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

The first Rural Gathering event, held in September 2009 at Perth Race Course, brought together 300 people from across Scotland, representing a wide range of rural issues. You can now get the highlights from the day in two event reports.

In Rural Gathering event report - Main session, you can read about Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment Richard Lochhead's keynote address, presentations from Ute Vieting about a LEADER programme in Germany and from Professor David Freshwater of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

You can also find out about three case study presentations on the Here We Are initiative in Cairndow, Argyll, using the Scotland Rural Development Programme to make a difference in an agricultural context and Fintry Development Trust's renewable energy projects.

In Rural Gathering event report - workshop sessions you can read key points from the eight workshops that took place on the day:

• Local priorities
• Rural housing
• Retail challenge
• Agriculture and communities
• Biodiversity
• Village halls
• Climate Challenge Fund
• Food networks

You can get links to a series of articles about this national event in our Rural Gathering archive. You can watch a video from the day below.

The Rural Gathering is one part of the Scottish National Rural Network, which is also made up of a series of regional events and this website.