Place

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Priority: Place

Shetland is an attractive place to live, study and invest

 

Our Shared Priority

This priority is aimed at ensuring Shetland can attract and retain the people it needs to sustain its economy and communities in the future.

Shetland’s natural environment and rich culture and history are key elements of what makes Shetland a special place. We have a strong local economy which is reliant on a number of key sectors which in turn are reliant on our natural resources.

We have low unemployment and high educational attainment. The population grew steadily from 2001-2011 but has fallen slightly since then. We are now seeing evidence of some rural depopulation and our working age population is in decline.

Businesses in Shetland are struggling to recruit due to a shortage of skilled labour. Access to employment, services and opportunities can vary depending on where people live.

We need to ensure that distance and circumstance are not a barrier to opportunity and that all communities have sufficient people and resources to deliver the services they require.

We need to do what we can to attract and retain the working age population in Shetland and ensure we are creating positive and attractive places to live.

What will be different for communities by 2028?

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Outcomes

  • People will be accessing employment, education, training and services in innovative ways designed to minimise the barriers to involvement for all
  • Shetland will be attracting and retaining the people needed to sustain our economy, communities and services
  • All areas of Shetland will be benefitting from a more resilient low carbon economy underpinned by a culture of innovation, inclusion and skills development
  • Communities will be actively involved in shaping their own future resilience, creating positive places that are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable

How will we know if we are making a difference?

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Indicators of Change

 

Delivering on this priority

In order to deliver on this priority we have our rolling Delivery Plan. This plan outlines the programs and projects that aim to deliver improvement for each of the four Priority areas. Head over to our Projects pages to find out more.

Projects