Scotland: National Rural Network
Connecting Rural Scotland - Promoting Rural Growth

My Name is Jamie McPherson (matric number 0705524m) and I am entering my 4th year as an undergraduate student studying geography at the University of Glasgow. As part of my course curriculum I am expected to turn in a dissertation, the title of mine being "The Isle of Jura: a sustainable community? As you may or may not know, the chosen location is an island with rural communities present, on the West coast of Scotland with a population that has fallen from over a thousand to just over 200. The research aims I plan to focus on are:

• What factors have caused/ contributed to the declining population?
• What factors have caused/ contributed to the recent increasing population?
• In the near to far future, what is likely to be the trend with the factors involved?
• To whom, if any one group, does the responsibility of sustaining the community belong to?

Thus far, I have made visits to the island using a number of techniques to gather information on the locals' views on the above aims of my research, however I would now like to widen the scope to other rural communities throughout Scotland and find your views regarding input into your community's progression from the community itself, the local council and the Scottish Government.

I would fully appreciate it if you could take time to fill out my short questionnaire and if possible, pass this on to other who may be of help to me. Furthermore if you have any views not catered or other information you may think useful, I encourage you to email this to me at jamiemc89@hotmail.com.

You can complete the short survey here: www.surveymonkey.com/s/WLLL9H3

Yours faithfully,

Jamie McPherson