and also some operating at a pan-Highland level. We are grateful to the participants who took part in this research.
We are grateful to the participants in the Highland Local Action Area who took part in this research.
Other Case Studies
Contact
Email: socialresearch@gov.scot