UHI Institute for Northern Studies Student Celebrates PhD Triumph

The UHI Institute for Northern Studies is pleased to announce that PhD candidate Adele Lidderdale has successfully completed her viva, requiring only minor corrections, and is now eligible to be awarded her doctorate.

Adele is a researcher from Orkney who conducted a study on the implementation of Scotland’s first National Islands Plan (2019). Her thesis, titled "Scottish National Islands Plan: A Roadmap for Transformational Change," aimed to explore how the Plan was enacted and the role that policy and related networks play in the context of Scottish islands. Additionally, she examined how campaigns such as "Our Islands, Our Future" have influenced contemporary politics in the Scottish islands.

Adele was particularly interested in the policy ‘Climate in Scotland of Justice and Empowerment’ is reflected in the islands and the role that key island and non-island institutions play in that process and journey towards sustainable rural development.

Adele has studied, lived, and worked in Orkney, and her research draws on her extensive experience across various sectors—public, private, and community. She focuses on integrating green transition projects within the island context and has a solid understanding of how policy influences these projects during the different phases of implementation.

Adele said, "For this research I took a mixed-methods approach by gathering and triangulating data from policy documentation, over 40 semi-structured interviews and a population survey completed by 176 Scottish Islanders. My approach centred on amplifying the voices of Scottish islanders, as remitted in the Island's (Scotland) Act 2018; to better understand how national policies are experienced at the local level. Through this, I gained valuable insights into how meaningful engagement and the empowerment of policy recipients are not just complementary, but often fundamental to the success of a policy beyond its written content. This is particularly relevant in the current political climate across the UK and internationally, where communities are increasingly expected to take on roles in development and service delivery that were once in the domain of central government."

Professor Donna Heddle, Director UHI Institute for Northern Studies added, "We are delighted that Adele defended her thesis so well -  the research was described as outstanding and her viva performance was brilliant. This is very topical research for our islands in particular and for the Scottish political scene in general. We are very proud of Adele and look forward to hearing more from her on this topic in the future as the Islands Plan is very much a developing area of research! We are very grateful to the funders - Local Government Information Unit, CnES , Orkney Islands Council,  Shetland Islands Council, and UHI for making this important research possible "

Professor Steven Heddle, commenting said: "I'm delighted that Adele has done so well and produced such a substantial and objective piece of work in an area that is of such significance to Scotland's Islands. From my own perspective as an active local politician, and indeed as one of the leaders of the Our Islands Our Future campaign which led directly to the Islands Act and subsequent National Islands Plan, it is enormously important that we make the most of the opportunities that can be realised for the future of the islands whilst learning lessons from those that may have been missed since the Islands Act came into force. This work does much to help us with both, and I hope the project sponsors and the Scottish Government will reflect and learn from it."

Adele’s supervisors were Prof. Donna Heddle (UHI Institute for Northern Studies, Prof. Steven Heddle (Orkney Islands Council) & Dr. Andrew Jennings (UHI Institute for Northern Studies).

Many thanks to the funders for making this research possible, including the Local Government Information Unit, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Orkney Islands Council, University of the Highlands and Islands.