1 10 428 https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/30/666/CG_BM_8_Balmaclellan_towards_Kirk_Hill.jpg 7c1b423db65c057c8c20356f2d89afec Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Balmaclellan Images Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CG_BM_I Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Balmaclellan Village Hall Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Balmaclellan towards Kirk Hill Description An account of the resource Black and white photo of Balmaclellan looking towards Kirk Hill Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CG_BM_I_8 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cultural Glenkens Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource National Lottery Heritage Fund Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Balmaclellan Village Hall Subject The topic of the resource Landscape of Balmaclellan heritage https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/39/664/CG_BM_D_3.jpg 4f516d1ec75699ea9cf7a5ccaad112fa https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/39/664/CG_BM_2_Burns_Supper_1978.jpg 46d5474125bf931e91b634d0db318e69 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Balmaclellan Documents Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CG_BM_D Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Burns Supper 1978 Description An account of the resource Front cover & inside cover for Burns Supper which took place on Friday 3rd February 1978. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CG_BM_D_1 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cultural Glenkens Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource National Lottery Heritage Fund Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978 Subject The topic of the resource Burns Supper Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Balmaclellan Village Hall heritage https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/34/711/CG_NG36_Gala_Day_1989_New_Galloway.jpg 59f74b2bf3438b3ccd5bec120b5596e7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource New Galloway Documents Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CG_NG_D Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Gala Day, New Galloway Description An account of the resource Account from 1989 of the first New Galloway Gala Day held on 28 July 1949. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CG_NG_D_NG36 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cultural Glenkens Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource National Lottery Heritage Fund Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Avril Bridgeman Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989 https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/33/722/NG43a_Photo_John_Patterson_J_Mitchell_New_Galloway.jpg ce13ba039ab04d5d9c02304d5ed4dbb1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource New Galloway Images Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CG_NG_I Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photo Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource John Patterson and J Mitchell, New Galloway Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of butcher's cart. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CH_NG_I_NG43a Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cultural Glenkens Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource National Lottery Heritage Fund Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1951 https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/3/493/GGLP-5-Year-Biosecurity-Plan-for-the-Kirkcudbrightshire-Dee-Catchment-2020-2024.pdf e8f3395e38dd2b7c58a03cffe1f48953 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 5 Year Biosecurity Plan for the Kirkcudbrightshire Dee Catchment 2020-2024 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Reports Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document PUBLIC A Scottish Registered Charity No. SC 020751 Commissioned Report No. – 080120VSAD 5 Year Biosecurity Plan for the Kirkcudbrightshire Dee Catchment 2020-2024 Supported by Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership For further information on this report please contact: Name of GFT Project Manager – V Semple Galloway Fisheries Trust Fisheries House Station Industrial Estate Newton Stewart DG8 6ND Telephone: 01671 403011 E-mail: victoria@gallowayfisheriestrust.org This report should be quoted as: Galloway Fisheries Trust. January 2020. 5 Year Biosecurity Plan for the Kirkcudbrightshire Dee Catchment 2020-2024. Galloway Fisheries Trust Report No. – 080120VSAD This report, or any part of it, should not be reproduced without the permission of Galloway Fisheries Trust. This permission will not be withheld unreasonably. © Galloway Fisheries Trust Year – 2019 PUBLIC PUBLIC Table of Contents Page 5 YEAR BIOSECURITY PLAN FOR THE KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE DEE CATCHMENT 2020-2024 1 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 OBJECTIVES 2 3 THE CONTEXT 3.1 Invasive non-native species: The nature of the problem 3.2 Policy and legislation 3 3 4 4 CATCHMENT OVERVIEW 4.1 Geography and land use 4.2 Galloway Hydro Scheme 4.3 Recreation 6 6 6 7 5 CURRENT INVASIVE NON-NATIVE SPECIES ISSUES 8 6 CURRENT AND PAST INNS MANAGEMENT 6.1 Invasive plant species 6.2 American mink 6.3 North American signal crayfish 12 12 12 12 7 RISKS WITHIN THE CATCHMENT 7.1 Potential biosecurity issues 7.2 Pathways of introduction 7.2.1 Intentional introduction 7.2.2 Gardens and garden centres 7.2.3 Tourism/leisure 7.2.4 Angling 7.2.5 Kirkcudbright Marina 13 13 16 16 16 16 16 17 8 STAKEHOLDERS 18 9 STAKEHOLDER DISCUSSIONS 9.1 SNH 9.2 SEPA 9.3 National Trust Scotland 9.4 Forest and Land Scotland 9.5 Solway Firth Partnership 9.6 Drax 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 10 FIVE YEAR MANAGEMENT PLAN 10.1 Objectives and outputs of the Kirkcudbrightshire Dee biosecurity plan 10.2 Actions and timeframes 22 22 31 11 MONITORING 34 12 REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATIONS 35 PUBLIC PUBLIC 1 INTRODUCTION Non-native species are any animal or plant that has been introduced by human activity to an area in which they do not naturally occur. Only a small proportion of non-native species have the ability to spread rapidly and cause significant problems to the environment, economy or human health. These are called invasive non-native species (INNS), and are recognised as one of the greatest threats to biodiversity globally. INNS can prey on, outcompete and displace native species and also spread disease. They can be damaging to recreational activities such as angling and boating through the clogging up of waterways. Once INNS are established, for many species there are no effective techniques available to eradicate them, so preventing introduction and spread is the most effective way to protect the environment. Prevention minimises the impacts and costs of tackling established populations. It is therefore vital that biosecurity is brought to the frontline and implemented across the Kirkcudbrightshire Dee area. Biosecurity is about reducing the risk of introducing or spreading INNS in the countryside (SISI, 2019). This biosecurity plan is intended to be accessible by all, acting as a guidance document for all those who take part in activities across the catchment and its watercourses. The actions suggested within this plan are dependent on sufficient funding, and if adequate funding is not available (particularly for third sector organisations) work will need to be prioritised. This plan is phase two of a three phase project driven by the Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership (GGLP). Phase one assessed the current distribution of INNS within the River Dee catchment. Building on this knowledge, the purpose of this plan is to focus efforts at a catchment scale, assessing the risks and detailing what needs to be done to support and promote biosecurity. This plan contains: • • • • An overview of the catchment alongside an overview of current INNS that pose a threat to the region. Considerations of the potential pathways of INNS into and out of the catchment. An overview of past and current INNS management. A five year biosecurity management plan (2020-2024). PUBLIC PUBLIC 2 OBJECTIVES This plan describes the INNS issues within the River Dee catchment and presents actions for the prevention, early detection, control and mitigation of the introduction and spread of selected INNS. The vision of this plan is: ‘To encourage a sustainable framework to prevent, detect, control and eradicate invasive non-native species within the Kirkcudbrightshire Dee through the coordination of data collection, management, liaison, and education’ The ultimate key to the effectiveness of this plan is the building of local awareness, capacity and partnerships to ensure the success and long-term sustainability of the actions presented throughout this plan. This plan focusses on six key species which are present within the River Dee catchment. These are North American signal crayfish, American mink, American skunk cabbage, Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam and Giant hogweed. The implementation of this biosecurity plan will bring socio-economic and environmental benefits such as those