Community Land Scotland has published new research on the distinctive contribution that community landowners are making to addressing the climate emergency. The research was undertaken by Inherit – the Institute for Heritage & Sustainable Human Development – in late 2020 and early 2021. In this blog, project researcher Dr Bobby Macaulay reflects on the main… Read more »
Community Land Blog
Community Ownership – Shaping the Future of Our Towns
In January 2021, we held a two-part online event in collaboration with Carnegie UK Trust which explored the opportunities and challenges associated with community ownership in towns. The challenges facing towns are not new but have become even more acute over the course of the pandemic. With a real need to rethink the regeneration of… Read more »
Rural Community-led Housing Delivery: Small Scale, Big Impact
Case studies of community-led initiatives which have successfully delivered housing projects with support from the Rural Housing Fund, from the Highlands & Islands and Dumfries & Galloway, highlight the variety of approaches rural communities have taken to meeting their particular housing needs, and the challenges they have overcome to do so. Community-led housing solutions are… Read more »
Kick-starting Community Led Housing – Social Value and Land Disposal in Bristol
Introduction from Community Land Scotland Ahead of our planned launch of a Community Ownership Hub in Glasgow and Clyde Valley in 2021, Community Land Scotland has been looking into ways to support the expansion of community ownership in Scotland’s urban areas. We have been particularly interested in the emerging Enabling Hub model for community-owned… Read more »
Alastair McIntosh blog on Riders on the Storm
In his new book, Riders on the Storm: Climate Change and the Survival of Being, the Isle of Lewis raised author, Alastair McIntosh, sums up the science of climate change science that will lead into the United Nations conference of world leaders, COP26, to be held in Glasgow in November 2021. But what might be… Read more »
View from a Scottish-Canadian visitor
I’m Jasmine Chorley, I’m a Scottish-Canadian Settler and Masters student at the Munk School of Global Affairs (University of Toronto), which is on Dish With One Spoon territory. I’ve been living and working in the Western Highlands this summer for an internship focused on land reform and community land and assets. This post is meant… Read more »
A view from New Zealand
A blog piece from Sophie Jerram, Community Land Scotland Supporter Nga mihi nui; big greetings. I am really excited to hear about your work from across the seas in New Zealand/Aotearoa. A few years ago I read Heather Menzies’ Reclaiming the Commons; a book which woke me up to the effect of the Highland Clearances. … Read more »
Jim Hunter reflects on the 200 year anniversary of the trial of Patrick Sellar
Two hundred years ago, on 23 and 24 April 1816, Patrick Sellar was tried in the High Court, Inverness, on culpable homicide and other charges arising from clearances on the Sutherland Estate where Sellar was employed as factor by the estate’s owners, the Marquis and Marchioness of Stafford, later Duke and Duchess of Sutherland. This… Read more »
Community Land Ownership – The Difference it Makes

More and more communities across Scotland are taking control of the places where they live through community land ownership, creating benefits not just for existing residents but also for the many generations to come. Research by Community Land Scotland shows that, when communities buy their land, they can reap a number of benefits – including… Read more »
Community landowners reaching for the stars

When you think about community land ownership, the images that spring to mind are probably fields, houses, forestry and renewable energy so you may be surprised to learn about the many connections between community landowners and space. One community landowner that’s using its assets to its advantage is Machrihanish Airbase Community Company, which is bidding… Read more »
