A Storymap has been created for the research on characteristics of large-scale landholdings. It combines together elements from several reports produced by the Land Systems Team at the James Hutton Institute in their work supporting the Land Reform Bill Team. View the Storymap 'Characteristics of Large-Scale Landholdings' (published July 2025 and updated March 2026).
Annual Stakeholder Advisory Group reports have been created to summarise the work of the 'Scotland's Land Reform Futures' Stakeholder Advisory Group. The purpose of the Stakeholder Advisory Group is to co-construct the research approach, provide access to Scottish land and knowledge networks, link to case studies, and support open science. In the 2022-3 report, interview questions explored the stakeholders’ thoughts on current and future outcomes of Scottish land reform, and the key issues and knowledge gaps that should be addressed in relation to land reform. In subsequent reports, the main points discussed in the Stakeholder Advisory group meetings over the course of its third year are outlined. Read the 2022-23 report, the 2023-24 report, and the 2024-25 report.
A report that informs Scottish Government policy around biodiversity, in particular, the Scottish Government’s ‘30 x 30’ target. A literature review and interviews with key stakeholders informed a Typology of Land Management Agreements in Scotland. Analysis of interview data and additional grey literature brought to light opportunities for enabling wider engagement with Land Management Agreements as well as barriers to their uptake. Taking these enablers and challenges into account, a set of recommendations have been produced, with the aim of encouraging voluntary engagement from a variety of landowners with Land Management Agreements. Read the report, 'Review of land management agreements in Scotland' on Zenodo (published December 2024).
A policy note co-written by James Hutton Institute and Scotland’s Rural College that draws on evidence from both in Theme C (Human Impacts on the Environment; Project: Land Use Transformations) and Theme E (Rural Futures; Project: Scotland’s Land Reform Futures). A range of policies, strategies, initiatives and public funding streams are concerned with land use, and mapping landownership in Scotland has been a longstanding issue. Better integration of the disparate administrative and research-based data sources are needed to provide well-informed policy development, implementation, and monitoring - while minimising unintended outcomes. The policy note provides three recommendations to better exploit existing data by combining multiple spatial data sources on land use and landownership. Read the policy note 'Spatial Data Requirements for Land-Based Policy Objectives' (published April 2024).
A report on accessing and integrating land ownership data in Scotland, based on a review of existing land ownership data, its availability, accessibility, and shareability. It identifies relevant data from several sources including Scottish Government Agriculture datasets, Forest and Land Scotland, Registers of Scotland, Local Authorities, from the private sector and other sources. The datasets differ in terms of scope, coverage, granularity, frequency of update, and cost of access. This document summarises the characteristics of the datasets and the challenges for making land ownership data more transparent. Read the final report 'Review of Land Ownership Data in Scotland' (published March 2024).
Technical, institutional, and social feasibility studies inform the development of a land information dataset to maximise the efficiency and efficacy of community and landowner engagement with the Scottish land reform process and future land use decision-making. Read the first report on 'Understanding community access to land data' (published June 2023).
An extensive literature and policy review defines a conceptual framework/typology of what is meant by ‘land tenure models’, and examines what could be considered alternative/potential to those that already exist or are predominant in Scotland. Read the final report on 'Alternative Land Tenure Models: International Case Studies and Lessons for Scotland' and the visual summary (published June 2023).