Enterprise

Scottish Rural Awards are delighted to announce the finalists in the fifth annual awards.

A set of 11 categories were open for nominations between July and October, with over 250 made nominations in total.

In this article from the Scottish Islands Federation you can find out more about the organisation and its work.

The Orkney islands of Westray and Papa Westray were among the winners in this year's SURF Awards for Best Practice in Community Regeneration.

The Scottish Rural Network (SRN) recently hosted a visit from a group of Estonian farmers and academics which saw them visiting projects and businesses across western and central Scotland, including Mull.

The SRN put together a programme of visits for the group based on their interests, predominantly sheep farming and slaughterhouses, as the group are in the process of setting up an abattoir on the Estonian island of Muhu.

Researchers are looking for your views about wellbeing, local issues and quality of life in Scottish communities.

Social scientists at the James Hutton Institute and Scotland's Rural College are carrying out an online survey as part of a drive to improve currently-available data and inform policy development and implementation. 

The survey covers the following topics:

Due to fewer applications coming forward than expected there is still approximately £150,000 available from Orkney LEADER for farm diversification/sectoral business support projects in Orkney.

Fourteen projects across the UK have been awarded a share of more than £300,000 in the latest round of funding from the Prince's Countryside Fund.