Ph.D. Researcher

Centre for Mountain Studies

UHI Millennium Institute

Martin Price

Landowner motivation and perceptions of sustainability; exploring visions for the future of the Scottish uplands

Draft Abstract:
A small number of private individuals own a large proportion of Scottish land {Wightman 1999} and therefore the attitudes and aspirations of these landowners are crucial to a sustainable future. The nature of the upland estate provides the background against which the landowners’ motivation and their perceptions of sustainability inform strategic objectives and create a vision for the future. The successful alignment of government policy to engender economic, environmental, and social sustainability will depend on its ability to influence the landowner whose primary motive may be none of those. The ultimate objective of any land use policy is to influence the way in which land is used but the effect of any monetary incentive will be limited where economic motivations are not paramount. Traditional assumptions of the dependency of the rural economy on agriculture may be inappropriate and landowners are often not primarily interested or engaged in farming {Porter, 2001 and Denman 1965}. Understanding the motivation of landowners must therefore be essential for the design of effective policy.

The project uses a combination of questionnaires and cases studies, including semi-structured interviews and Q methodology to achieve triangulation. Firstly, the questionnaire (2008) followed the work of others on motivation using a positively skewed Likert scale {Armstrong 1980; MacGregor 1988; MacGregor and Stockdale 1994 and Higgins et al 2002}. Further questions provided information on the attitude of the landowner to the three aspects of sustainability based on the tripartite representation provided by Munro {Munro, 1995}. The assistance of the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association (SRPBA) was sought in approaching suitable landowners for the survey. A very respectable overall response rate of 34% (83 from a possible 245) covering in excess of 1.7 million acres was achieved. A dozen case studies, chosen from the questionnaire respondents, were undertaken in order to identify causal processes in a way not feasible in the survey research{Connolly, 1998}. The case studies are ongoing and landowners are being asked to rank the importance of various factors in their future plans for their estate using Q-sort techniques{Stephenson, 1955}. Through factor analysis, the results will provide a detailed understanding of the variety of subjective opinions among landowners. Finally, each case is also being studied in depth ‘in the real world’ through visits and further interviews to add the narratives that are essential to understanding the outcomes {Becker, Ch. 11}.

These questionnaires, Q-sorts and interviews contain real, on the ground opinions and responses from landowners, to current issues of concern to policy makers other stakeholders. All the difficult issues involved in balancing the conflicting demands of the environment with social and economic priorities are covered. It is not a measured response from professionals employed in the industry but a rare insight in to the ‘hearts and minds’ of those who ultimately control vast expanses of the Scottish uplands.

1984-present Chartered Accountant