Andy Rockall

 

 

Pauline Smith

Treasurer

Treasurer

Kim Wallace

Chair

Chair

Jill Keegan

Partnerships Manager

Partnerships Manager

Elizabeth Docherty

Director

Director

Case Studies

Raasay community woodlands exchange

This was an open exchange to allow our community to hear the experience of community ownership of woodlands.

woodland with a small stream surrounded by tall trees

Exploring opportunities and constraints related to community ownership of woodlands was an important learning point.

Learning Outcomes

  • The Raasay community is more informed about community management/ownership of woodlands
  • The Raasay community is more informed about the options available to them with respect to our local woodlands.
  • The Raasay community is supported to make an informed decisions on the future management of local woodlands.

Community Organisation:
Sleat Community Trust

Exchange Host Partners:
Raasay Development Trust

SCA Endorsing Network Member:
Community Woodlands Association

“The exchange has influenced the decision to purchase an electric tipper truck for our current wood fuel processing and delivery service. The information taken away from the learning exchange will be discussed as at Raasay Roundtable event where we will decide on next steps.”

A large group of people sitting outside a community building
a person in front a shelves with a range of items from glassware, vases and
A large group of people standing outside two large polytunnels.
a person in a green space with grass, trees and planters, and houses in the background, rolling a wheelbarrow full of dirt/grass.
A carved wooden bench

Case Studies

Aberdeen social enterprise cafés

Lar are embarking on a new venture in three of its developments, with plans to open café in each location.

three people, smiling, standing outside a shop called the Bread Maker

These cafés will be based on a social enterprise business model and the visit to Aberdeen was very helpful in terms of how to get such an operation off the ground.

Learning Outcomes

  • To learn from the experience of the host on how to design, develop and maintain a successful cafe operation using a social enterprise model.
  • To learn from the host on how to target their customers.
  • To learn from the host about the impact and the benefits they bring to their community by providing such a service, and seek their views on what they would change (if anything) when setting up the business.

Community Organisation:
Lar Housing Trust

Exchange Host Partners:
The Bread Maker Café

SCA Endorsing Network Member:
Social Enterprise Scotland

“We hope to replicate many of the things the Breadmaker Café has in place. As a social enterprise model, the Breadmaker Café is the gold standard. We were able to gain an understanding of every aspect of setting up and running a catering operation which, like many struggled post-Covid.”

Case Studies

Zero waste for people and planet

Looking at how to increase social enterprise impact not for profit model through zero waste for people and planet- refill not landfill!

a close up of bottles of seeds, oats, flour, rice and other unidentifiabl food items

Learning Outcomes

  • Increasing customer footfall
  • Deciding whether setting up supply arrangements with local businesses should be a key focus
  • Where to target time and investment

Community Organisation:
Kintyre Weigh

Exchange Host Partners:
Handam Refill Shop

SCA Endorsing Network Member:
Inspiralba

“Our average spend per customer is the same as Handam, but their footfall is greater. We realised that working on setting up supply arrangements with local businesses will not be a s worth our time as just getting more regular customers.”

People watching a fashion show with models lined up on a flight of stairs.
A large group of people sitting outside a community building
four people with hi vis jackets on sitting on a wall in front a sign Culduthel Community Woods
A birds eye view of a community garden, with raised beds and polytunnels for food growing,

Case Studies

Cairngorms National Park exchanges

Six exchanges were offered in the Badenoch and Strathspey area of the Cairngorms National Park.

people sitting around a table listening to a person speak. The table has a board game on it surrounded by paperwork, glasses and jugs of water

45 community activists with an interest or already involved in community tourism. Each host provided talks and/or tours showcasing projects, funding packages, operational models, staff resourcing and key lessons learned.

Learning Outcomes

  • Gain a better appreciation of what others are achieving under the chosen theme, the operational models they use and solutions they have found to different challenges
  • Learn about what others have done in response to covid and recovery, the issues they have faced and the opportunities they have seized
  • Develop and apply learnings that are relevant to circumstances

Community Organisation:
SCOTO network members

Exchange Host Partners:
Discovery Centre - Hostel and dark Skies Park, Tomintoul & Glenlivet Development Trust, Aviemore and Glenmore Trust, Strathspey Community Connxions, Strathspey Railway association, Badaguish Outdoor Centre & Speyside Trust

SCA Endorsing Network Member:
SCOTO community Tourism Network

Case Studies

Campy Growers at Bamff

Bamff philosophy is “We face a crisis unprecedented in the history of human civilisation, with climate change and biodiversity loss accelerating around the globe”.

Seven people, listening to a person, standing in long grass in a woodland area

“The biodiversity crisis in the UK is happening at one of the fastest rates in the world. At Bamff, we are doing all we can to create wildlife habitat – to restore nature’s abundance and to sequester carbon.”  Since Campy Growers started the aim is to do with producing local and ethically grown food, lock up carbon and create a community around the project.

Learning Outcomes

  • Increase knowledge about native plants and wildlife in an ecosystem context and replicating it at Campy when possible
  • Make this knowledge accessible to other volunteers, staff and visitors but setting up signs and informative documents on site (wildlife habitat, native plants, impact of invasive plants …)
  • Educate visitors by organising workshops (with the support of a naturalist) on site to identify what our soil and site are made off and how to improve them

Community Organisation:
Campy Growers

Exchange Host Partners:
Bamff Wild Beavers group

SCA Endorsing Network Member:
GetGrowing Scotland

“Our next task is to get a baseline of what’s already there. It could be a case of recording plants, insects in a log with volunteers. We also plan to keep a photo library. Delivering workshops will be key to spreading the word about biodiversity and how you can support it, through bog gardens, pond and wild flower meadows.”