Arts, culture and heritage

Reviews of Scottish Government Community Led Local Development (CLLD) funding for financial year 2021-22 have been published.

Crofters across Scotland will be able to apply for larger sums of money to upgrade their housing under the Croft House Grant.

To help ensure more crofters and their families can benefit, the government is increasing the grant rate for home improvements from 40% to 60% of the total project cost – with a maximum grant of £38,000.

With this week being nature Nature Restoration Skills Week, NatureScot and partners have put together a programme of free training events focussed on skills for nature restoration. 

The Pollinator Strategy 2022 Progress Report highlights the work of organisations coming together across the country to create wildflower meadows, connect habitats, and gather evidence on how climate change is affecting pollinators. 

This month the Scottish Government published its National Strategy for Economic Transformation. This sets out the priorities for Scotland’s economy as well as the actions needed to maximise the opportunities of the next decade to achieve our vision of a wellbeing economy.

The award-winning Be Your Best Self personal development programme for Women in Agriculture is an integral part of the Scottish Government’s vision to make Scottish agriculture a fairer, more inclusive industry, where farm succession is not determined by gender, training is accessible to everyone, and more women take on senior roles in agricultural organisations.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon officially opened a new training college in Glasgow to mark the beginning of Scottish Apprenticeship Week this week.

City Building’s new state-of-the-art training college in Springburn will house up to 250 apprentices across a range of disciplines, providing hands-on training opportunities in plumbing, furniture making, decorating and joinery.

Paths For All have recently launched the Ian Findlay Path Fund which supports the improvement of local paths within and between communities, making it easier for people to choose active travel and public transport for everyday journeys.

The current Programme for Government contains a commitment to establish at least one new National Park in Scotland by Spring 2026.