described below; • • • • • • Protection of native ecology from American mink. Prevention of the spread of North American signal crayfish. Improved stability of riverbanks through the removal of annual, non-native plant species. Maintenance of access to riverbanks for recreation and angling through the removal and control of invasive plant species such as Japanese knotweed, Giant hogweed, Himalayan balsam and American skunk cabbage. Prevention of economic losses that INNS could cause. Conservation and increased amenity value of local landscapes. There are three main objectives that this plan will focus on; Objective 1: Prevent the introduction and spread of INNS within the Dee catchment. Output 1.1 – Raising awareness of: • • • The ecological and economic impacts of INNS. The potential pathways for introduction and spread of INNS. Management best practices to prevent introduction and spread of INNS. Objective 2: Establish a framework for the detection and surveillance of INNS, linked to a protocol to ensure a rapid management response. Output 2.1 – ‘Reporting system’ established for INNS within the River Dee catchment. Output 2.2 – Develop strategic monitoring of INNS within the River Dee catchment. Objective 3: Develop coordinated control and eradication programme for INNS. Output 3.1 – Rapid response mechanism established for new INNS which pose significant threats to local biodiversity and economy. Output 3.2 – Coordinated control, eradication and habitat restoration programme established. PUBLIC PUBLIC 3 THE CONTEXT 3.1 Invasive non-native species: The nature of the problem INNS issues are of increasing economic and ecological significance. Globalisation has expanded the extent and complexity of world trade and the growth of the tourism market has expanded the number of destinations for activity holidays and travellers. These trends have led to the increased probability of the unintentional as well as intentional introduction, establishment and spread of INNS, parasites and diseases in Scotland and the UK. According to CBD (2006)1, INNS are the second greatest threat to biodiversity, being capable of rapidly colonising a wide range of habitats and excluding the native flora and fauna. Furthermore, over the last 400 years INNS have contributed to 40% of the animal extinctions where the cause of extinction is known. As water is an excellent transport medium for the dispersal of many of these species, rivers and lochs and their banks and shorelines are amongst the most vulnerable areas to the introduction, spread and impact of these species. The ecological changes wrought by INNS can further threaten already endangered native species and reduce the natural productivity and amenity value of riverbanks, shorelines and their waterbodies (CBD, 2015a). The threat from INNS is growing at an increasing rate assisted by climate change, pollution and habitat disturbance with a correspondingly greater socio-economic, health and ecological cost. Many countries including Scotland are now facing complex and costly problems associated with invasive species. According to a study carried out by Roy et al (2014), more than 2,000 non-native species are recorded in Great Britain; of which 237 established species have a negative impact on biodiversity. Among the 1,161 non-native species established in Scotland, 183 (16%) have negative ecological impacts. Environmental impacts include disrupting habitats and ecosystems, outcompeting native species for space and food, spreading disease and interfering with the genetic integrity of native species. All these impacts lead to a reduction in biodiversity (CBD, 2015a). The total annual cost of INNS to the British economy is estimated at approximately £1.7 billion. This is said to be a conservative figure and does not include indirect costs which could be substantially higher. Estimated total annual costs of invasive non-native species to Scotland is £244,736, 000 (Williams et al, 2010). Japanese knotweed alone is estimated to cost the British economy around £166 million per year (NNSS, 2015). Zebra mussels blocks water pipes and outlet pipes from power stations; in England the estimated cost to the water industry is more than £0.5 million a year for control of this species alone. Invasive species have already changed the character of iconic landscapes and waterbodies in Scotland reducing the amenity value of those areas. Some species also have a social impact, whether it is risk to human health (e.g. the harmful sap from Giant hogweed) or those which are considered a nuisance to landowners or recreational users (e.g. Japanese knotweed preventing access to watercourses, or floating pennywort clogging watercourses and preventing angling or boat navigation). The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) focusses on protecting biodiversity through a tenyear framework for action by all countries. The plan provides a set of twenty targets, a collectively known as the Aichi Targets (CBD, 2015b). Aichi target 9 is focused on Invasive Non-Native Species and this target sets out action to control the most problematic non-native invasive species (SNH, 2016). 1 http://www.cbd.int/gbo2 PUBLIC PUBLIC Without a coordinated and systematic approach to the prevention of introduction and control of the spread of INNS, it is likely that the ecological, social and economic impacts and the costs for mitigation, control and eradication of these species and diseases will continue to increase. This plan is the first step to set out and implement such an approach at a local level for selected species that significantly impact the environment. This local plan will provide a structure for future projects in the catchment, helping them to demonstrate strategic planning to support future funding applications. Given the high costs for the mitigation, control and eradication of INNS once they are established this plan emphasises the need for prevention and rapid response to the introduction of INNS before they become established. Furthermore, the host of pathways for entry and spread as well as the persistence of many of these species means that a partnership approach to prevent introductions and involving diverse stakeholders is essential. The partnership approach encapsulated in this plan is a key requirement for increased public awareness and engagement, optimisation of the use of resources and the provision of clear guidance for inter-agency working necessary to address the biosecurity issues of the Kirkcudbrightshire Dee region. These approaches are consistent with, and support, the GB Invasive Non Native Species Framework Strategy and the Species Action Framework both of which have been approved by the Scottish Government. “Addressing the direct and underlying drivers of biodiversity loss will ultimately require behavioural change by individuals, organisations and governments. Understanding, awareness and appreciation of the diverse values of biodiversity, underpin the willingness of individuals to make the necessary changes and actions and to create the “political will” for governments to act” (CBD, 2013). 3.2 Policy and legislation The actions presented in this plan will conform to, and be supported by, UK and Scottish Government legislation associated with the prevention, management and treatment of invasive non-native species: • • • • • 2 Section 14 of The Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981)2 (as amended in Scotland by the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act3 2011) makes it an offence to release an animal, allow an animal to escape from captivity or otherwise cause an animal not in the control of any person to be at a location outside its native range, or to plant or otherwise cause to grow a plant in the wild at a location outside its native range. Code of Practice on Non-Native Species4 was issued in 2012 by the Scottish Government. The Code sets out guidance on how you should act responsibly within the law to ensure that non-native species under your ownership, care and management do not cause harm to our environment. Section 179 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 19975 empowers local authorities to serve notice requiring an occupier to deal with any land whose condition is adversely affecting the amenity of the other land in their area. The Possession of Pesticides (Scotland) Order 20056 regulates the use of pesticides and herbicides for the control and eradication of INNS. Environmental Protection Act 19907 contains a number of legal provisions concerning “controlled waste”, which are set out in Part II. Any Japanese knotweed or Giant hogweed contaminated soil or plant material discarded is likely to be classified as controlled waste. www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1981/cukpga_19810069_en_1 3 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2011/6/part/2/crossheading/nonnative-species-etc/enacted https://www2.gov.scot/Resource/0039/00398608.pdf 5 www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1997/ukpga_19970008_en_1 6 www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/ssi2005/20050066.htm 7 www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1990/ukpga_19900043_en_1 4 PUBLIC PUBLIC • • This means that offences exist with the deposit, treating, keeping or disposing of controlled waste without a licence. The Waste Management Licensing Regulations 19948 define the licensing requirements which include “waste relevant objectives”. These require that waste is recovered or disposed of “without endangering human health and without using processes or methods which could harm the environment”. Controlled Waste (Registration of Carriers and Seizure of Vehicles) Regulations 1991 9 and the Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 199110 provide guidance for the handling and transfer of controlled waste. 