The wisdom of the fathers? Regional/rural development policy and structures for the Highlands and Islands of Scotland 1965–2015, through the lens of smart specialisation

This chapter reflects upon the activities of the longest-established regional development agency of the UK, the Highlands and Islands Development Board (later renamed Highlands and Islands Enterprise), which recently celebrated its 50-year anniversary. The author argues that, although in the early years there were some celebrated mistakes, on the whole the agency’s activities provide an illustration of the fact that, as others have noted (Foray et al., 2011), the broad principles of smart specialisation have been followed, in some contexts many years before the term was invented in 2008.