Sowing seeds of sustainability with Duthchas

The Duthchas Project was set up in 1998 in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. It aims to develop local strategies and actions for sustainable development based on the collective knowledge of local people and to ensure that this knowledge/involvement is generated through the use of participatory methods. There are 21 project partners which include the communities from the three pilot areas, along with governmental and non-governmental agencies. This article describes the basis of the project and how it is implemented, a process which has included open public meetings, action plans, publicity, community interviews, a travelling exhibition and the production of a video by the local communities. The article ends by reflecting on what has been learned so far.