Scotland: National Rural Network
The big news this week is that an EU Rural Cooperation Fair will be taking place in Edinburgh in September. You can get more information on the event, and how you might be able to attend, below.
And if you attended one of the 20 Scottish National Rural Network regional events that took place from November 2009 to May 2010, we'd be grateful if you could take five minutes to complete our online survey. Thanks in advance!
A major EU Rural Cooperation Fair will take place on 23rd and 24th September in Murrayfield, Edinburgh. There will be many excellent opportunities for people from across rural Scotland and Europe to get together and share good ideas and experiences to do with economic and community development in rural areas.
Attendance is by invitation only. However, a limited number of places will be available to users of the Rural Network website residing in Scotland. If you're interested in attending, please let us know by emailing EUruralfair@scvo.org.uk, with your name, address and contact details and why you think it important for your local area that you should be there. More information is available in EU Rural Cooperation Fair - Hold the date.
Early next week, we'll be launching a new consultations feature which will allow you to respond online to consultations relevant to rural Scotland. Rural organisations and communities will also be able to use the new feature to run their own consultations and gather the views of people living and working in rural Scotland. Find out more here.
We want to make sure that people who use the Scotland National Rural Network website are making the most of the opportunities the website offers. Registered members can sign up to receive our weekly newsletters - as you are - and also add content directly to the website. We're highlighting these benefits in Make the most of the Rural Network website.
Our panel of three Village Halls experts - Chrissy Boyd, Philippa Wetton and Sandra Hogg - are waiting to answer your questions on community buildings in our latest Ask an Expert feature. So far questions have covered a wide range of topics including funding for renewable energy initiatives and the transfer of ownership from local authorities. Send your questions (under 75 words please) to editor@ruralgateway.org.uk. You can find out more in Put your questions to our Village Halls experts.
If you're looking for funding, why not check out our Rural Development Funding section? Here, you'll get links to our new Funding Directory, the Rural Funding Opportunities Guide and other signposts to help you find funding. And don't forget if you can't find what you're looking for, you can post a query in our Discussion Forum or email us directly at editor@ruralgateway.org.uk.
If you have a great landscape project you want to showcase, why not enter the UK Landscape Awards? They are looking for all types of landscape - including urban, rural, coastal, agricultural, designed and natural. The closing date for entries is 27th August, with the winner going on to represent the UK at the Landscape Award of the Council of Europe. Find out more in Landscape Award call for entries.
The winner of the UK Landscape Award will be announced at the European Landscape Convention Conference taking place in November in Liverpool. The conference will showcase and celebrate recent landscape thinking, building on the Convention's call to protect, manage and enhance landscapes everywhere and help you in your work to influence change between people and place. Find out more in our Events Calendar.
James Thomas from the Scottish Screen Academy is looking for a sheep herder, trained dog and flock of sheep for a film to be shot in Dumfries and Galloway in March next year. If you're interested, or can help him get in touch with appropriate people, then visit the Sheep herder needed for film shoot in Dumfries and Galloway bulletin notice.
Some great photos have recently been added to our Images of Rural Scotland gallery. If you've been out and about with your camera in rural Scotland then why not share your photos? All you have to do is follow the step by step guide in our How to Add Content section. We can't wait to see your photos!
A couple of weeks back we announced the launch of a new one million euro Rural Broadband Challenge Fund. The fund is being delivered through LEADER. If you have an idea for a community broadband project then get in touch with your local LEADER group as there are different deadlines in different areas. You can get more information in Rural Broadband Challenge Fund announced. And you'll get details of the LEADER contact in your area in our Useful Contacts section.
In the special report Engage and network with the Cairngorms National Park Catalina Munteanu tells us about a new knowledge exchange project in the Cairngorms National Park and how you can get involved. The Centre for Mountain Studies at Perth College UHI and the Cairngorms National Park Authority are now creating a network of researchers and practitioners working in the park.
A new three-year project to promote a National Parks Strategy for Scotland has been launched. The project is a partnership between the Scottish Campaign for National Parks and the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland. The aspiration is the designation of three new national parks by 2015. Find out more in New project to promote national parks strategy.
If you want to be a record breaker then get along to the Coalburn One Stop Shop on 27th and 28th August. The Friends of Clydesdale Volunteering are attempting to break the world record for producing electricity from cycling over a 24 hour period. To break the current record they need at least 1000 participants. Find out more in Powering to the Future with Friends of Clydesdale Volunteering.
The RSABI, Scotland's agricultural benevolent fund, are holding a Harvest Home Ceilidh at Perth Racecourse on 22nd October. There will be good food and entertainment, and you'll be supporting a good cause! Find out more in our Events Calendar.
A new website with a focus on Scottish funghi has been launched. On the website, you'll find a whole range of information from sections on collecting and identifying funghi for eating to an education section for teachers. Find out more in Funghi focus for new website.
The Community Network are holding two free events for voluntary groups. In Inverness on 26th August, you can find out about the benefits of Telephone Befriending Groups. You can find out more here. And on 14th September in Glasgow, you can find out how to reach your beneficiaries. More information is available in our Events Calendar.
Remember, as a registered user of the website you can add your own content directly to the site including news, bulletin board postings, forum topics and events.
You can find step by step instructions on how to add your content on the aptly named How to add content page. Content added will be included in the weekly newsletter which goes out to thousands of people across rural Scotland and beyond.
If you want to keep up with the latest news from the Rural Network then follow @SNRNwebsite on Twitter.
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