8 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1994/uksi_19941056_en_1.htm www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1991/Uksi_19911624_en_1.htm 10 www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1991/uksi_19912839_en_1.htm 9 PUBLIC PUBLIC 4 CATCHMENT OVERVIEW 4.1 Geography and land use Overall the River Dee catchment covers approximately 1,020 km2 and the river itself runs for 78.5 km. The geology and landscape of the River Dee catchment is typical of other river catchments in the south west of Scotland. The catchment rivers flow over a mix of rock types, dominated by sedimentary rock in the lowland areas. The catchment lies in a part of the country which supports moorland, commercial forestry plantations, hill farming and arable farming. The land on the west side of the catchment is dominated by the Glenkens, a range of hills including the Merrick and Corserine, rising to over 800 m above sea level. Cairnsmore of Carsphairn on the east side of the catchment is almost as high (797 m) but in general this side is not as high or as steep as the west. Downstream of Dalry the countryside is flatter being a wide glaciated valley. In the north and west of the catchment the land is predominantly used for commercial conifer forestry with rough grazing occupying the highest parts. The middle areas of the catchment are used as pastures supporting sheep and beef cattle with some dairy farming and forestry. Below Loch Ken there is also some ground which is cultivated and cropped. 4.2 Galloway Hydro Scheme The Galloway Hydro Scheme was the first integrated scheme developed in the UK; its viability arose following the 1926 Electricity (Supply) Act which led to the creation of the National Grid. Figure 1 shows the layout of the Galloway Hydro’s Scheme. It encompasses two major storage reservoirs – Loch Doon which diverts water from the River Doon into the Dee catchment and Clatteringshaws which diverts water from the Black Water of Dee to the Ken at Glenlee. There are three reservoirs in the Ken valley, Kendoon, Carsfad and Earlstoun, a control weir at Glenlochar (Glenlochar Barrage) creating storage in Loch Ken, and a reservoir at Tongland. There are power stations at Drumjohn, Kendoon, Carsfad, Earlstoun, Glenlee and Tongland. The power station at Drumjohn was commissioned in 1984 but all of the other installations date from the period between 1931 and 1935 when the scheme was built and they remain largely in the form of their original construction. PUBLIC PUBLIC Figure 1: Map of the Dee catchment showing dams and intakes of the Galloway Hydro Scheme 4.3 Recreation Angling is potentially the most common recreational activity seen around the River Dee Catchment. Loch Ken is hugely popular for coarse fish anglers and matches are held on a regular basis. People come from far and wide to fish the waters of the River Dee. Much of the non-angling recreation which takes place on the River Dee catchment is focused around Loch Ken. Water sport activities such as boating and sailing, canoeing, wind surfing and water skiing all take place on the loch with the main period of activity between Easter and October. Water sport activities are centred around the Galloway Activity Centre, Crossmichael Marina, Loch Ken Marina and Loch Ken Holiday Park. The Dee catchment, especially around Loch Ken is a focus for bird watchers. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) run the popular Dee-Ken Marshes bird reserve on the south west bank of Loch Ken. Although walking is not common around the perimeter of Loch Ken itself, there are many walks in the surrounding area including the Southern Upland Way, which runs through Dalry. PUBLIC PUBLIC 5 CURRENT INVASIVE NON-NATIVE SPECIES ISSUES A number of invasive non-native species are established in River Dee catchment. Their known distribution, impacts and potential means of spread are discussed below. Distributions are based on the best information available, but since few systematic studies have been undertaken, it is likely many species are more widespread than is indicated. Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) This species is present widely across the catchment. The discontinuous nature of this species’ distribution likely results from numerous separate introductions. Knotweed spreads quickly through the vegetative reproduction of cut plants and disturbed rhizomes. In earlier years at the beginning of GFTs’ work with INNS there were surveys conducted and exact locations were mapped. As a result of reduced funding in recent years surveying has stopped, and efforts have been directly allocated to treatment in priority areas. There have been successful treatment efforts within the catchment however it is highly likely that there are infestations in areas not known to GFT. Dense stands of knotweed suppress riparian woodland regeneration and outcompete native vegetation, resulting in vulnerable bare banks when the plants die back in winter. The banks of some local rivers and tributaries are largely composed of soft sediment and prone to erosion in flood events. The presence of Japanese knotweed will exacerbate these problems. Knotweed also restricts access to the river for anglers. In other areas knotweed is currently not as widespread and its present impact is more limited. Awareness of the damage that knotweed can cause has increased dramatically in recent years. That coupled with the legislation governing the species greatly reduces the risk of deliberate planting in the future. The main risk is from the spread of existing stands. Floods, trampling and wind damage could all break stems of the plant and allow it to spread naturally. Inappropriate cutting and dumping speeds the colonisation of new areas. Cut fragments of plants along riverbanks are transported downstream by the river. Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) Records of this plant in the River Dee catchment have been limited to date. A clump of Himalayan balsam is present below Glenlochar barrage however the source of these plants has not been identified. SEPA also recorded a population on Kirkgunzeon Lane (a tributary of the River Urr). The rivers to the east – River Nith and Annan – are plagued by extensive balsam stands and in 2019 GFT discovered a few strands on the River Urr however not in dense populations. The Water of Fleet also has a known population and this is being treated on an annual basis. Himalayan balsam grows quickly and excludes native plants. It is an annual and dies back in winter leaving bare banks vulnerable to erosion. The present population on the River Dee is currently causing little impact due to its small size. However, the extensive areas of bare soil exposed on the Nith and Annan demonstrate the problems this species could cause if left to spread unchecked across local waters. The seeds of Himalayan balsam remain viable in the banks for approximately two years. This species has a very efficient mode of seed dispersal, with exploding seed pods sending seeds up to 7 m away from the plant. The presence of balsam (albeit in small clumps at present) in the catchment and in similar densities in two neighbouring mean there is the potential for this species to become a region-wide problem if left unchecked. Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) 8 PUBLIC Giant hogweed has recently been reported in the River Dee catchment, along the coastline of St Marys Isle. This is the first known population and appears relatively contained and has been treated by the land owner. Giant hogweed also spreads through seed dispersal and the movement of soil contaminated by its seeds. Giant hogweed out competes native vegetation for space and resources shading out desirable vegetation which can result in a loss of plant and invertebrate diversity. Winter dieback increases exposed bare soil to direct rainfall and floods. The death of the plant stems loosen the surrounding soil that can result in whole sections of riverbank being eroded and washed out. It is well documented that Giant hogweed is a public health risk. The sap of Giant hogweed is phototoxic and causes phytophotodermatitis in humans and animals, resulting in blisters and scars. Considering this current population resides along a public footbath and in a residential area, there is cause for concern and needs to be monitored. It is likely that this is an isolated population, introduced via seed dispersal from the sea or as a result of the area previously being an ornamental garden. American Skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americanus) There is currently a population of American skunk cabbage within the Aquavitae Burn, which has accumulated at the outflow just downstream of Loch Ken. This population was introduced upstream decades ago, before its invasive