Many would argue that it has never been easier to access numerical data about people and places in Scotland. Partly because of OpenData principles, public bodies release large volumes of freely accessible data via online portals such as statistics.gov.scot and data.gov.uk.
The Scottish Rural Parliament will meet in Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway. In the lead-up to this meeting, we are publishing two blog posts about place-based rural policy. The first of these is written by Andrew Copus, James Hutton Institute and Jane Atterton, the Rural Policy Centre, SRUC, who start off by explaining what exactly is place based rural policy.
Climate change and the impact it will have presents significant challenges to our future. The effects will be felt across many sectors of society and will influence our personal and professional lives in some profound ways. Some of these impacts have not been identified yet and even when they have they can still be difficult to assess, both in terms of how important they will be and what knock-on effects they will have.
By Megan Welford, RISS
The Rural Innovation Support Service (RISS) launched in February 2018, with the aim of enabling farmers, foresters and crofters in Scotland to explore their innovative ideas through collaboration. RISS is funded by the European and Scottish Rural Development Programmes.
A large proportion of the Scottish strategic road network in the Highlands is vulnerable to landslides. Landslides in Scotland have significant economic impact and they may increase in frequency with the intense rainfall events associated with a changing climate. The potential of vegetation to decrease vulnerability to landslides has been demonstrated in the laboratory, and increased vulnerability to landslides has often been noted after vegetation clearance in the field.
As the SEFARI Knowledge Exchange Sectorial Lead for Soils and Crops, Ken's particularly interested in how plant roots play a critical role in mechanically stabilising soil, so he never thought he’d be enlisting the help of a Pufferfish to communicate research!
My research interests focus on community initiatives, social change and social justice. I am particularly interested in the ways in which local and grassroots movements for change are influencing and being influenced by changes in governing. Further details can be found on my James Hutton Institute staff page.
The James Hutton Institute
Craigiebuckler
Aberdeen AB15 8QH
Scotland UK
The talk will begin by celebrating Scotland’s natural assets, then question whether all that has happened in recent times is beneficial and whether we would now have acted differently. Key inherited and current challenges will be addressed, including industrialisation of land use and ignorance of natural processes, lack of space for nature and species debates. Solutions will be set out demanding more integrated ways of planning future land use, developing a package of practical mechanisms and addressing polarisation of attitudes.
Sorry, this event has already happened. Have a look at our upcoming events.
I am the Sector Lead for Communities for the SEFARI Gateway. I have a wealth of experience, having worked on agricultural and rural policy matters with SRUC for the last 25 years.
Peter Wilson Building
West Mains Road
Edinburgh
EH9 3JG
The CSC is run by the James Hutton Institute and is the largest field-scale experiment at the institute, extending over 42 hectares and growing a variety of crops. It will also be the longest running experiment, since we aim to maintain the site for a minimum of 3 rotations (18+ years) to get a better understanding of the long-term impact of changes in how our crops are managed.