The 13th OECD Rural Development Conference was held in Cavan, Ireland on 28-30 September 2022 under the theme "Building Sustainable, Resilient and Thriving Rural Places". These are the presentations from the Conference parallel session "Climate Change Impacts on Coastal Communities and the Blue Economy in rural regions". For more information visit https://www.oecd.org/rural/rural-development-conference/.

1. Climate Change Impacts on Coastal Communities and the
Blue Economy in rural regions -
Highlands and Islands of Scotland
Dr Andrea McColl
Senior Development Manager Life Sciences
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
29 September 2022

3. REGIONAL STATS
2019/20
POPULATION OF THE
HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS = 470k
5.4%
of all the land of the
Highlands and Islands
is under community
ownership (rest of
Scotland 0.05%)
59%
live in remote areas
OF THE POPULATION
27%
live in a large settlement
22%
live on an island
11.2%
of people are self-
employed (rest of
Scotland 8.2%)
61%
of the UK coastline

4. ASSETS AND ENVIRONMENT

5. POLICY

6. EXAMPLES
Shellvolution
sustainable mussel farming
CLIMAVORE
Intertidal species and
local food
DEEP
Native Oyster reef restoration
Island of Arran Seabed Trust
Marine conservation
ValMaB-DM
Green investment
SAMS Enterprise Seaweed Academy
Skills development for seaweed aquaculture
Seawilding
Supporting community groups with low-
cost marine habitat restoration
Seawater Solutions
Saltwater farm

7. WHAT’S NEXT
Building Sustainable, Resilient and Thriving Rural Places

8. CONTACT
Dr Andrea McColl
Senior Development Manager
(aquaculture, animal health, agri-tech, biotech, blue economy)
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
E: andrea.mccoll@hient.co.uk
DD: +44 (0)1463 383016
Mob: +44 (0)7887 958712
@andreamccollHIE
@hilifesciences
www.hie.co.uk/lifesciences