Highlands Reimagined

Hello everyone, it’s Will here, the presenter of Highlands Reimagined podcast. Our original 3 part miniseries asked what needs to change to encourage Mackay Country’s young people to stay or return, build their futures here, and start to reverse generations of population decline - a problem experienced by rural areas all over the world. Unfortunately, due to some pretty major health issues that st...

Hello, it’s Will here, the presenter and producer of Highlands Reimagined. I’m pleased to share with you a great conversation that Fiona Mackenzie and I had on the Wild for Scotland podcast with host: Kathi Kamleitner. Kathi was interested to find out more from me about how the series was made and dig a little further into some of the topics that emerged from it. Fiona gave her perspective as Deve...

Listen to this if you’d like to hear more from Highlands Reimagined! Highlands Reimagined is an Anya Media production, commissioned by Strathnaver Museum and published in partnership with the Wild for Scotland podcast. Find out more at highlandsreimagined.com

Who holds the power to shape the future of Mackay Country? In this final episode, the students of Farr High School are determined to find out. They take their questions about land ownership and how it impacts all of the issues we’ve discussed so far directly to the Scottish Land Commission. They learn from an Irish island community’s inspiring story how high-speed broadband could create new tech j...

While community is a powerful reason to stay, if young people do feel the need to leave, then what might encourage them to return? After exploring their deep connection to home, the students of Farr High School now confront the reasons they might have to leave. To understand their options, they get firsthand accounts from two people who made the journey back, learning what it takes to forge a care...

Why do so many young people feel they have to leave the Scottish Highlands? Will Sadler’s first question when he visits Farr High School in Mackay Country isn’t what makes the students want to leave - but what makes them want to stay? He explores how romantic stereotypes of a wild, empty landscape clash with the young people’s lived reality that places people at the very centre of their experience...

Beyond the postcard view, rural Scotland faces a depopulation crisis. As parts of the Scottish Highlands tackle ongoing population decline, this podcast series spends time with students of Farr High School in Sutherland’s Mackay Country. Why do they feel the need to leave and what might encourage them to stay or return to build their futures here? From the aftermath of the Highland Clearances to m...