Innovation

The 2019 SURF Awards for Best Practice in Community Regeneration are currently open for entries.

​These prestigious awards are delivered each year by SURF, a regeneration forum with over 300 cross-sector member organisations across Scotland, in partnership with the Scottish Government.

The purpose of the awards is to highlight, celebrate and share the achievements of initiatives that address physical, social and economic challenges in communities across Scotland.

SR Marine Conference, Exhibition & Dinner 2019

Scotland’s wave and tidal industries continue to push the boundaries of technology and project development, with devices and projects continually breaking records. Our global lead is clear; more wave and tidal devices have been deployed in Scotland’s Highlands and Islands than in the rest of the world combined.

With that comes not just centres of excellence, as in Orkney, but a dispersed set of benefits across our geographies: jobs created, vibrant academic centres and of course clean energy delivery. The continued lack of a viable route to market puts all of this in jeopardy.

The 2019 British Farming Award entries are now open – and they’re looking for their next Diversification Innovator of the Year.

With increasing input costs, food prices being driven down and the unknown impact of Brexit looming, farmers are having to find new ways to boost their profits and become ever more resilient.

In this report, the Rural Youth Project tell us about an inspiring learning journey to the Netherlands.

The Rural Youth Project and Scottish Enterprise Urban/Rural Learning Journey was a collaboration to engage participants to “think different” regarding rural enterprise, sustainability and agriculture.

A group of farmers are working with a commercial feed processor to try and grow the UK's first viable organic seed rape crop for the animal feed supply chain.

​The five organic farmers in the North East are being supported by the Rural Innovation Support Service, which is part of the Scottish Rural Network and led by Soil Association Scotland. The group was formed to meet a need for locally-grown organic protein for pigs and poultry.

Do you want to join people from across Europe on a course on social innovation in rural areas?

Applications are now being accepted to take part in a one-week Advanced Course on Social Innovation in Rural Areas in Zaragoza, Spain. All participants will be exempt from the payment of registration fees.

Advanced Course on Social Innovation In Rural Areas

Please note: timings to be confirmed with organisers

Social innovation has been heralded as a vital part of the European recovery project since the economic crisis in 2008. It is of particular importance to rural areas, especially more disadvantaged rural areas, where multiple problems of depopulation, environmental quality decline and low levels of economic activity have been recurrent. With the trend of rapid urbanisation, the remoter rural areas will continue to be adversely affected.

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.

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