SRUC Rural & Islands Report 2023

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…

Rural SE Hub Stakeholder Report 2023

  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…

The Measurement of Social Impacts in Rural Social Enterprises: a Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Implications

(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…

Social Enterprises as a Revitalisation Strategy for Rural Communities

(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…

Reflections from the SEWF ’22 Rural Gathering Report

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…

Understanding Scotland: A New Survey for Scotland

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…

Storytelling for Systems Change: Insights from the Field Report

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…

SENScot & Community Enterprise: Community-led Tourism Report

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…

Collective Leadership: Research and Learning

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 calls for rural and island communities to be seen in a new light following Covid.

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.

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…

RurAction. Handbook for Practitioners

  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…

LEADER and Spatial Justice

LEADER and Spatial Justice. Mark Shucksmith, Elizabeth Brooks and Ali Madanipour Sociologia Ruralis: Journal of the European Society for Rural Sociology 2021.   This paper explores ideas of ‘spatial justice’ and how they can be applied via placed – based approaches in a rural context. It identifies four key dimensions to spatial justice – plurality Read more…

Think Big, Act Small: Elinor Ostrom’s radical vision for community power

The report provides an accessible introduction to Nobel prize for Economics winner Elinor Ostrom’s work and the radical vision it offers for our current challenges. Described as the ‘intellectual hero of the community power movement’ it explores her decades long academic and practical research and how her ideas can be applied in the UK. The Read more…

Social enterprise, social innovation and self-directed care: lessons from Scotland

This study based on guided conversations with 19 stakeholders explored the experiences of social enterprises that deliver social care in Scotland within the Self Directed Support (SDS) framework. It found mixed evidence of transformation in the Scottish social care market and significant differences between urban and rural settings. It highlights misconceptions of social enterprise as Read more…

Social enterprises’ impact on older people’s health and well-being

Exploring Scottish experiences: Part of the Common Health research programme, this paper explores ‘what’ impact social enterprise activities had on the health and well-being of participants over 50 and ‘how’ this impact was created. The research covers the work of three social enterprises in Scotland, one in rural south west Scotland. Beneficial impacts were identified Read more…