Scottish Rural Network update: coastal theme for November

In this blog, Scottish Rural Network (SRN) Support Unit website and social media officer Norette Ferns shares some of her work highlights from November 2019.

If you've read previous editions of this blog, you'll know that earlier in the year Lorraine and I travelled to Ullapool and Stornoway to film some inspiring projects. In October and November we spent a lot of time holed up in a meeting room editing a couple of the videos of projects funded by the Highland and Moray Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG).

While we won't be putting Steven Spielberg out of a job any time soon, we were pleased with the two wee videos we produced and even more delighted to hear that our film about the jetty renovation in Ullapool (featured in last month's blog) was selected to be shown at a major European event on community-led local development event held in Brussels this week.

The other completed film is about a new multi-craft vessel that's helping more people get involved in the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Living Seas project. You can hear how the accessible boat is helping a more diverse range of people take part, is making access to remote beaches possible as well as hearing from a group of young marine conservationists. There are also noisy seagulls -- it's a very authentic coastal video!

You can watch the video below.

Living Seas project from ScottishRuralNetwork on Vimeo.

This month I took a trip up to do some filming at the Gairloch Museum, which received LEADER funding. It's a fantastic experience and well worth a visit if you're in the area.

And keeping with the coastal theme, Lorraine recently hosted a visit by a group of fishermen and people involved in FLAG from Sweden who were keen to learn about Scottish fishing projects. With help from the North East Scotland FLAG and the Highland and Moray FLAG they visited a wide range projects from harbours to an aquarium.

This month also saw the Smart Digital Villages event held in Gartmore, Stirlingshire organised by Forth Valley and Lomond LEADER and a meeting of the Europe-wide Smart Villages Network. The events were attended by people from right across Europe including Greece, Latvia and Finland, with some Welsh participants making the journey in a community electric vehicle. They travelled 500km and it only cost them £20!

Lorraine attended The SHIREs Scottish Highlands and Islands Rural Economy Conference in Inverness. The event was an opportunity to hear from leading rural stakeholders and those involved in the rural economy to discuss opportunities in the following areas:

• modern businesses, from manufacturing to tourism, which are also driving the economy
• the people who make modern rural Scotland thrive
• the 'Blue Economy', from fishing and shipping to energy and much more
• agriculture, land & estates and forestry. 

And towards the end of the month Hannah went along to the first day of the Rural Youth Project Ideas Festvial held at Wiston Lodge in Lanarkshire. Young people gathered to hear from inspiring speakers from across Europe. Visit the Rural Youth Project's website and check out their social media channels for more from the event. 

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