A vast majority of young people living in rural areas feel optimistic about their future despite the challenges of transport, access to services, employment and connectivity, according to the results of a survey carried out by the Scottish Rural Youth Project.

The project is working to address trends such as 13% of rural youth feeling they have a say in the future of their communities, as revealed by the survey results. This will include three pilot initiatives aimed at empowering rural youth, due to be launched in 2019.

The survey ran between January and June 2018 and collected the opinions of over 750 young people, aged 18-28, living or working in rural areas in the UK, Australia, Canada, Sweden and the USA.