Author: Robin McKelvie, The National

“Everything good that has happened on Eigg since the community buyout has happened because of it,” says Stuart Paul McCarthy of Eigg Brewery, as he proudly shares Scotland’s first co-operative brewery.

“Everything good” includes becoming the world’s first green electricity self-sufficient island, and this year’s new An Laimhrig community hub. Welcome to the UK’s greenest isle, where they’re now welcoming visitors as “temporary residents”, rather than tourists.

Eigg’s renaissance over the last quarter of a century since the buyout belies a past blighted by tragedy and hardship. This wildscape of vaulting pitchstone lava mountain, sweeping Atlantic beach and savage coast is haunted by the baleful days of internecine clan warfare – in the Massacre Cave alone, 400 souls perished – and the disastrous 19th century Highland Clearances, when whole communities like Grulin were wiped off the map.

Had it not been for the community buyout in 1997, Eigg may just be bumbling along like many of the Hebrides, ruled by a succession of – at best – questionable landlords. Instead, under the stewardship of the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust – and their subsidiaries Eigg Trading, Eigg Electric and Eigg Construction – the population is on the rise (solidly above 100), as people from all over the UK and further afield are drawn to Eigg’s community-driven way of life.

• This inclusive spirit extends to visitors. “We don’t see visitors to our island as just tourists,” says Lucy Conway, as we tuck into local mussels in the Galmisdale Bay cafe in the new community hub of An Laimhrig. “It’s more about being a ‘temporary local’, helping put money directly into the community, with respect both ways.” Conway is a director of the new SCOTO (scoto.co.uk) initiative that aims to not just forge links between Scotland’s communities but also “show how community-owned and managed tourism facilities can work alongside family businesses, sole traders and larger businesses.”

An Laimhrig is a shining example. Working with visionary architects and island veterans WT Architecture – whose mantra is “Architecture. Place. People” – they’ve created a clean, green hub. Think light and space, sparkling ocean reflecting through floor-to-ceiling windows; local wood abounds. The new Taigh Nighe wash house sports 100 per cent green electricity showers (£2 contactless), as well as information on water use on the walls. The only shop is community-owned, the Galmisdale Bay cafe is leased from the community, and new community spaces will soon be completed and open to all.

It’s more about being a ‘temporary local’, helping put money directly into the community, with respect both ways

Lucy Conway

I’m staying, overlooking An Laimhrig, in the Eigg Camping Pods, where I pay straight into the community. I’ve got that 100 per cent green electricity – Eigg is not connected to the national grid – and my heating only comes on when it’s dreich. I burn local wood over the campfire and cook wild venison from another community-owned oasis, Knoydart across the water – and all washed down with an Eigg beer, of course.

The next day I meet Owain Wyn-Jones of Eigg Adventures, which is moving into new premises in An Laimhrig. He is ensuring the local wind, hydro and solar power is put to good use: “This year we’ve got the first 100 per cent green electricity e-bikes on any island in the world. You can explore our world and leave just your bike trails.”

And what a world it is: I ease off across the island, which packs a lot into a mere 9km by 5km, stopping at a vaulting standing stone and what Google reckons is a shop, but turns out to be a charmingly old-school unmanned museum. Patches of forest weave across either flank as the papier-mache peaks of the neighbouring island of Rum provide an implausibly cinematic backdrop. It’s postcard-pretty Scotland and I’m alone, bar a sea eagle soaring high above.

Descending into Cleadale, a sprinkling of houses emerges to savour the view of Rum and the wide sands of Laig Bay. Charlie – the local first-name-terms taxi driver and tour guide – lives in one cottage. He furnishes me with a dram, while his felt-artist wife, Libby Galli, is on hand with homebaked cakes. “We’re a friendly bunch on Eigg and creative too,” he says.

Charlie’s not wrong. The island is sprinkled with creatives, including Johnny Lynch, aka The Pictish Trail. He moved to Eigg and set up Lost Map Records and now also stages the annual Howlin’ Fling music festival here. Lynch tells me, “we love having people over. It brings us out of ourselves. We like showing the place off, and celebrating our lives here.”

