Scotland: National Rural NetworkUpdated 28th April 2009
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment Richard Lochhead visited the Alness Heritage Centre today to launch the new Scotland National Rural Network website. The Scotland National Rural Network website aims to connect rural Scotland in all its diversity to promote economic growth and community development.
As part of the launch, Mr Lochhead heard from members of the Alness Initiative and visited their allotment project and Heritage Centre. You can watch a video from the launch below.
Speaking in Alness Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said, "Scotland has a long and proud tradition of innovation and our communities are a rich source of potential, creativity, energy and talent.
"We want to tap into this, to encourage communities to share their knowledge and experience, to take control over the things that effect their lives and build strong, sustainable futures.
"The Scottish National Rural Network will help meet these goals by connecting rural communities and promoting sustainable economic growth and community development."
To celebrate the launch and welcome you to the website, Mr Lochhead has also recorded a special video welcome which you can view below.
On the Rural Network website, you'll be able to read news on a range of rural issues and add your comments, add events to the calendar, start discussions in our forum, find out about a wide variety of rural projects and much more.
In our Featured Projects section you'll be able to read about successful projects from across the country, get inspired and contact people for more information if you're developing a similar project.
The launch of the Scotland National Rural Network website took place at the Alness Heritage Centre, just one of the great projects run by the Alness Initiative. We're delighted that the long-running and highly regarded Alness Initiative is the first project in the Featured Projects section. You can find out more about the project's activities, their greatest achievements and their tips for others in Featured Project: Alness Initiative.
Alness were also one of the case studies in the recently published COSLA and Scottish Government document Community: Scottish Community Empowerment Action Plan. Community empowerment is a process where people work together to make change happen in their communities by having more power and influence over what matters to them.
The Action Plan has lots more information and case studies from around Scotland showing community empowerment in action. We'll be featuring more of the rural communities and projects in the coming weeks.
Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead also launched the new Scottish Government Rural Funding Opportunities Guide at the Heritage Centre in Alness. This concise leaflet contains information on funding opportunities offered by the Government, its agencies and bodies and contact details to help you get started.
You can download the both the English and Gaelic language versions of this excellent resource from our documents library or by following the links below:
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