Understanding perspectives on rural sustainability: insights from a photovoice project in rural Scotland

Utilising community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles, this study aimed to support rural young adults in telling their own story regarding rural sustainability, including their concerns, hopes and understanding of rural sustainability. Through photographs, focus group and presentations, this study engaged intensively and creatively with a group of five individuals living rurally in the Scottish Highlands and Scottish Borders. Developed alongside and during a Beltane event that celebrated the ancient Gaelic May Day, the research contributes to wider studies analysing the concept and practice of sustainability in rural places. As rural Scotland becomes increasingly important in relation to a wider national transition to ‘net-zero’, there is likewise a greater need to understand the perspectives, concerns and hopes that rural young people have. This paper sought to collaboratively understand rural young people’s perspectives on sustainability and to understand the opportunities and issues relevant to the changing nature of Scotland’s rural landscape. Our research revealed how the young people involved in this photovoice project perceived the rural areas in which they lived and what sustainability meant in their context.