It’s clear that three days isn’t enough time on Eigg. I do make it to the famous Singing Sands (spoiler – they more squeak than sing) and vault up the 393m peak of An Sgurr, with the sort of views of the Hebrides that will sing in your heart long after you sail away. I also ramble to the old Clearances settlement of Grulin, but don’t “wild” swim (it’s just “swim” on Eigg), nor heft out to remote Beinn Tighe, or nip over to any of the other trio of Small Isles (Rum, Muck and Canna).

Sponsored Aow many people watched the premiere of HBO’s new series House of the Dragon? 

My last stop is back at the Eigg Brewery, which stakes a claim to being Scotland’s greenest brewery. “We, of course, use Eigg water (we don’t harden or soften it) and green electricity, but beyond that we’ve worked out energy-saving processes and when we do burn wood it’s using local forestry,” stresses Stuart Paul McCarthy.

With creative talents like McCarthy on an island being steered by the community, Eigg’s future looks bright. “When people come as temporary locals, we’d like to think they leave wondering about different ways of running their own lives, their own communities,” he says, as we raise a toast to an isle whose future is not just bright – it’s beamingly green too.

Getting there

Catch the Caledonian Sleeper to Fort William from London Euston and various other stations heading north; take a Scotrail train from Fort William to Arisaig; and hop on the Arisaig Marine ferry from Arisaig to Eigg.

Staying there

The Eigg Camping Pods cost from £45 a night, room only.

Author: SMSA

New animation promotes that ‘men do talk’ in Men’s Sheds

Men don’t talk – that is the perception anyway. Some men struggle to open up about their feelings, experiences, struggles and health matters but the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association (SMSA) is quashing this theory by launching the first in a series of animations to promote that men do open up and talk in Scottish Men’s Sheds.

SMSA CEO Jason Schroeder said: “We are producing these animations to educate and inform on the range of benefits that Men’s Sheds can bring to men’s health and wellbeing. The first animation promotes men coming together in a safe space and opening up to talk ‘shoulder to shoulder’ including sharing health matters that may be concerning them.” 

The short animation, based on a true story from a Scottish Shed member, features ‘Guitar Mike’ chatting with his Shedder pal over a cuppa when he mentions that he saw him limping. Mike tells him about a painful lump he had found above his knee and Charlie advises him not to wait around and get to the doctors sharpish. Mike did just that and it was only a matter of days before Mike was having a cancerous growth removed. 

The real ‘Guitar Mike’, Mike Mowat from Glenrothes Men’s Shed, said: “Many men do not open up about their feelings and end up keeping everything to themselves. Men’s Sheds offer a friendly, safe and welcoming environment to make friends and socialise.  I felt comfortable to share my health problems and talk to Charlie and I am now so glad that I did. I am delighted that my story is being shared – if my experience encourages just one person to seek help before it’s too late then it will not be in vain.”

Scottish actor Billy Mack, who does the voiceover for Charlie in the film, said: “I never really knew much about Men’s Sheds until doing a rehearsed reading of a play by Clare Prenton entitled ‘Men Don’t Talk’. We, as a cast, were taken to a local Shed and introduced to the members and talked with them. As soon as I got home, I looked for my local branch but unfortunately there isn’t one in Stirling as yet. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we have one – they are a great way of building friendships and learning different skills but, above all, a place for people to talk about life and issues that may affect them. All villages, towns and cities should have one!”

The SMSA was formed in 2014 to provide support, information, advice and resources to its Shed Members and 3,000+ Individual Members. Today, there are over 200 open and developing Men’s Sheds groups across Scotland reaching 10,000+ men (aged 18 or over) through the Movement.

Head to the Shed today – click here to find your local Shed today. 

Check out SMSA’s You Tube channel for more videos from the Men’s Sheds Movement in Scotland.

Author: Martin Williams. The Herald

THE SCOTTISH Government is facing legal action after an 11-year breach of international law through a failure to have a public right of challenge over decisions that would damage the nation’s precious environment, landscape and wildlife.

A coalition of campaign groups from Planning Democracy, Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, Friends of the Earth Scotland and RSPB Scotland, have submitted a formal complaint about the Scottish Government to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC), a United Nations body tasked with upholding environmental rights saying there is a breach of international law.

