Learning and skills

The Scottish Rural Network will be supporting Scottish Government Just Transition policy colleagues with a second round of Land Use and Agriculture Just Transition Community Workshops at the end of August.  

A group of scientists have this week been collecting samples of rock from the NatureScot National Nature Reserve (NNR) as part of the NASA and European Space Agency (ESA)’s Mars Sample Return Campaign.

The Almond Headwaters Project, led by Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust, and the River Ericht Catchment Restoration Initiative project, led by Bioregioning Tayside have both been awarded funding from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation through the

Rural and island communities will have a chance to have their voices heard in local and national decision-making as a result of Scottish Government funding.

Around £80,000 will help to deliver the next Scottish Rural and Islands Parliament – a grassroots democratic assembly ­– which will take place in the autumn.

University of Glasgow’s SFC Upskilling Project facilitates three runs of skills-focussed, demand-led CPD courses annually, with the aim of supporting employees and employers across Scotland to upskill and reskill in response to present-day economic challenges. In particular, the project aims to address skills gaps, unemployment issues and other health and economic adversities following the COVID-19 pandemic and EU exit.

The Scottish Government’s £65 million Nature Restoration Fund has already awarded around £17.5 million to 125 projects across the country since it opened in July 2021. Managed by NatureScot, the fund supports projects to take practical steps to tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss and to restore Scotland’s natural environment.