Rural Community Gateway

The plenary was split into three sessions: rural economy, Greener Scotland address and tourism and I’d like to pick out some key points that were made on the day. You’ll find more about the event on the SSDF website.

Rural Economy

Professor Jim Hunter CBE of the UHI Millennium Institute gave a fascinating insight into economic growth in the Highlands and Islands. He was also unapologetically positive!

Quoting from emotive historical sources, Prof. Hunter described the poverty and population decline that the Highlands and Islands faced in the mid-1800s. In the 1950s population was still declining and further seemed inevitable, but in fact the opposite happened.

Why was there an upturn? Prof. Hunter said that young people used to be told if they wanted to get ahead they had to get out, but this is no longer the case. He believes that cultural developments such as UHI, book festivals and folk festivals have given people increased self esteem and pride in their background. Development measures can’t be confined to economic development but must also enhance cultural self confidence.

International perspective
Nicola Crosta, Head of Rural Development Programme at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development gave an excellent international perspective on rural Scotland’s rural policy.

Mr Crosta headed up the team that wrote the OECD’s review of rural policy in Scotland. He said the whole world is looking at the Highlands and Islands and that he recently spoke by video conference with someone in Canada who wanted to achieve a similar kind of growth there.

The OECD saw rural policy in Scotland as complex, with segmented delivery. While the Scotland Rural Development Programme is innovative and sound, the OECD thought it would be difficult to implement. They also noted that there was a high level of spending on agriculture. Nicola Crosta warned that a shift to an environmental focus could be the new flattening of rural policy in Scotland.

In summing up, Mr Crosta said that Scotland needed a less defensive rural policy, and this required new rules of the game. He learnt the phrase ‘joined-up’ in Scotland, but said it is often used but not often implemented.

You can read more about the OECD review in Scotland’s rural policy reviewed. We want to know what you think about the report so please add your comments to the article.

Moving beyond jam
Richard Williamson of the Buccleuch Group highlighted potential areas for growth in rural Scotland such as mountain biking and wood energy. He said that we need to move beyond cottage industry such as jam making and start using marketing language and addressing consumer choices.

Panel debate
A panel debate followed, chaired by Ken Rundle of BBC Scotland. Questions to the panel covered subjects such as social capital investment, the need to look at economic, environmental and social aspects of rural development and how to keep economies local.

To conclude the panellists were asked which one thing they would do to make a change. Richard Williamson said rural Scotland has to start using the language of other successful markets. Jim Hunter said we have to legislate to ensure that a proportion of money generated from renewables stays in the community. He also commented that closing rural post offices is not very sustainable. Nicola Crosta said he would implement governance reform that puts in place local partnerships to share knowledge.

Greener Scotland

Richard Wakeford Scottish Government's Director General Environment led the Greener Scotland address which featured short presentations from Philip Wright, Deputy Director of Climate Change, Tom Davy Team Leader of the Greener Scotland Directive, Ian Gilzean Head Architect and Kim Fellows Director of Greener Scotland.

Key points raised included the Scottish Climate Change Bill consultation closure on 23rd April, environmental impacts from consumer waste and consumption, quality of place is crucial for sustainable places and that greener is a collective responsibility. A new built environment directorate has been set up in the Scottish Government to include planners, architects and housing standards.

Tourism
Peter Lederer, Chair of VisitScotland kicked off the tourism session. VisitScotland have two goals:

• Increasing tourism revenues by 50 per cent by 2015
• Developing Scotland as Europe’s top sustainable destination

Rather than 50 per cent more people coming to Scotland, VisitScotland wants to see visitors stay longer and spend more. They have been working to extend seasons and maximise occupancy in quieter times. They also want to encourage spread across Scotland to reduce pressure while maximising economic benefits.

Mr Lederer also said as overseas visitors spend more, it is important to have more direct flights. He acknowledged there was an environmental impact, however he said that road transport is a bigger problem.

Peter Lederer said VisitScotland can have the biggest impact by encouraging reduction of waste and consumption through their Green Tourism Business Scheme, which currently has 900 businesses signed up.

New Forest experience
Anthony Climpson, New Forest Tourism Destination Manager, talked about his experiences in the New Forest. In the New Forest most businesses are in local ownership, they have the greatest density of off road cycling in England and they have great local produce.

However, there are tensions between visitors and communities and there is a problem with pollution and congestion in the New Forest.

Climate change and aviation
Dr Alice Bows of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change gave a very informative presentation on aviation and climate change. Scotland has set an emissions reduction target of 80 per cent by 2050. Dr Bows stressed the need for a gradual reduction as it is cumulative emissions that are important. She said a 4 or 5 per cent reduction each year was necessary.

Tourism debate
The following panel debate, chaired by Mike Cantlay of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, raised questions around carbon emissions and tourism travel.

Peter Lederer suggested that the short haul and weekend break market could suffer. Dr Alice Bows said it is about thinking about when it is appropriate to fly and when it is not. If you flew two times this year, don’t fly three times next year.

Professor Jim Hunter asked about the potential for the railways. Dr Alice Bows agreed that there should be more investment in the railways rather than in airports.

Mike Cantlay asked panellists where they would like to see Scottish tourism in 2018. Peter Lederer would like to see Scotland be the most sustainable destination in the world. Anthony Climpson said we should have the confidence to realise what we’ve achieved. And Dr Alice Bows would encourage Scotland/England domestic tourism rather than short haul flights.

If you’re interested in tourism join our Great Rural Debate on Tourism.

Great opportunities to get involved

Graham Ogilvie, a cartoon conference artist, was busy all day turning key points from the day into witty cartoons which were displayed at the back of the conference hall. We could write our comments on post it notes and stick them to the cartoons if we agreed or disagreed with what was being said. This was an unusual way to allow dialogue between speakers and participants and was a real talking point!

Delegates also had the opportunity to look at various exhibition stands, take part in a BBC Radio Scotland opinion survey on tap water versus bottled water and to discuss sustainable development and the Scottish Sustainable Development Forum (SSDF) in workshops.

Related links

Scottish Sustainable Development Forum
Scotland’s rural policy reviewed
Great Rural Debate on Tourism
Shetland and Skye in top of sustainable tourism list
Climate Change Bill consultation
Low Carbon Communities report
Homes for Rent scheme announced at housing conference
Greener Scotland
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
Love food, hate waste

Thanks to the SSDF for all event images.

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