They say that the Scottish Government is in breach of the Aarhus Convention – an international agreement that sets out an obligation to ensure public consultation on decisions by the government or public sector that will impact on the environment. The Compliance Committee will consider whether the Scottish Government is in breach of international law. It has the power to issue cautions if there is non-compliance.

Planning Democracy say that its recent survey of 228 people including 175 community councillors across Scotland confirmed people feel they have very little influence over planning decisions. Some 65% said there were a lack of opportunities to participate in planning decisions.

Over half (56% )felt generally negative about their ability to influence decisions. A third reported feeling they had absolutely no influence over them.

Some 79% said that being heard or listened to by planners – those who make vital decisions over neighbourhood developments – was a significant or very significant challenge.

The UN body which adopted the convention in 1998 was told last year that the Scottish Government is still failing to meet its legal responsibility which requires it “to remove or reduce financial barriers to access to justice”.

They say currently developers enjoy statutory appeal rights if planning permission for a development is refused.

But members of the public do not enjoy equivalent rights to appeal if a development is approved, even if it negatively impacts their health and environment, or if the decision-making process was flawed.

The only way to challenge decisions, developments or policies is by raising judicial review proceedings in the Court of Session which the Convention’s governing bodies have already ruled is “prohibitively expensive”.

Cases involving major developments that could affect the environment generally do not qualify for legal aid.

In October the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee called for reform “as a matter of urgency” with “a plan of action, including a time schedule” to be submitted to it by 2022.

But the groups say there has been no concrete reforms.

It wants action to ensure that the cost of court procedures to deal with environmental problems is “fair and equitable and not prohibitively expensive”.

The groups in their complaint say the rights of challenge have been “ignored” by the Scottish Government.

They point to a 2021 ruling by the ACCC in Northern Ireland concluding that a lack of equal rights was in breach of the convention, and argue that similar recommendations must now be applied to Scotland.

They say the crux of that decision states: “…it is clear that for a planning decision in Northern Ireland subject to article 6 of the Convention, the developer is entitled to a full merits review of that decision by a specialist planning body, whereas other members of the public seeking to exercise their rights under article 9(2) are not. This situation is clearly not fair within the meaning of article 9(4) of the Convention.”

Clare Symonds, chairman of Planning Democracy, said: “Giving communities rights of appeal is not about NIMBYism – it is about justice and fairness. It should be a given that decisions that fundamentally affect our future and the environment can be contested by those who will be most affected.

“It is clear that the Aarhus Compliance Committee agrees with our perspective that for developers to have right to challenge a decision at no cost, when communities have no such privilege, is unfair and a breach of the Scottish Government’s commitments on environmental decision-making.

The groups say that even the judicial reveiw processes are flawed, as they do not allow for a full examination of the merits of a planning decision. This means that only the legal validity and procedural regularity of decisions are considered by the Court rather than the actual substance of the concerns about the planning proposal, creating “additional setbacks” for affected communities.

They are concerns that even if a local authority approves a development that undermines the local development masterplan for their area, a plan which takes years to prepare and involves extensive consultation and consideration, communities must live with the consequences.

Last year a community council claimed victory in stopping plans for Green Belt housing in Glasgow’s last remaining village which were given the go-ahead in breach of the city council’s own rules.

Glasgow City Council had said they were not contesting a court action by Carmunnock residents over the decision – which involved them setting up a fighting fund for a potential judicial review.

The council said it had initially delivered court papers to the Court of Session over what it called “an unexpected and unplanned giveaway of Green Belt” but it never proceeded to judicial review after there was no challenge and environmental campaigners claimed it was too costly.

The row surrounded plans by East Kilbride-based Zoom Developments to build four new five-bedroom homes on green belt land in Carmunnock, despite proposals for the site being previously rejected by the council.

The homes were to be built on “iconic” green space called locally as The Horse Field in Busby Road, which was used for equestrian grazing.

In 2020, the council said that it was not considered to be in accordance with their development plan for the area and would result in the loss of Green Belt “with a significant adverse impact on the landscape character of Carmunnock village”.

The council said at the time: “It should not be up to citizens to fund these repeated battles from our own pockets – often with pensioners and families on low income contributing to the legal costs.”

