Innovation

12th OECD Rural Development Conference: delivering well-being

How can policies raise well-being in rural areas? The 12th OECD Rural Development Conference will tackle this central question by examining the multiple aspects of rural wellbeing, including role of innovation and digitalisation in revitalising rural communities and making them attractive for business and residents alongside strategies to deliver quality public services and to help rural regions transition to a low carbon economy.

Update from Highlands & Islands Connections project

Earlier this year we reported on a new rural mental health project – Highlands & Islands Connections. In this article we get an update on work that’s happening in two pilot locations.

Pre Interest Registration is open for a £2 million investment fund that will support the testing of the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) concept in Scotland.

MaaS will provide people with easy, digital access to travel information, allowing them to make informed decisions on journey choices. For example, this could include solutions to gather personalised travel requirements into a single travel app or a service to allow unlimited access to multiple transport providers via a monthly user fee.

Earlier this week, Mairi Gougeon announced a newly funded project through the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund (KTIF),  which aims to help farmers by supporting projects aimed at increasing farmers skills and knowledge. To date the Scottish Government has awarded over £5 million to 21 projects through the scheme.

This week, we met with colleagues from the LEADER Delivery Team (LDT), Tyne Esk LEADER and the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) team to support the EU Desk Officer, Egle Puosiunaite, from the European Commission on her visit to Scotland. Ms.

Ethical Farming Conference

The conference will explore models of food production that have a focus on fair work for people, high welfare for livestock, environmentally regenerative closed-loop production and sustainable circular economies.

The event will take place at Rainton Farm in South West Scotland, home of The Ethical Dairy, the largest cow with calf dairy farm in Europe.

You can see the event programme and find out more about the conference on the event website: https://www.ethicalfarming.org/ 

Tickets should be booked by 8 May 2019. 

The Scottish Government's Regional Food Fund has awarded bursaries to ten young women to attend the Ethical Farming Conference free of charge.

The successful applicants include a Scottish post-doctoral animal welfare researcher now working in New Zealand, post graduate researchers exploring issues around agri-environment, food security and animal behaviour, veterinary medicine students, small holders and new entrant farmers.

The seventh annual British Farming Awards are now open for entries and nominations in 14 categories.

The awards celebrate the creative thinking, innovation and dedication of Britain's farmers. They are organised by AgriBriefing and supported by Morrisons. 

The award categories are:

Last night, as part of the much anticipated NetworX conference held in Brussels, the European Commissioner Phil Hogan announced the 5 winners of the inaugural Rural Inspiration Awards.

The Scottish Rural Network would like to extend a massive congratulations to all 25 finalists, and the 5 overall winners.

The winners were:

Many businesses are trying businesses are trying to distinguish themselves from their competitors. They want to attract new clients and win new markets.

Getting the recognition for your good environmental practices through VIBES – Scottish Environment Business Awards could be the solution. The application process is free. All applicants receive tailored feedback with details of free support available.

The 2019 categories are:

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