Scotland: National Rural Network
Connecting Rural Scotland - Promoting Rural Growth

The Scottish Rural Gathering taking place on Friday 25th September at Perth Racecourse looks set to be the most important event of the year for rural Scotland, with two Scottish Government Ministers and around 280 delegates from across country attending. The event is now full, with attendees representing a range of rural interests from farming to housing.

A number of organisations, including NFU Scotland, Scottish Rural Property and Business Association and LEADER Local Action Groups, were asked to put forward names to be invited. And many people also registered an expression of interest through the Scotland National Rural Network. Thanks to an increase in the number of places available, everyone who registered by the deadline received an invitation.

Both Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment Richard Lochhead and Minister for the Environment Roseanna Cunningham will be attending the event, which kicks off with an informal networking breakfast with the Ministers.

The morning session will be chaired by Ken Rundle of the Scottish Agricultural College and will feature a keynote address from Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead.

Delegates will have the opportunity to take part in problem solving workshops on the following rural issues:

• Tackling Village Hall Upgrades
• The Climate Challenge Fund: Progress so far and the challenge ahead
• Food Networks in Rural Communities
• Local Priorities, Local Solutions
• Rural Housing - still a problem
• The Challenge of Retailing in Small Rural Communities
• Agricluture and the Community Working Together for the Benefit of Rural Development
• A Biodiversity Project in the Landscape

Afternoon sessions will include case studies looking at the following:

• Community Empowerment: Here We Are, Cairndow
• Agriculture: Using SRDP to make a difference
• Renewables: Fintry Development Trust, Fintry

There will also be an international dimension to the event with a presentation from Professor David Freshwater, University of Kentucky and the chance to hear about the LEADER programme and networking in Bavaria, Germany.

Rural Gathering on the Rural Network website

Next week, there will be a report from the Rural Gathering on this website, along with photos and some video footage from the day. We'll be doing follow up articles on issues raised and projects highlighted at the event, and presentations from the day will also be made available.

If you want to keep up with developments from the event as it happens then follow SNRNwebsite and scvorural on Twitter.

As part of the development of a new Scottish National Rural Network, SCVO will be organising a series of follow-up events intended to promote greater connections and understanding among the different interest groups in rural Scotland.

Further information and news about these regional events will be on the Scotland National Rural Network website in due course. The easiest way to keep up to date with news on the events is to sign up to the Rural Network News email newsletter. You can register for the site and sign up for the newsletter here.