Benjamin Brown, policy and advocacy officer at ERCS, said: “As it stands, Scotland’s planning system is rigged in favour of developers. Through ignoring calls to introduce equal rights of appeal in planning decisions, the Scottish Government has missed a vital opportunity to empower communities and protect our environment. It must now act to reform the planning process, so that communities impacted by poorly considered planning decisions can have their voices heard. As we work towards including the right to a healthy environment in the new Human Rights Bill, equal rights in planning cannot be forgotten.”

Last year, official analysis by Scotland’s nature agency shows that Scotland has also failed to meet 11 of 20 agreed UN targets to protect the environment while one in five animals and plants deemed important to the nation by ministers are under threat.

The statutory Scottish Biodiversity List revealed threats to many of the 2105 land animal, plant and marine species deemed of principal importance by the Scottish Government.

A NatureScot analysis found that 441 (21%) were classed as threatened, and 222 (11%) as near threatened.

Conservation charity John Muir Trust has previously spoken out of its concerns about the rights to environmental justice after its attempt to challenge a wind farm development at Stronelairg five years ago led to it facing a near £700,000 bill, although this was eventually negotiated down to £275,000.

The Trust settled out of court with the Perth-based energy company SSE and the Scottish government after its attempt to block a wind farm through a judicial review near Loch Ness failed.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We have contributed to a UK Action Plan to address the gaps in compliance which have been identified by the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee recommendations which, specifically for Scotland, relate to the costs of access to justice on environmental matters.

“We are committed to introducing a new Human Right to a Healthy Environment as part of a Human Rights Bill, which will be a step change in the recognition of environmental rights in Scotland.”

Author: Dr Jessica K Bone & Dr Daisy Fancourt, UCL

Arts, Culture & the Brain – UCL

Executive summary – Full report 

In this report, we provide an overview of the current evidence on the associations between arts and cultural engagement and the brain, and we also add to this evidence, conducting our own new analyses of cohort data. 

We performed a comprehensive review of the brain-based mechanisms of action that could link arts engagement to health. We grouped these mechanisms within four domains: subjective wellbeing, psychological capabilities, neurophysiology, and motivational processes. To date, the strongest evidence is for the associations between arts engagement and subjective wellbeing. Engaging in receptive and participatory arts activities can lead to subsequent improvements in wellbeing, even after accounting for previous levels of wellbeing and a wide range of confounders. There is also extensive evidence that arts engagement is associated with changes in psychological capabilities and motivational processes in children, adolescents, adults, and older adults, ranging from the development of behaviour to cognitive decline. In contrast, evidence for the association between arts engagement and neurophysiology is the weakest of the domains we reviewed. Literature in this domain has largely focused on the effects of music and dance, with a reliance on inadequate experimental studies, and has not yet explored other forms of arts engagement in detail. The potential effects of arts engagement on neurophysiology in the general population thus remain unclear. 

We have also outlined the findings of new analyses, undertaken to address the limitations of research to date. Across nine studies, we used data from cohort studies with large representative samples and long-term followups. We tested a range of brain-based mechanisms of action that could link arts engagement to mental and physical health outcomes. We demonstrated that the associations between various forms of arts engagement and subjective wellbeing are present across diverse subgroups of the population, such as people of different ages, with specific medical conditions, and living in different areas. However, after using more sophisticated methods to account for confounding, we found that participation in community arts groups may only be associated with the positive, and not negative, elements of subjective wellbeing. We also demonstrated that not all artistic and creative activities are directly associated with subjective wellbeing, indicating that a variety of mechanisms link different forms of arts engagement to health. In terms of psychological capabilities, we addressed the issue that factors related to later life cognition are also likely to influence arts engagement, which may have led to an overestimation of the impacts of arts engagement on cognition in previous studies. We found no evidence for associations between arts engagement and cognition in older adults, demonstrating the importance of fully accounting for demographic and socioeconomic confounders when exploring arts engagement and the brain. Finally, addressing motivational processes, we demonstrated that engagement in extracurricular participatory and receptive arts activities during adolescence is associated with reductions in a range of behaviours that are often perceived as negative, including externalising behaviours, reportedly antisocial or criminalised behaviours, and substance use. 

