Resources

This CD presents the D¨thchas project, which was a demonstration project funded under the EU LIFE 97 Environment Programme for the period January 1998-April 2001, with the aim of piloting an affordable, transferable process and framework for addressing sustainable development and integrated land management in peripheral rural areas of the Scottish Highlands and Islands. The work was carried out with the full involvement, support and co-operation of three Pilot Areas: North Sutherland, the Trotternish Peninsula in the Isle of Skye, and North Uist in the Western Isles, each home to between 1400 and 2000 people. D¨thchas involved each community in a highly participative process to create a strategy for the sustainable development of their area. Each Area Sustainability Strategy identifies the community vision, goals and objectives for the area and the practical actions needed to achieve these, now and in the medium and long term. The strategies were defined by the local people and agreed by the Agency Partners. Innovative Participatory Methods were developed and used for facilitating the involvement of local people and for bringing public and other agencies around the table to agree the way forward and relate this to their own plans and resources. The CD contains a stage-by-stage analysis of the D¨thchas project and examines its concepts strategies and outcomes. Additional features include: a 20 minute film introducing the project and the pilot themes; photographic albums; a quick find facility; and a range of reports, reviews, newsletters and publication which have been produced by the project. The contents of the CD can be found on http://www.duthchas.org.uk/