ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the energy landscapes of Shetland in Scotland, observing how the transformations of the contemporary energy transition engage with historical structures of communal land governance and with heritage narratives of a close-knit community. The archipelago's relative remoteness, the deep entanglement of land and sea in traditional life, and its historically shifting cultural and political influences have shaped a strong sense of ownership and community. Following the subsistence practices and common land governance that persisted during the Norse era, the imposition of tenancy systems under Scottish rule left legacies of exploitation. The oil boom of the late twentieth century reversed narratives of marginalization and strengthened local agency. Today, renewable energy projects, from the large and contested Viking Wind Farm on Mainland Shetland to community-owned wind projects and experimental marine renewables on Yell, activate such previous histories of the landscape. The chapter explores how these legacies can link to contemporary practices of sustainability in Shetland and beyond.