Overall, there is a large body of evidence on the associations between arts engagement and the brain, but more high-quality research is still needed. We have identified various priorities for future research, including the use of larger and more diverse samples, more systematic reviews, research that uses a complex systems approach, and further consideration of various contextual factors. Despite the limitations of the literature, a familiarity with this evidence base is important for arts organisations and policymakers, and we hope that it can be used to increase and diversify arts engagement in the general population

Author: SCA

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Author: Resilience Today

Free stores are exactly what they sound like: Physical places where people can donate items they no longer want and others can shop among these items and take what they want or need without paying cash for them.

Items donated include everything from household items and small appliances to furniture, food, toys, and cleaning supplies, depending on a specific store’s physical capacity and purpose.

Differing models for differing needs

Operating models vary as widely as the items they carry and the clientele they serve. Free Store 15104, for example, is open to anyone without any restrictions or obligations.

In Porirua, New Zealand, a local free store operates in a similar, yet slightly differing, capacity. Originally an online distribution space, Free For All recently opened their brick-and-mortar shop, charging a small entry fee for prospective shoppers, who are able to pick up as many items as they want or need. Pennsylvania’s Free Store Wilkinsburg has both an item and time limitation for shoppers.

The FreeStore in Nashville, Tennessee, has a membership program that allows people to choose a set number of color-coded items when they shop.

Free stores as community infrastructure

Expanding on the original free store model, the Free Store Project, which was founded in New York City during the pandemic, is a series of 24-hour pop-up shops similar to Little Free Libraries or Little Free Pantries.

At the intersection of shuttered storefronts and a mass exodus of people from the city (and, therefore, an excess of discarded items), founder Myles Smutney saw an opportunity to support people who were out of work and waiting on COVID-19 income relief payments.

During [the beginning] stage of the pandemic, lots of people were trapped inside. They had made their sourdough starters and done their spring cleaning, so I had a lot of friends who had bags of things to donate. — Myles Smutney, Free Store Project founder

At one time, there were 15 pop-up shops in the Free Store Project community. Today, there are three shops, and Smutney is currently working on building a more sustainable model with partners, such as a school located near where one of the remaining free stores stands. “With strategic partners, we can grow and expand and recreate the magic of what we’ve already done,” she said.

Connecting for greater impact

Indeed, strategic partnerships are a vital part of many of these operating models. At Free Store 15104, for example, local partners like Costco and Trader Joe’s, donate fresh food items when the store is open.

An ongoing partnership with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) keeps the store stocked with high-demand infant products.

Every time AEW comes to town, they collect formula and diapers for us. When the rest of the country was struggling with formula, we never ran out of it. — Gisele Fetterman

Free stores are also beneficiaries of bulk donations of perfectly functional items that fail to meet brands’ quality-control standards, such as clothing items with misspelled words on interior tags and toys with slightly damaged exterior packaging. In the United States, where more than 292 million tons of waste is created each year (approximately 4.9 pounds per person per day) free stores offer a solution for extending the life of good-quality, useable items — some of which are brand new.

Meeting the needs of those in transition 

While free stores offer a dignified way for cash-strapped folks to shop for common household items, they’re also an important resource for those going through transition periods in their lives. People reentering society after leaving prison or those who abruptly leave abusive relationships often lack the financial means to furnish their lives from scratch.

The FreeStore in Des Moines, Iowa, for example, serves more than 250 families a year only through referrals from social service agencies, so its clients are primarily victims of domestic abuse, veterans, women returning from prison, and youth aging out of foster care.

The shopping experience at the FreeStore’s warehouse is safe and comfortable and includes a suggested list of items to set up a home and time with a volunteer to think through new living situations.

“We talk about the size of their apartment or home and the age and sex of the children to find items that will fit, and appropriate colors and bedding,” said Diane Munns, chair of FreeStore’s Board of Directors. “Clients are extremely appreciative of the goods, the opportunity to pick out things they like, and the help in delivering to their new home.

[Starting over] can be overwhelming for anyone, and we try very hard to make it enjoyable and stress-free. — Diane Munns, chair of FreeStore’s Board of Directors

Some universities (like the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana) also operate free stores that serve the transitory needs of incoming and graduating students while also helping them minimize their environmental footprint.

