Reflections on islands – past, present, and future

Scotland’s islands, past, present and future, were the focus of an ambitious RSE public engagement programme of activity that took place between April 2023 and June 2024.  Three two-day symposia were held, respectively, on Skye, Harris and Lewis and Orkney.

Conjoining the main events were sessions in local schools – hopefully amongst the avid attendees were some of tomorrow’s RSE Young Academicians. The programme was a key element of the RSE’s regional strategy which was developed in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI).

Amongst the aims were to raise awareness of the RSE in the North and West of Scotland region and to engage with local communities on issues of importance to them. This was to be achieved through respectful dialogue – with RSE Fellows contributing their expertise where appropriate but with most input coming from a range of formidably knowledgeable speakers, mainly based in the islands.

Talks from a total of over 30 speakers extended in time from the Jurassic age to the present day. They extended widely to include island history and the change from near core to periphery in perceptions of and often the reality of the islands in modern times, bird life, the Gaelic language, mass tourism whether by cruise ship or camper van, climate change and threats to the maritime environment – and current responses to all of these.

What became clear was that island life has always been challenging, but that over time resilient islanders have risen to such challenges, often with degrees of success that are little known about and largely unheralded in mainland Scotland. Land and land ownership have long been causes of unhappiness and conflict in the Western Isles (and in large swathes of the mainland), but the community owned estates of Galson, Lewis, and North Harris demonstrate what can happen when determined people with inspirational leadership take control to build viable futures.

Wind farms too have been problematic – and continue to pose threats, not least to the landscape, but there is evidence to show that they can, with informed representatives, be managed in the interests of local communities.

Arguably the most significant challenge for Scotland’s islands is demographic: the fact that from 1861 the total island population has fallen, from 5.4 per cent of the country’s total, to around 2 per cent. Although there was an upturn in many of them between 1971 and 2011, the small islands have continued to lose people to the extent that many are now uninhabited, a trend which is likely to continue as numbers fall below what is a viable level of population.

Some of the larger islands, such as Orkney and the Highland islands, however, have seen increases but others like Na h-Eileanan Siar (the Outer Hebrides) not, and generally in the islands as whole the population has been ageing rapidly while the numbers of children and young people are falling – although there is some evidence of a return movement amongst this cohort.

Such is the importance of this subject, and the interest it aroused, that RSE Fellow Professor Michael Anderson FRSE presented papers in both Skye and Orkney, with the second of these looking at likely island population outcomes in the future, based on his analysis of the most recent census data.

There is no doubt that the islands programme was a success. The three symposia were attended by healthy numbers of in-person audiences and streamed online for many more, on the day and subsequently. Total views of the three events amounted to well over 2,600.

As important has been the audience response, with 94 per cent of respondents reporting that their understanding of the topics featured in the series had improved. The written comments on the events were also enormously positive. One of the principal aims of the series was to take the RSE to places where hitherto it had only a marginal presence – if at all.

This is no longer the case, with friendships and academic relationships formed, and links with Fellows in the north and west strengthened, while connections with the UHI in particular, as well as HIE at institutional level have also been established.

Professor Des Thompson FRSE and Professor Chris Whatley FRSE

The RSE’s blog series offers personal views on a variety of issues. These views are not those of the RSE and are intended to offer different perspectives on a range of current issues.