Scotland is in a period of significant change in relation to the development of future policies for the sustainable development of its landscapes and rural communities.

This change is operating at different scales and there are associated tensions, particularly regarding the kind of rural countryside that people want in the future.

International drivers such as globalisation, climate change, and European Union policy (particularly Common Agricultural Policy reform and the Water Framework Directive) are coinciding with national shifts in demographic and social patterns (e.g. residential, leisure and work patterns, quality of life expectations, and access to land for recreation), set against changes at the local level such as community buy-outs under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

There is also a growing recognition through the European Landscape Convention that landscape needs to be a key consideration in rural policy decision-making processes, and that answers to sustainability issues are best addressed through public participation.

Reconciling these global, national and local influences on rural Scotland, and at the same time ensuring economic growth, social justice, and protection of its natural and cultural heritage, represents one of the most important challenges facing the Scottish Government in the coming decades.