Lasting, communal impact

People shopping at free stores do so for different reasons, but the ethos of these stores creates unique conditions for connection. As Fetterman said, free stores are “spaces that bring people together.” And though at first glance, the model may seem ripe for exploitation, it turns out the very opposite seems to be true.

“Everyone asks if they’ve been vandalized, and the answer is no,” Smutney said. “The people who pass by are our volunteers. They live on the block. They’re the same people you see at the grocery store. You know that it’s cared for by the community, and you know it’s kind of cool, so no one is messing them up.”

The localized nature of the operation, gives people a sense of purpose and ownership, Smutney explained.

“It’s a really simple way to care,” she said. “It’s a small way to be an active part of your community.”

Author: Holly Booth

Subject to overfishing, marine megafauna – such as sharks, rays, and turtles – are among the world’s most threatened species groups. Somewhat paradoxically, these species also have widespread appeal.

Tourist activities, such as scuba diving place considerable economic value on these species. One study values global manta ray tourism at US$140 million (£116 million) each year.

Marine tourism is often promoted as a more conservation-compatible substitute to unsustainable fishing. However, despite its value, marine tourism rarely contributes directly towards conservation. The economic value of these species is typically extracted by the tourism industry and rarely filters directly into conservation actions.

Tourist activities, such as scuba diving place considerable economic value on endangered species. 

Coastal communities that depend on marine megafauna for food and income are, in contrast, rarely well placed to benefit from marine tourism.

And subject to restrictive regulations, the costs of marine conservation also often fall on these communities. One study estimated, for example, that catch limits on endangered shark species could cost low-income Indonesian fishers up to 17.6% of their annual revenue.

A ‘beneficiary pays’ approach

A potential solution to this inequity is a “beneficiary pays” conservation approach.

Here, a fee is levied on tourists or tourist-focused businesses. The proceeds are then invested into community-based conservation projects, which provide coastal communities with the resources to facilitate conservation, while supporting their livelihoods.

In a recent study, my colleagues and I investigated the feasibility of this approach.

Using an online survey of people with a general interest in travel, we established the willingness of international marine tourists to pay towards community-based shark conservation. Participants were presented with a scenario in which they were at a tropical beach destination. They were also informed of a nearby community highly dependent on catching endangered sharks.

Given this scenario, participants were asked the maximum amount they would pay for a marine conservation fee. The fee, added to the price of marine activities, would directly compensate local fishers for reducing their catch of endangered shark species.

By combining the average willingness-to-pay per person with market data from two popular Indonesian holiday destinations – Lombok and Pulau Weh, both home to several endangered shark species – we estimated how much conservation revenue could be raised annually.

Wide support for tourism levies

Our results show wide support for tourism levies.

Survey respondents were willing to pay a daily average of US$10–15 (£8.25–12.37) per person towards community-based marine conservation projects.

This corresponds to US$2.3–6.8 million (£1.9–5.6 million) per year in Lombok and US$300,000–900,000 (£247,000–742,000) per year in Pulau Weh in potential revenue for coastal communities. The lower estimate is based on a levy of US$10 per day and one day of marine activities per tourist, and the upper based on US$15 per day and two days of marine activities per tourist.

These revenues exceed the estimated costs of community-based shark conservation in nearby fisheries. Pilot projects are already ongoing in these communities, whereby fishers are compensated for releasing critically endangered species, with some early success.

Direct investment

Marine tourism is an underutilised source of revenue for marine conservation. However, financing mechanisms must be appropriately designed.

Respondents in our study expressed strong preferences for funding environmental NGOs or direct payments to local communities. There was less support for paying a levy to national or local governments. This implies that for marine tourism levies to be successful, the revenues must be openly distributed to locally-run projects.

Our research also found that travellers’ willingness to pay depended on their holiday budget. Therefore, conservation revenue may be higher in luxury destinations and far lower for budget destinations. This highlights the need for mechanisms to be adapted to local contexts and markets.