status was known. This species has been introduced to the wild by gardeners and although it can be invasive, it remained popular and sold locally until recently. It is found in pond margins, riparian and boggy areas and can grow to over 1 m in height (Sanderson, 2013). Due to the waxy nature of its leaves, the effectiveness of foliar spray is questionable. GFT are currently trialling various methods to determine the most effective treatment. North American Signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) The River Dee catchment is home to the largest known population of North American Signal crayfish in Scotland – Loch Ken. This population is believed to originate from deliberate introductions to two separate ponds which have outflow tributaries which connect ultimately to the River Dee catchment. Since the introduction, believed to be in the late 1980s, the crayfish population has hugely expanded to inhabit all of Loch Ken and numerous surrounding tributaries. Crayfish have spread throughout the lower catchment easily and are now present as far down as Tongland Power Station. North American Signal crayfish can feed vigorously on aquatic vegetation, invertebrates, juvenile fish and eggs, de-stabilise river banks by burrowing and exclude salmonids from their preferred habitats. They are a fecund species with the ability to make use of many different habitats. Efforts have been made in the past to manage this species which will be discussed in section 6.3. Since this time, it has been questioned as to whether trapping is an effective method of reducing the population due to trapping targeting primarily larger crayfish. Crayfish are notoriously cannibalistic and older crayfish will prey on smaller crayfish which provides a level of internal population management. If large scale trapping events occur, this may remove this predatory effect and allow the population density to increase further. The presence and availability of crayfish in the catchment is also encouraging another invasive species, American mink, to utilise the area. With such an abundant food source, mink are now a common sight along the riverbanks. American Mink (Mustela vison) 9 PUBLIC Mink are present throughout the whole length of the River Dee catchment. Mink are opportunistic predators and they will kill spawning salmon and trout on spawning beds. Research from the Western Isles also showed that mink can significantly reduce salmon and trout parr numbers. They can depress fish stocks and are capable of decimating water vole and ground-nesting bird populations. The original mink populations were the result of deliberate and accidental escapes from farms. Extensive trapping was undertaken in the past however is limited at the time of writing this plan. Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) Sitka spruce and other non-native conifers have been planted for commercial forestry or shelter belts. In most cases the conifers are restricted to areas where they have been planted and ground conditions and grazing levels are limited to promote growth. However, Sitka spruce is able to seed out of plantations and establish in riparian areas, particularly onto bare banks following the clear felling of conifers during the restructuring process. Most self-seeded Sitka is close to forestry plantations, although records of the species in river headwater areas away from plantations indicate its ability to spread greater distances. There are some impacted watercourses within forestry plantations affecting the Dee catchment. Sitka are fast growing, resistant to browsing and capable of outcompeting natural vegetation. They are capable of shading watercourses and preventing access to banks. Forestry guidance advise up to a 20 m buffer zone free of conifers along larger watercourses. The ability of Sitka to naturally seed into such a buffer zone reduces the effectiveness of these guidelines to protect watercourses from over shading problems. Forestry plantations will remain the most likely seed source of invasive Sitka. The edges of forestry tracks seem to provide ideal conditions for seedlings and it is likely Sitka will spread along these corridors. The presence of isolated Sitka trees in remote places suggest seeds can be dispersed for many miles so there is some potential for Sitka to spread over greater distances. Grazing and browsing by livestock and deer will prevent Sitka seedlings establishing and fenced areas close to existing plantations will be the most vulnerable to invasion. Rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum) Popular in the gardens of large Victorian houses and soon spread beyond the garden wall. The west coast of Scotland seems to provide ideal growth conditions and various woodlands in Galloway have abundant rhododendron stands. While a major problem in many areas of Scotland, rhododendron problems for water habitats in Galloway is limited. The plant regenerates from seed and the widespread presence of small plants in some areas indicates that natural regeneration is occurring readily. Rhododendron forms a closed canopy and acidifies the surrounding soil preventing other plants establishing. Its presence will destroy the native ground flora of woodlands and prevent tree regeneration. The rapid growth of rhododendron along watercourses can lead to shading and reduced nutrient input. Rhododendron continues to be sold and planted as an ornamental garden plant. However, the present wide distribution and abundance of rhododendron ensures that there is already sufficient seed and plant material to allow its potential further natural spread into suitable habitats across the River Dee catchment. Canadian pondweed (Elodea canadensis) Canadian pondweed was recorded by SEPA at a number of locations throughout the River Dee. The NBN Gateway website also suggests the plant to be present in Woodhall Loch & Carlingwark Loch. Elodea can grow very quickly and totally dominate native macrophyte communities which may lead to local extinctions and can make angling impossible. The plant 10 PUBLIC is spread easily via plant fragments and has found its way into watercourses and stillwaters via ponds and anthropogenic disposal. Impacts on invertebrates have also been recorded and Elodea is known to absorb metals from sediments and transfer them into their water environment (CEH, 2004a). Nuttalls pondweed (Elodea nuttallii) Nuttalls pondweed has been recorded by SEPA to be present within the Dee catchment, found at Loch Ken outlet to Tongland. This waterweed threatens local biodiversity through shading and outcompeting local plants as well as potentially changing its surroundings nutrient cycle and water quality. Curly waterweed (Lagarosiphon major) Has been identified in the Stewartry area so risk of translocation to other catchments. Sold for the aquaria trade so could become established through intentional/unintentional introductions. Can also be spread by fragmentation via wind dispersal, boat movement, angling equipment and, possibly waterfowl. Capable of forming very dense infestations in suitable habitats and occupying the full water column in waters up to 6 m deep with significant impacts on native plants, insects and fish (CEH, 2004b). Rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss) There is one operational rainbow trout farm on Kendoon Loch, which uses floating cages on the loch. Mostly stocked fisheries are well screened or isolated to ensure that no stocked trout can escape into the wider aquatic environment. Anglers used to report regular catches of rainbow trout of various sizes. Rainbow trout may predate young fish and smolts and can also compete with native salmonids for food and shelter. Escapees from this farm may have been the original source of the rainbow trout in this catchment. Only a few of the many rainbow trout escapees in Britain have ever resulted in self-sustaining breeding populations, and no evidence of spawning has been recorded in the River Dee. Non-native fish (various species) Present in many still and running waters in the River Dee catchment. Some of these have been deliberately introduced; others have been introduced when discarded after using as bait by anglers. Until recently the stocking of coarse fish was unregulated and, due to the high number of stillwaters across the region, this has resulted in species such as tench, rudd, roach and bream becoming established in some Galloway waters. Some of these species are native to the UK but have been translocated to Galloway which is outside their natural range. Many non-native fish species have become established in Loch Ken. Loch Ken is frequented by many coarse fish enthusiasts and over the years has become popular due to the many nonnative species available for angling. These fish can have ecological impacts on various native species through predation, competition for resources or habitat change. Giant rhubarb (Gunnera tinctoria) Giant rhubarb, a large leaved plant from Chile growing up to 2 m in height, became a very popular ornamental species in gardens and parks in temperate areas from the middle of the nineteenth century (NNSS, 2011b). The species can spread from rhizomes discarded from gardens and from seed disseminated by birds and is a threat to native vegetation. It is mostly present in large gardens and estates and its presence along river banks and waterways is currently unknown in the Dee catchment however isolated populations have been recorded in estates and gardens within the overall catchment. 