Currently, there is a limited evidence base on the makeup and drivers of change in our rural and island communities and economies. This report is the first of an annual series of reports stemming from research funded by the Scottish Government’s Strategic Research Programme 2022-27, that aims to provide novel insights on Scotland’s rural and Read more…

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) recently published their ‘Big Small Business Survey: 2023 Findings Report’ which presents the views of Scotland’s small business community on a variety of subjects, with insights into the variance in different groups according to business age, sector, gender and more. In the weeks and months ahead, FSB are looking Read more…

  The Rural Social Enterprise Hub has today published its 2023 Stakeholder Report, detailing the background of the project, work to date, ongoing development, and future priorities. The report is available to view here: Rural SE Hub Stakeholder Report Apr 2023   The report informs on the key objectives of the Rural Social Enterprise Hub, Read more…

(This review is an excerpt from Regional Studies, Regional Science) Rural social enterprises (RSEs) represent an emerging actor in rural and local socio-economic development. The study of RSEs recognises the importance of place-based actions for development. Social impacts of RSEs have been touted, particularly in filling roles in the rural context that are underperformed by governments Read more…

(This chapter is an excerpt from Rural Areas in Transition)   There is growing academic and practitioner interest in social enterprises (SEs), due to their – mostly assumed – positive social impacts on communities. However, there is less research available on the place-based nature of SEs, such as within the rural context, especially regarding factors Read more…

A report which details ‘Reflections from the SEWF ’22 Rural Gathering’ was published on the 22nd of December 2022. Produced by ACRE, the report provides an overview of the Rural Gathering programmatic approach. It also includes a synthesis of approaches and insights generated during ‘deep dive’ discussions focused on these core themes: Impact investments rural Read more…

The David Hume Institute, in conjunction with the Diffley Partnership, published the latest Understanding Scotland: economy insights on the 22nd of November 2022. The data, collected just prior to the chancellor’s Autumn Statement, shows almost universal pessimism and poses huge questions for our economic outlook. Nearly a year after the first report in this series, Read more…

Community-led place-based initiatives are modelling new ways of working – shifting away from top down, program-focused approaches towards an approach grounded in systems thinking and community-led innovations. However, while these stories of change are sitting in communities, they’re often not being told or celebrated. The purpose of this report is to better understand why this Read more…

Communities are increasingly getting involved in tourism and shaping the offer their area provides to visitors. The drivers and motives behind this vary considerably and include the desire to secure greater levels of visitor spend; managing visitors to limit their impact on the environment or to safeguard community assets through diversification of income. This paper Read more…

Tourism plays a key role in supporting Scotland’s regional and local economies with many rural and island communities reliant on visitor spend. The economic value of the tourism industry has historically been the predominant focus for both industry and government but in recent years the significance of hospitality and tourism as a driver of sustainable Read more…

Community Land Scotland, with the support of the Scottish Government, has been working to get a better understanding of Scotland’s “community land cold spots”. The process started with desk-based research and the results have informed this paper.   The following areas were researched:  • Urban – rural split • Deprivation on an SIMD and local Read more…

  Throughout 2019-20, the David Hume Institute’s Action Project brought people across Scotland together to discuss what was needed to progress towards a more prosperous, sustainable, inclusive and fair country. They spoke to people from all walks of life, including many from smaller communities in Scotland which retain a strong sense of identity but feel Read more…

On the 1st of March 2022, the Rural SE Hub hosted a session at the Illuminating Leadership Festival, a virtual, week-long event hosted by Collective Leadership for Scotland, with a focus on the topic of collective, systems- and place-based leadership. The name of the session was ‘Communities leading Collectively’. Collective Leadership was a subject that Read more…

Research led by CoDeL and funded as part of the Northern Periphery and Artic Programme has found that while the health and economic disruptions caused by Covid-19 are undeniable, on balance many rural and island areas have performed relatively well during the pandemic by drawing on a wide range of resilience factors both for health Read more…

Community Based Social Enterprises fostering Inclusive Development in peripheral European Rural Areas. Lucas Olmedo, Mara van Twuijver, Mary O’Shaughnessy.   This paper investigates how community-based social enterprises (CBSEs) foster inclusive development in European peripheral rural areas and in turn contribute to the sustainable development goals. CBSEs are seen as a subset of social enterprise that Read more…

  The RurAction Network: Handbook for Practitioners.   The stated aim of this publication is to: ‘to help practitioners – both on the basis of our own empirical research and a literature review – to reflect with greater awareness on rural conditions with their specific challenges; potentials; dynamics; organisational forms and the hybridity of social Read more…

Inspiralba has hosted a PhD Intern for the past six months in conjunction with the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science. Cat Aitken has looked at the characteristics of rural and island social enterprise and the extent to which this offers a different model.   You can read her full findings here….    

In rural areas, there is often the expectation that young people should relocate to urban cities to access employment and education – this is known as the ‘brain drain’, and is one of the key drivers of rural depopulation. Social enterprises in Scotland have a track record of providing access routes into employment for marginalised Read more…