We would also suggest, based on our findings, that offering information about marine conservation at the “point of sale” may not be needed. We found that existing pro-environmental behaviours led to a greater willingness to pay. Providing information on shark conservation issues directly prior to the survey had little effect on the willingness of participants to pay.

Over 80% of respondents also agreed that they would be more likely to purchase goods and services from environmentally conscious tourism companies. This further raises the possibility that companies who incorporate conservation levies into their prices may even be deemed more attractive by customers.

Reef areas attract about 70 million tourists annually. If each tourist is willing to pay just US$10 (£8.25) per trip, marine tourism levies could generate at least US$700 million (£580 million) for marine conservation annually, and in doing so ensure that vulnerable coastal communities do not bear the full costs.

Marine tourism levies can become a key financing mechanism for delivering global biodiversity goals and addressing mismatches between the costs and benefits of marine conservation. But only if they are correctly designed. There is a clear opportunity for tourism operators, governments, NGOs, and coastal communities to develop partnerships to ensure the potential of marine tourism levies can be realised.

Author: Scottish Housing News

The Highlands and Islands Housing Associations Affordable Warmth Group has teamed up with the Good Law Project and Fuel Poverty Action to raise concerns the energy regulator is unlawfully failing to take measures to protect the near 35 million people who are under threat of fuel poverty in the coming months.

Ofgem sets the level at which the cost of energy is capped. When it does this, it has a duty to protect consumers, particularly those who are vulnerable.

In analysis prepared by the Good Law Project, that means it has to conduct a proper impact assessment before implementing changes to the price cap. Having done so, it has the power to ease the pressure of mounting bills on vulnerable consumers who are likely to be most affected by imposing a separate, lower cap for them, sometimes called a ‘social tariff’.

But, on 26 August, Ofgem is set to announce yet another energy price cap hike, which will come into effect on 1 October. This will raise the average household bill to a predicted £3,582, marking a 180% increase from this time last year. In doing so, the organisations bringing the case said Ofgem has “barely considered the impact its decision will have, let alone any steps it could take to mitigate it”.

In July, the Good Law Project wrote to Ofgem, expressing its concerns about its decision-making and asked for proof of its impact assessments. The Project said the three-line reply it received “did nothing to ease our concerns”.

Now, along with Fuel Poverty Action and Di Alexander, the chair of the Highlands & Islands Housing Associations Affordable Warmth Group, it has written to Ofgem demanding it does more to protect vulnerable people and off-grid communities.

The organisations are now calling on Ofgem to commit to carrying out proper impact assessments, and to consider appropriate mitigation measures, before raising the energy price cap any further.

The pre-action warns: “It is unlawful for a public authority to act in a way that is incompatible with the ECHR.

“Given the potential impact that Ofgem’s decision will have on the human rights of vulnerable households across the UK, Article 8 of ECHR is engaged. Should Ofgem fail to take reasonable steps to safeguard the rights of individuals, it could be at risk of violating Articles 8 and 14 of the ECHR on the basis that such a significant increase to the energy price cap is likely to render some individuals destitute, rendering them homeless and/or forcing them to have to choose between heating their accommodation and feeding their family or other essential household expenditure.”

The groups say there should be a discounted social tariff for vulnerable groups to ease the price hikes for those in need and a failure to give a reasoned consideration over that prior to raising the energy bills cap next week “would likely be unlawful”.

Di Alexander, chair of the Highlands & Islands Housing Associations Affordable Warmth Group, said: “This is an urgent wake-up call for Ofgem who are clearly failing in their self-proclaimed ‘duty to ensure fair treatment for all consumers, especially the vulnerable’. Why is Ofgem discriminating so unfairly between off-gas and dual-fuel households?

“Gas costs 7p a unit and electricity 28p a unit, but 15% of all UK consumers can’t get mains gas and can’t escape having to pay so much more than even their hard-pressed dual-fuel counterparts for exactly the same level of energy consumption. It’s manifestly unfair and it’s the vulnerable who bear the brunt. That’s why they at least need the protection of a manageable ‘social tariff’, set at the same price per unit for both gas and electricity.”