11 PUBLIC 6 CURRENT AND PAST INNS MANAGEMENT 6.1 Invasive plant species GFT have been working to manage and control INNS of plants since 2008. A four and a half year project titled ‘Controlling priority invasive non-native riparian plants and restoring native biodiversity’ was completed in 2012. The GFT was one of five Scottish partners (GFT, Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland (RAFTS), Ayrshire Rivers Trust, Argyll Fisheries Trust and the Tweed Forum) that secured EU Interreg support to control Japanese knotweed on a catchment scale. In Galloway, the GFT was focused on eradicating Japanese knotweed from across six catchments; Water of App, Water of Fleet, River Luce, River Bladnoch, Urr and the Kirkcudbrightshire Dee. Though this project, the River Dee was surveyed and controlled for Japanese knotweed. Since this project, funding has been significantly reduced and as a result treatment has been prioritised and limited. No catchment wide surveys have been carried out since, other than at the beginning of this biosecurity project where specific sites were surveyed to confirm presence or absence following reports. Through funding previously provided by SEPA and then in recent years the Stewartry Area Committee, GFT continued to treat a prioritised section of the River Dee for Japanese knotweed and also American skunk cabbage on the Aquavitae Burn. However, 2019 has seen the complete loss of funding limiting treatment to private contracts. This work has no catchment wide effect and only covers very small areas. 6.2 American mink A trapping project of American mink began in early 2009 across the catchments of the River Dee and Water of Fleet, coordinated by GFT. The project involved training, coordinating and providing trapping equipment to volunteers across both catchments, where mink predation is believed to be an issue. Mink rafts and traps (designed by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust) were given to volunteers which use a clay tray to record tracks of mink prior to the setting of a cage trap. GFT and GWCT held a training day for all participating in the project. In recent years the only trapping of Mink carried out within the Dee catchment has been done by keen individuals. 6.3 North American Signal crayfish The exact distribution of the two Galloway crayfish populations (Dee and Skyre Burn catchments) were mapped in 2009 by GFT as part of a Scotland wide RAFTS / SNH survey using agreed protocols. In 2009 Marine Scotland funded a five month research study to look at the crayfish population in Loch Ken and investigated the possibility of large scale (using ~ 600 traps) trapping to control their numbers and spread. The study recommended a further three year trapping study on the loch. A Loch Ken Council Ranger has been undertaking limited trapping (when he had time available) for crayfish on various tributaries around Loch Ken in 2009 / 2010. The aim of the trapping was to reduce the densities of crayfish in important salmonid spawning and nursery burns. Since this trapping program it has been widely accepted that the problem is far worse than can be managed. Focus has been directed onto reducing the spread as opposed to active trapping programs. A recent discovery of crayfish in Tongland fish pass has highlighted that the population has spread further than previously thought. 12 PUBLIC 7 RISKS WITHIN THE CATCHMENT There are two directions of risk within the River Dee catchment, introduction of new INNS species from other areas, and the spread from the catchment to other catchments. Whether the risk is spreading from or introducing to the catchment, the problem remains the same. It is an important aspect of a management plan to consider potential pathways in and out of the catchment which pose a risk and determine which biosecurity actions could be introduced to reduce the risk. It is also key to consider species which pose a risk to the region. 7.1 Potential biosecurity issues The INNS listed below in Table 1 are believed not to be currently present within the River Dee catchment. They have been classified as High or Medium level threats depending on their likely impact on the local economy and biodiversity in combination with the likelihood of their introduction. The level of risk of introduction was based on the pathways for the introduction of INNS, their current geographic proximity and land use within the catchment. High Threat: Species with Severe consequences for local biodiversity and economy and a High to Medium risk of introduction Medium Threat: Species with Moderate consequences for local biodiversity and economy with a Low to High risk of introduction 13 PUBLIC Table 1: The risk of introduction of threat species SPECIES Gyrodactylus salaris (Freshwater external parasite of salmon) Killer Shrimp (Dikerogammarus villosus) Zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) Chinese mitten crab (Eriocher sinensis) Resides in freshwater but migrates to the sea for breeding Parrot’s feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum) RISK OF INTRODUCTION High – Through unintentional introduction from anglers and water sport enthusiasts through: ▪ Contaminated fish ▪ Clothing/equipment which has been in contact with infected water including canoesBallast water High – Species was first confirmed in 2010 in England (Cambridgeshire) and Wales (Cardiff Bay and Port Talbot). Unintentional introduction can be from anglers, water sport users, ballast water and through contaminated equipment. IMPACTS Predicted catastrophic impact on salmon (Salmo salar) populations throughout Scotland (it has largely exterminated S. salar in 41 Norwegian rivers). Medium – A population has been recorded in the Nithsdale/Annandale area. The plant can spread by asexual means. Stems are brittle and it can also spread via fragments of plants. Can shade out native flora. In coastal or brackish water it has been observed to displace native species. In Guernsey, a reduction in native biodiversity has occurred; it is a major problem and has eliminated many native species and impacted fisheries in South Africa. Has caused major problems for hydroelectric power production in Argentina. Can quickly dominate and block watercourses (NNSS, 2011a). The killer shrimp is an omnivorous predator native to the Steppe region near the Black and Caspian Seas. It can feed on a variety of macroinvertebrates, including other gammarid species, and exhibits an important biotic potential and ecological plasticity. It has had major impacts in lowland Europe, particularly Holland where it has destroyed local ecology by wiping out native shrimps and small fish species. Medium - through unintentional introduction from Major economic impact on all subsurface water structures e.g. contaminated boat/canoe hulls and engines and blocking pipes and impacting upon hydro-electric schemes. bilge water. Varied and unpredictable ecological impacts including changes to freshwater nutrient cycles, extinction of local mussels and changes to stream substrate affecting spawning areas (NNSS, 2011). Medium - through unintentional introduction from Burrowing in high density populations damages river banks boat hulls and live food trade. Concern over impacts on local species Intermediate host for the mammalian lung fluke Paragonimus ringer, known to infect humans. 14 PUBLIC Slipper limpet (Crepidula fornicata) Floating pennywort (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides) Fanwort (Cabomba caroliniana) Low – A marine INN species which has been recorded as present in coastal waters off the central belt in Scotland. Can be introduced on ship hulls. Low – Not known to be present in Scotland and has mostly been recorded in south east England. Has become established through the trade/disposal of garden pond plants. Dispersed by water flow and flood events. Care should be taken to remove all cut plant material from the waterbody as rapid re-growth can occur from a single node. Low – Known to be present in Dumbartonshire. Popular as an aquarium plant and introductions may occur through inappropriate disposal of the plant. Spreads primarily by stem fragments by also by seed dispersal. 15 Can occur in high densities (1000s per m 2) in marine and estuarine waters. Can form dense rafts and outcompetes native plant species. Reduced light levels below the rafts can cause die off of waterweeds and algae and reduce water oxygenation levels. This can kill fish and other fauna. Originally found in South America. Forms dense stands that exclude native flora and clog watercourses. PUBLIC 7.2 Pathways of introduction • • • • • • • • Intentional introduction or planting Fouling and ballast water of marine vessels Fouling and ballast water of freshwater vessels Escapes from garden ponds Contaminated water sports equipment (e.g. from anglers, canoeists) Movement of contaminated soils or vehicles Improper control and disposal measures e.g. cutting and dumping without treatment Natural dispersal by seeds, vegetative spread or migration 7.2.1 Intentional introduction Unfortunately, it is believed that people are still intentionally planting invasive species in their gardens, knowingly letting them spread and actively moving species between catchments. 