Community Sustainability Plans to enable change towards sustainable practice – a Scottish case study

Abstract

There is a need for a global shift towards a low-carbon society and this requires action at the local level. The aim of the study into sustainable community development is to clarify the role of a community as a whole rather than the role of individuals within that community. Mixed methods of literature review and empirical study have been used to translate the knowledge and experience with urban sustainable development into empirical knowledge of a rural, market town setting. The exemplary case study is the Scottish market town Huntly. The main findings of the study show the need for three ingredients for a Community Sustainability Plan for a town such as Huntly. Community involvement is crucial in developing such plans in a rural setting. Further research in more remote settings, e.g. coastal and island communities, is needed to allow broader conclusions on rural sustainable development.

Keywords:

• sustainable development
• resilient community development
• Community Sustainability Plan
• behavioural change
• Huntly UK

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding of the project in Huntly by the Huntly Development Trust (HDT), as well as the supporters of HDT: Aberdeenshire Council, LEADER, Scottish Natural Heritage and Forestry Commission Scotland. HDT was involved from the beginning of the study in its design, the interpretation of the data and in the decision to write and submit this article.