IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i2p870-d1322522.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Collaborative Action, Policy Support and Rural Sustainability Transitions in Advanced Western Economies: The Case of Scotland

Author

Listed:
  • Bill Slee

    (The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK)

Abstract

Rural areas face profound challenges in transitioning towards sustainability. Intensive agriculture is deeply implicated in high greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity decline and water pollution. As a more socio-economically heterogenous rural Europe emerges with a greater non-farming component, changes such as in-migration and tourism in some areas can also be seen to compromise sustainability, as can an ageing and declining population in others. The dominant means of European rural policy support has been direct income payments to farmers, with modest but increasing expectations of environmental cross-compliance over time. Since the early 1990s, new policy means have been introduced, many based around collaborative actions to enhance sustainability. These include the European Union (EU) Leader scheme, environmental cooperatives, catchment management projects and support for community renewable energy. These changes mark a shift from sectoral support to a more territorial and place-based policy, often built around collaborative partnership models. Scotland has developed a wide and distinctive range of communitarian policies to support sustainable rural development which connect to this territorial approach. This paper reviews the contribution of communitarian and collaborative policies to sustainability transitions, drawing primarily on Scottish policy but referencing these policies against policies in other developed economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Bill Slee, 2024. "Collaborative Action, Policy Support and Rural Sustainability Transitions in Advanced Western Economies: The Case of Scotland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-17, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:2:p:870-:d:1322522
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/2/870/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/2/870/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mantino, Francesco, 2010. "The reform of EU rural development policy and the challenges ahead," MPRA Paper 49294, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Niki Frantzeskaki & Derk Loorbach & James Meadowcroft, 2012. "Governing societal transitions to sustainability," International Journal of Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 15(1/2), pages 19-36.
    3. Barnes, A.P. & Willock, J. & Hall, C. & Toma, L., 2009. "Farmer perspectives and practices regarding water pollution control programmes in Scotland," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(12), pages 1715-1722, December.
    4. James Henderson & Oliver Escobar & Philip Revell, 2021. "Public value governance meets social commons: community anchor organisations as catalysts for public service reform and social change?," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(6), pages 887-909, November.
    5. Elinor Ostrom, 2009. "Building Trust to Solve Commons Dilemmas: Taking Small Steps to Test an Evolving Theory of Collective Action," Springer Series in Game Theory, in: Simon A. Levin (ed.), Games, Groups, and the Global Good, pages 207-228, Springer.
    6. Jordan, Grant & Halpin, Darren, 2006. "The Political Costs of Policy Coherence: Constructing a Rural Policy for Scotland," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(1), pages 21-41, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Agnieszka Kozera & Aldona Standar & Joanna Stanisławska & Anna Rosa, 2024. "Low-Carbon Rural Areas: How Are Polish Municipalities Financing the Green Future?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-33, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Reichardt, Kristin & Rogge, Karoline S. & Negro, Simona, 2015. "Unpacking the policy processes for addressing systemic problems: The case of the technological innovation system of offshore wind in Germany," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S2/2015, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    2. Rusu, Marioara, 2012. "Challenge Of Common Agricultural Policy For Rural Development In Romania," Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Institute of Agricultural Economics, vol. 9(2), pages 197-210.
    3. Sampsa Hyysalo & Jani Lukkarinen & Paula Kivimaa & Raimo Lovio & Armi Temmes & Mikael Hildén & Tatu Marttila & Karoliina Auvinen & Sofi Perikangas & Allu Pyhälammi & Janne Peljo & Kaisa Savolainen & L, 2019. "Developing Policy Pathways: Redesigning Transition Arenas for Mid-range Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-22, January.
    4. Aurélien Bruel & Jakub Kronenberg & Nadège Troussier & Bertrand Guillaume, 2019. "Linking Industrial Ecology and Ecological Economics: A Theoretical and Empirical Foundation for the Circular Economy," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 23(1), pages 12-21, February.
    5. Valeria Superti & Cynthia Houmani & Ralph Hansmann & Ivo Baur & Claudia R. Binder, 2021. "Strategies for a Circular Economy in the Construction and Demolition Sector: Identifying the Factors Affecting the Recommendation of Recycled Concrete," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-32, April.
    6. Joana Ramanauskaitė, 2021. "The Role of Incumbent Actors in Sustainability Transitions: A Case of LITHUANIA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-19, November.
    7. Okumah, Murat & Martin-Ortega, Julia & Chapman, Pippa J. & Novo, Paula & Cassidy, Rachel & Lyon, Christopher & Higgins, Alex & Doody, Donnacha, 2021. "The role of experiential learning in the adoption of best land management practices," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    8. Alessandro Arlati & Anne Rödl & Sopho Kanjaria-Christian & Jörg Knieling, 2021. "Stakeholder Participation in the Planning and Design of Nature-Based Solutions. Insights from CLEVER Cities Project in Hamburg," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-18, February.
    9. Michael Munger, 2010. "Endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful: Elinor Ostrom and the diversity of institutions," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 263-268, June.
    10. Paula Kivimaa & Karoline S. Rogge, 2020. "Interplay of Policy Experimentation and Institutional Change in Transformative Policy Mixes: The Case of Mobility as a Service in Finland," SPRU Working Paper Series 2020-17, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    11. repec:hal:wpaper:hal-03974756 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. James C. Cox & Elinor Ostrom & James M. Walker, 2011. "Bosses and Kings: Asymmetric Power in Paired Common Pool and Public Good Games," Experimental Economics Center Working Paper Series 2011-06, Experimental Economics Center, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, revised Aug 2012.
    13. Tu, Qin & Mol, Arthur P.J. & Zhang, Lei & Ruben, Ruerd, 2011. "How do trust and property security influence household contributions to public goods?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 499-511.
    14. Thayalakumaran, T. & Roberts, A. & Beverly, C. & Vigiak, O. & Norng, S. & Stott, K., 2016. "Assessing nitrogen fluxes from dairy farms using a modelling approach: A case study in the Moe River catchment, Victoria, Australia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 37-51.
    15. Bettini, Yvette & Brown, Rebekah R. & de Haan, Fjalar J. & Farrelly, Megan, 2015. "Understanding institutional capacity for urban water transitions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 65-79.
    16. Daxini, Amar & O’Donoghue, Cathal & Ryan, Mary & Buckley, Cathal & Barnes, Andrew P., 2018. "Factors influencing farmers' intentions to adopt nutrient management planning: accounting for heterogeneity," 166th Seminar, August 30-31, 2018, Galway, West of Ireland 276183, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. Ramzi Suleiman, 2022. "Economic Harmony—A Rational Theory of Fairness and Cooperation in Strategic Interactions," Games, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-21, April.
    18. Meredith T. Niles & Margaret Brown & Robyn Dynes, 2016. "Farmer’s intended and actual adoption of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 277-295, March.
    19. Kivimaa, Paula & Rogge, Karoline S., 2022. "Interplay of policy experimentation and institutional change in sustainability transitions: The case of mobility as a service in Finland," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).
    20. Mitja Bervar & Anita Trnavcevic, 2019. "Importance of Culture for Sustainable Development," Managing Global Transitions, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 17(3 (Fall)), pages 195-209.
    21. Maria Tomai & Shyama V. Ramani & George Papachristos, 2024. "How Can We Design Policy Better? Frameworks and Approaches for Sustainability Transitions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-22, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:2:p:870-:d:1322522. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.