7.2.2 Gardens and garden centres It is estimated that nationally, 60% of invasive plants have been introduced through horticultural use (Plantlife/Royal Horticultural Society, 2010). In 2014, five non- native invasive aquatic species were banned from sale in the UK (Brockman and Holden, 2015). The spread of invasives from private gardens can be a result of direct or indirect dispersal. It is common for gardeners to dump cuttings, and often this occurs along riverbanks, aiding the transport of these cuttings downstream. 7.2.3 Tourism/leisure The River Dee catchment, primarily Loch Ken, is a hub of activity during summer months as a result of its recreational attractions. Invasive species can be inadvertently spread by people using the catchment for general leisure and tourism purposes, including activities such and walking and cycling (Brockman and Holden, 2015). By highlighting attractions and locations which may pose a risk of spreading INNS, it allows for considerations to be made regarding potential biosecurity procedures which could be adhered to, to reduce the risk. National Trust for Scotland is a key partner in this task considering the wide range of sites they cover in the region. Visitors are known to visit several sites across Galloway in one trip which could transfer seeds or vegetation on shoes and clothes between sites. Hosting beautiful scenery and water sport activity opportunities, many people visit on an annual basis. Water sports are a popular activity within the River Dee catchment and it is important that users of the water are aware of the risks associated with INNS and know how to reduce the risk of spread. 7.2.4 Angling Angling is a potential route of introduction as a result of anglers traveling from catchment to catchment and reusing equipment that may not have been cleaned properly. Nets are an easy place for young crayfish to catch onto and hide. Angling also occurs regularly in areas where there are INNS of plants present, potentially transporting seeds and plant matter across catchments. 16 PUBLIC 7.2.5 Kirkcudbright Marina Harbours, marinas and ports are high risk areas for introducing new INNS to the catchment. The risk is dependent on where the boat traffic is from and also the location of the harbour. Kirkcudbright marina on the River Dee is the main base for scallop fishers in south Scotland. Recreational boat users also pose a risk with activities such as sea angling, scuba diving, sea kayaking, jet skiing, wind and kite surfing popular in the area. These factors mean that there is an increasing probability that certain INNS are likely to arrive in the Solway (SFP, 2017). Discussions with the Harbour Master confirmed there are no biosecurity measures currently in place to tackle the risk of INNS being transported into the catchment from other areas. However, it was also discussed that the risk is very low in comparison to larger, more commercial ports due to the limited area where boats are moving to and from. Discussions are in place further considering risk at this location and potential biosecurity measures that could be implemented if required. 17 PUBLIC 8 STAKEHOLDERS There are a number of organisations and individuals with an interest in INNS in the River Dee catchment. The engagement of key stakeholders is imperative for the success of this plan. Regulatory agencies and other bodies with an interest in INNS can be found in Table 2. Table 2: Regulatory agencies and other bodies with an interest in INNS Policy and Legislation • Scottish Government • SNH • SEPA • Marine Scotland • Fisheries Management Scotland Fisheries Management Land Resources • Forest and Land Scotland • D & G Council • Landowners Association • NFU Recreation • Dee District Salmon Fishery Board • Ramblers Association • Galloway Fisheries Trust • Local Angling Associations • Commercial Fisheries Industry • Activity centres Water Resources • Scottish Water • Drax Conservation and Biodiversity • NTS • Scottish Wildlife Trust • RSPB • Solway Firth Partnership • Plant Life • Dumfries & Galloway Environmental Resources Centre The plan also seeks to engage with all members of the community who have an interest and/or a role to play in preventing the introduction or spread of INNS. These include: local garden centres; landowners, local water sport organisations; local angling clubs; local quarries; farmers and members of the public. Stakeholders have been identified from an analysis of possible routes of introduction, spread or control of non-natives presented in Table 3. 18 PUBLIC Table 3: Pathways and stakeholder groups Pathway Intentional introduction or planting Fouling and ballast water of marine vessels Fouling and ballast water of freshwater vessels Escapes from garden ponds, gardens Contaminated water sports equipment (e.g. from anglers, canoeists Movement of contaminated soils or vehicles Improper control and disposal measures e.g. cutting and dumping without treatment Groups or Stakeholders at Risk Plantlife, riparian landowners, public, local councils, planning department, anglers Local harbour authorities, Marine Scotland Port Authority, SEPA, UK Government; local canoe and water sports organisations Horticultural Trade Association, SNH, SEPA, Plantlife, public, planning authorities, riparian owners DSFB’s, local canoe/water sports organisations, anglers, angling clubs D & G Council, SEPA, quarries, building contractors, landscape contractors, Drax Local councils, SEPA, environmental health, Plantlife, riparian owners/members of the public This plan identifies key actions required to change the behaviour and practices of the above groups so as to reduce the opportunities for the introduction and spread of INNS. Key stakeholders have been contacted regarding this plan to discuss potential action points and to identify gaps in biosecurity protocol within the region. It should be noted that discussions with local stakeholders and groups were very positive and it was pressed that any action points that are put forward need to be realistic and applicable catchment wide. This plan needs to be accessible and available to relevant organisations and needs to take into consideration individual circumstances. It is key that the plan is commented on and can be altered following the circulation of the draft version. 19 PUBLIC 9 STAKEHOLDER DISCUSSIONS 9.1 SNH SNH are the lead body for INNS on land in Scotland. They are currently embarking on a fouryear Scottish Invasive Species Initiative in the north of Scotland, tackling INNS on a large scale. Within the River Dee catchment there is currently no INNS management being carried out, however SNH are willing to support GFT’s actions and comment on potential biosecurity procedures that could be implemented in the region. 9.2 SEPA SEPA are the lead body for INNS in standing and running freshwater habitats in Scotland. SEPA regulates activities affecting the water environment, and are incorporating biosecurity requirements into General Binding Rules and license conditions where possible. 9.3 National Trust Scotland NTS have numerous sites across Galloway. By identifying risks and potential pathways of invasion and spread, we can consider actions to be put forward to tighten up biosecurity in the region. NTS are now working on protocol and procedures to be put in place at Threave Castle to ensure boats leaving site have been checked, cleaned and dried and it will be mandatory for the presented method statement to be followed by all staff. Signs are going to be erected throughout the region, including sites out with the Dee catchment. Fishing permits will highlight biosecurity procedures to be followed within the NTS’ land. GFT and NTS have formed a partnership and will continue to work together. 9.4 Forest and Land Scotland FLS are committed to completing INNS work to ensure they comply with their UKWAS accreditation. Individual foresters are encouraged to be vigilant for any INNS within their beats. There is an internal system in place used to map work due within their land and this continues to be a useful tool for managing INNS control. From this, specific INNS work is prioritised so that even with budget cuts, key invasive control work is still completed. 9.5 Solway Firth Partnership GFT work closely with Solway Firth Partnership (SFP), and both organisations have a key interest in INNS within the region. SFP were contacted in relation to the risk of INNS introduction through the Kirkcudbright Marina. A recent study ‘Marine Invasive Non-Native Species in the Solway Firth11 ’ was carried out by SFP using settlement panels concluded that due to location of the marina being tidal but primarily freshwater, it was unlikely that many marine INNS would pose a risk of introduction from this pathway. 9.6 Drax Drax recently bought over Scottish Powers’ Gas and Hydro stations. The Dee catchment as detailed in section 4.2 is host to a series of hydro’s which link different catchments. The importance of biosecurity in this instance is clear and Drax have a stringent biosecurity risk 11 https://solwayfirthpartnership.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Marine-INNS-in-Solway-20182021.pdf 20 PUBLIC assessment in place. All staff are trained in biosecurity before being allowed on site and know the procedures to follow if invasive species are present. 