A spokesperson for Fuel Poverty Action added: “Ofgem are failing in their duty to protect those most vulnerable in our societies from the horrors of living in fuel poverty. The price cap is one aspect of a failing energy system that is no longer fit for purpose and its meteoric rise is pushing millions into fuel poverty. Ofgem must stop acting in the interest of the energy suppliers and the fossil fuel industry, and begin to understand the life-threatening conditions they are imposing on people this winter.”

Author: Take One Action

The 15th edition of the UK’s leading global change film festival will take on a different format this year, with four weekends of in-person screenings, workshops and conversations taking place in Edinburgh (16-18 Sep); Glasgow (23-25 Sep); Aberdeen (21-23 Oct); and Inverness (28-30 Oct) – with an additional selection of online events and digital opportunities for engagement.

Examining ‘land’ as material, as power, and as terrain for violence and resistance, this year’s Take One Action programme looks to the earth beneath our feet – while dreaming of new ways to inhabit it. Charting connections between Palestinian foraging practices and Filipino land defence, migrant justice in the UK and radical mycology, the line-up invites audiences – across Scotland and online – to unearth networks of solidarity across all kinds of borders – and envisioning our embeddedness within them 

Key highlights:

• Scottish premiere of Foragers followed by a spoken word performance by Scottish-Palestinian writer and performer Amira Al-Shanti
•   Scottish premieres of Delikado and The Mushroom Speaks
• Coming Down to Earth – a new specially-curated audio documentary by Edinburgh-based artist Tanatsei Gambura
• A free radical mycology workshop by urban mushroom farmers Rhyze Mushrooms in response to The Mushroom Speaks (Scottish Premiere)
• An online programme of shorts exploring women’s relationships to (home)land, featuring two films from Scotland alongside films from Barbados, Tanzania, Colombia.
• An online Director’s Masterclass with Palestinian artist / filmmaker Jumana Manna – presented in collaboration with Scottish Documentary Institute
• Screenings of Foragers in the Screen Machine on Tiree and Lochgilphead, as well as in the four festival cities.

 Each in-person screening is presented alongside a live or pre-recorded conversation. Bonus online content includes campaigning resources and specially-commissioned reflections on films in the programme from young / aspiring writers.

Access:

We are pleased to keep building on our accessibility provision year on year. Our commitments include:

• All films and pre-recorded Q&As have descriptive subtitles
• Live BSL interpretation at our opening and closing night events in Edinburgh and Glasgow
• Tickets available on a pay-what-you-can basis across all venues
• Travel, childcare and data fund
• Content notes are available for each film.
• Detailed access notes are available on each individual film page on the TOA website.

Partnerships:

Developed with the invaluable support of long-term TOA partners (Oxfam, Christian Aid and Global Justice Now) as well as media partner The Skinny. Excited to be working with SDI (masterclass with Jumana Manna) and Lighthouse Books (‘Watch, Read, Think, Act’ reading list series)

Practical info:

• All films are available on a pay-what-you-can basis, whether in person or online, across all venues (£0-10)
• All films screenings with captions
• Edinburgh venues: Filmhouse and Grassmarket Community Project
• Glasgow venues: GFT and CCA
• Aberdeen: Belmont Filmhouse
• Inverness: Eden Court

Author: Scottish Government

You can learn more about the campaign for Climate Week via netzeronation.scot.

How You Can Get Involved

The details below and in the campaign toolkit attached provide ideas as to how your organisation can get involved during Climate Week.

Key ideas include hosting your own Climate Week events with support from our event asset pack, engaging staff, members and stakeholders with one of our Climate Change quizzes, or simply shouting about the importance of tackling climate change via social media using hashtag #ScotClimateWeek.

Further details on how you could get involved are listed below:

• Share Climate Week’s key messages on your social media channels, across newsletters and on your webpages
• Showcase and share the actions your organisation is taking around climate change
• Select and share social media assets across your channels, and remember to use hashtag #ScotClimateWeek
• Follow the Let’s Do Net Zero Twitter and Facebook pages and share/ retweet content to your channels from there
• Run Climate Week events within your organisations using the Climate Conversation Pack . There are a number of assets available to support and promote your events, including evites, posters, social media and online assets.
• Share one or more of the online quizzes with your contacts to help inform them of the impacts of climate change.

All campaign resources can be viewed and downloaded via the Campaign Resource Centre here.