On 5th March 2020, we helped lead a workshop at the Merkinch Community Centre, Inverness. This event was the first meeting of a new network investigating community empowerment and landscape decision making in Scotland.
The network - which includes people from the community sector, public sector, NGOs and academia - is exploring cultures of decision-making in Scotland. It aims to produce insights that will help empower people in sparsely-populated areas, both as an end in itself and as a means of achieving wider goals, such as repopulation, the conservation of biodiversity and cultural heritage, and a just transition to a Net Zero society and economy.
The purpose of the Inverness event was to establish the network, get to know the initial members, take feedback on the aims of the initiative and discuss ideas for future network activities.
The network is being convened by INHERIT, Community Land Scotland, Newcastle University and Edinburgh University, with funding from the Arts & Humanities Research Council.