21 PUBLIC 10 FIVE YEAR MANAGEMENT PLAN 10.1 Objectives and outputs of the Kirkcudbrightshire Dee biosecurity plan The objectives of this plan are based on three elements: • • • Prevention Early detection, surveillance, monitoring and rapid response Mitigation, control and eradication The involvement and participation of stakeholders will be essential to achieve the objectives of this plan. This section describes the expected outputs from implementation of the three plan objectives and the actions required for their realisation. Agreed actions for prevention are focussed on the disruption of the pathways for the introduction and spread of INNS, translocated species and fish diseases and include a mixture of awareness raising and practical measures. Awareness activities take note of the GB Awareness and Communication Strategy. Increased probability of early detection of the introduction or spread of INNS is realised through surveys to establish the location of existing populations, establishment of a coordinated local surveillance and reporting system supported by routine monitoring of established populations or sites vulnerable to the introduction and spread of these species. Control activities will be undertaken in a coordinated and systematic manner to eradicate identified INNS where feasible. Objective 1: Prevent the introduction and spread of INNS within the River Dee catchment. Key Actions A. Establish programme to raise awareness with stakeholders B. Encourage use of good practice within key stakeholder groups C. Establish and extend disinfection programme to cover likely pathways of entry The River Dee catchment contains various INNS and stopping the further spread of these species and preventing the colonisation of new INNS offers the most efficient and effective means of control. Awareness-raising activities will be focussed on addressing local priorities as well as supporting the GB Awareness and Communication strategy and its key messages to the general public. The key stakeholders, the identified areas of priority and the proposed mechanisms for delivery are presented in Table 4. The roles and actions of key government agencies and non-government bodies in promoting awareness of INNS issues is presented in Table 5. 22 PUBLIC Table 4: Priority areas for awareness and delivery mechanisms according to stakeholder group Stakeholders Priority Areas Mechanism of Delivery Local fish farm - Inform fish farms of the impact of INNS and how they spread - Dangers of importing from contaminated areas - Use of proper screens and other biosecurity measures - Need for controls on movement of stock and water - Educate trade buyers to avoid stocking invasive species - Promotion of existing codes of practice covering the security and disposal of INNS to all garden centres - Target gardeners to dispose plant material and/or soils in a responsible manner - Promote code of practice to all pet shops and suppliers of ornamental fish - Target aquarists and pond keepers to dispose of unwanted animals or plants in a responsible manner - Promote awareness to clubs and participants of the dangers arising from INNS - Identification of suitable people to act as monitors for GFT to watch for any INNS species in their activity area - Promote knowledge of biosecurity issues amongst all tenants and resource users - Identification of suitable persons to act as monitors for GFT - GFT to liaise with local industry and trade associations to advise members regularly of best practice in respect of INNS - Invasive Species Scotland website - Marine Scotland Fish Health Inspectors to discuss with fish farms during audits Local garden centres Local Aquarium and pond stockists Water user associations (canoeists, sailing clubs) Riparian landowners 23 - GFT to work with garden centres to encourage distribution of codes and posters (available from Plantlife) and to advise the general public of INNS issues - GFT to work with retailers to encourage distribution of codes and posters (available from Plantlife) - GFT to work with associations to promote check clean dry for equipment. - DSFB’s and Improvement Associations to work with GFT to ensure dissemination of best practices and appropriate signage to reduce threats from INNS - GFT to offer training for monitors PUBLIC Stakeholders Priority Areas Angling clubs - Promote knowledge of biosecurity issues amongst all members and visiting anglers - Ensure the distribution of information and erection of signage in fishing huts and recognised car parks - Recommend suitable members to act as monitors - General awareness of impacts and measures to prevent/control INNS General public Mechanism of Delivery Contractors / Ground maintenance workers - General awareness of impacts and measures to prevent/control INNS Schools - General awareness of impacts and measures to prevent/control INNS 24 - Local AC’s work with GFT to ensure dissemination of best practices and appropriate signage to reduce threats from INNS - GFT to work with clubs to promote check clean dry for equipment - GFT to offer training for monitors - Local Media Campaigns - Use of social media - GFT to develop a leaflet to promote the biosecurity plan, the dangers arising from INNS and the reporting system - Promote the biosecurity plan to all retail outlets who deal with NNS e.g. pet shops, garden centres - GFT to work with industry bodies to ensure dissemination of best practices - GFT to offer training for monitors through industry bodies - School visits focusing on key species and explaining the problems associated and what they can do to help PUBLIC Table 5: Roles and/or actions of key government and non-government agencies in promoting awareness of INNS issues Organisation GFT Role and/or action - Promote awareness to general water users promoting the biosecurity plan and highlighting the dangers from INNS DSFBs - Continue to promote awareness to anglers and angling clubs of the dangers arising from INNS - Promote use of codes of best practice for construction, haulage, horticulture, aquaculture amongst local business and relevant departments particularly construction, garden and pet trade - Encourage responsibility within Local Authorities for the control of all INNS on public land D&G Council SEPA - Clarify SEPA responsibilities for INNS to both staff and customers - Incorporate INNS issues into relevant authorisation and guidance documents (as they are developed or updated) SNH - Promotion of good practice in the prevention, control and eradication of INNS - Provision of funding for local INNS initiatives - Promotion of good practice in the prevention, control and eradication of INNS NTS Delivery Mechanisms - Promote and launch of biosecurity plan -Distribute information leaflets to stakeholders and members of the public -Promote reporting system - Highlight potential risks of fish movements between catchments - continue to promote check clean dry for equipment - Councils to promote codes of best practice at every opportunity e.g. including INNS guidance with planning applications and building warrants - Holding of awareness event/open days to promote biosecurity issues - Issue INNS ID and guidance cards to appropriate council staff - Display posters (Check, Clean, Dry) in council offices, libraries and other public places - maintain page on website with links to relevant SEPA information and other sites e.g. Non-Native Species Secretariat - Ensure relevant documents available for download on SEPA website - Holding of SNH Sharing Good Practice events. - Grant funding may be available for some projects -Producing method statement for removal of boats and engines from the water surrounding Threave Castle -Erecting signs around NTS visitor attractions -Fishing permits will promote biosecurity -Partnering with GFT to carry out school projects and information events. 25 PUBLIC Objective 2: Develop systems to ensure the detection and surveillance of INNS and rapid response to the threat. Key Actions A. Establish an ‘early warning system’ for detecting new threats B. Develop strategic monitoring of INNS in Galloway C. Develop rapid response protocols for new significant threats to local biodiversity and economy Early Warning System The monitors of the early warning system will be trained members of the public, anglers, bailiffs, ghillies, canoeists and walkers, with reported sightings verified by trained GFT personnel. A sighting of a GB or local high priority species (Table 6) will be verified if possible by appropriate personnel. If confirmed, it will initiate the appropriate GB or local high priority response. Reports of priority species will be verified as time permits. All verified sightings will also be entered onto the GFT Geographic Information System (GIS) database to monitor INNS distributions within the region. INNS Reported by Monitors Verification by GFT Report to NNSS Portal Appropriate Response Activated Establish rapid response mechanism for new high-risk INNS The type of response will depend on the severity of the species detected (Table 6) and is proportionate to the threat posed. There are three levels of response: • • • a GB level response that will be undertaken by national governmental institutions as part of the GB INNS strategy a high priority local rapid response a priority local rapid response 26 PUBLIC Table 6: Response level for the invasive non-native species GB Response Gyrodactylus salaris Asian top mouth gudgeon Water primrose Wireweed High Priority Local Response Killer shrimp North American signal crayfish Chinese mitten crab Zebra mussel Priority Local Response American Mink Parrot feather Canadian pond weed Japanese knotweed Water primrose Himalayan balsam Water fern Large flowered waterweed Rhododendron Anasakis sp Australian swamp stonecrop Slipper limpet Common cord grass Fanwort Curly waterweed Floating pennywort Escaped farm salmon Sitka spruce regen Giant hogweed American skunk cabbage A confirmed sighting of a GB priority species will trigger the GB contingency plan for that species e.g. Gyrodactylus salaris. However, there is still a need for local level protocols to link with the GB response as well as for local level contingency plans for local priority species. The elements to be included in the response to detection of a GB priority species or the contingency plans for local priority species are outlined in Table 7. Table 7: Elements of contingency plans or protocols for response to GB priority, local high priority and priority species GB Response Report to local and GB institutions - Determine the extent of infestation - Isolation of area where practicable Local High Priority Response Report to local and GB institutions - Determine the extent of infestation - Isolation of area where practicable - Establish source and check related sites - Closure of all pathways - Decision on appropriate action eradication/containment. - Approved eradication methodology - Monitor 27 Local Priority Response Report to local and GB institutions - Determination of the extent of infestation - Surveys in course of normal work to establish and map distribution - Inclusion of new areas in existing eradication/control programmes - Identification and closure all pathways - Monitor as part of planned catchment monitoring programme PUBLIC Objective 3: Develop effective control and eradication programmes for INNS present in the River Dee catchment. Key Actions A. Collect data on distribution and abundance of existing threats B. Develop and initiate control and eradication programmes to tackle threats C. Coordinate partnerships with other organisations to source future funding and develop projects to ensure long-term control and eradication A. Collect data on distribution and abundance For effective INNS control and eradication programmes, it is essential that the current distribution and abundance of INNS is known. To collect accurate and up-to-date on INNS distribution, the following actions are required: • • • Continue and expand specific surveys for INNS to address the question of INNS within the River Dee catchment Liaison with SNH, D & G Council, SEPA and other groups to standardise survey methods and combine current knowledge of distribution and abundance of existing INNS in the area Work with South West Scotland Environmental Information Centre to collect reports and survey data B. Develop and initiate control and eradication programmes As surveys continue to reveal the distribution and extent of INNS in Galloway, control and eradication programmes will be considered in conjunction with key stakeholders using up-todate NNSS advice on good practice for each INNS present. The GFT will liaise with the NNSS for current good practice and with other specialists on their practical experiences with control and eradication programmes. Control and eradication programmes will depend upon the nature of the INNS threat and different stakeholders will be involved in and lead different programmes depending on the threat. A combination of specialist contractors, volunteers, river managers, local estate staff and GFT staff forum will be used depending on the management requirements of the area involved. STEP 1 • Survey of river catchments STEP 2 • Initial treatment of affected areas STEP 3 • Follow up control and monitoring STEP 4 • Habitat restoration and monitoring Figure 2: Flow chart detailing program structure Envisaged mitigation, eradication and control measures for the some of the INNS present in the River Dee catchment are presented in Table 8. 28 PUBLIC Table 8: Invasive Non-Native Species control and Eradication in the Kirkcudbrightshire Dee catchment Species Japanese knotweed / Himalayan knotweed Action Control/eradication Identify and close pathways Rhododendron At key riparian locations control / eradicate Survey for problem areas Control/eradication Identify and close pathways Himalayan balsam Sitka spruce regeneration Remove naturally seeded conifers in riparian buffer zones (as defined in Forest and Water Guidelines) American mink Control Rainbow trout Monitor angler catches Giant Hogweed Canadian Pondweed Control/eradication Identify and close pathway Monitor distribution and consider risk of spread to other catchments Eradication and monitor distribution American Skunk cabbage Eradication, identify and close pathways Giant rhubarb Curly water weed Escaped salmon Monitor distribution Monitor distribution Eradicate North American signal crayfish Treatment/post treatment Undertake control (through glyphosate spraying and injecting) on riparian areas across all main river systems and their tributaries. Map, quantify and control knotweed on coastal burns Undertake control (through cutting followed by herbicide treatment) in identified riparian areas Undertake control (by glyphosate spraying, strimming or hand pulling) in all areas where Balsam identified Control regeneration Sitka spruce trees by strimming, hand cutting or chain sawing – depending on size – within 20 m of all burns over 1 m width, on a 10 year rotation Continue and expand catchment co-ordinated trapping programmes Encourage anglers to kill all rod- caught rainbow trout present in running waters Spray with glyphosate up to three times a year Trial eradication methods at two important fishery waters (Ornockenoch Loch and Black Loch). If successful roll out into other affected waters Appears to be in low numbers so control with glyphosate Circulate advice on recognising fish farm escaped salmon. Ensure all anglers kill any rod caught escape salmon 29 PUBLIC C. Coordinate partnerships to source future funding and develop projects Any progress made in the control of INNS can be quickly undermined and resources wasted if continued, long-term commitment is not present. There are many organisations with a remit and desire to control INNS. The GFT will seek to form and coordinate partnerships with these organisations and neighbouring fisheries trusts to identify funding sources and potential projects that ensure sustainable control of INNS in Galloway. Such partnership working will be essential to bring about large-scale resource-intensive projects. 30 PUBLIC 10.2 Actions and timeframes The table below presents the actions required to realise the objectives and outputs described in Section 10.1 along with the lead agency, key partners and timeframe required for their implementation. Key: Solid line indicates continuous action Action Lead Dotted line indicates ongoing / wide timescale effort Partners TIMEFRAME 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Objective 1: Prevent the introduction and spread of INN species Launch of Galloway biosecurity plan through national and local press release Produce leaflet on legislation including waste management & planning regulations Produce leaflet(s) on biosecurity issues and the reporting system Produce posters on biosecurity issues and distribute to the general public Develop good practice protocol with Harbour Authority Distribute Codes and posters to relevant retail outlets and clubs at open days and events such as agricultural shows Engage with Landowners and angling clubs to promote awareness of measures to tenants, resource users, members and visitors Work with environmental groups and local schools to enhance awareness of INNS GFT GGLP, SEPA, NTS, SNH D & G Council SNH GFT SNH GFT NTS SEPA GFT Port Authorities GFT SEPA, GFT, SNH GFT DSFB’s SEPA, SNH,NTS GFT SNH, NTS, SEPA Objective 2: Establish framework for the detection and surveillance of INN species, linked to a protocol to ensure a rapid management response. Output 2.1 - ‘Reporting system’ established for INN species in Galloway. Train GFT personnel in GFT SNH the identification of INNS Work with user and GFT NTS, SEPA, GGLP interest groups to identify monitors 31 PUBLIC Action Lead Partners Training of monitors GFT SNH SEPA FLS NTS HES SEPA SWSEIC NTS TIMEFRAME 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Establish, test and refine GFT communication mechanisms within surveillance system Monitor and periodically GFT & other RAFTS evaluate efficacy of partners surveillance system Output 2.2 – Develop strategic monitoring of INN species in district. Training of Trust and GFT SFCC other agency staff in SEPA monitoring methods D & G Council Develop monitoring SFCC SEPA (National) manual Output 2.3 – Rapid response mechanism established for new INN species which pose significant threats to local biodiversity and economy. Formulate contingency GFT D & G Council, SEPA, plans for key species SNH, NTS Identification of personnel GFT and SNH D & G Council, SEPA for response teams Training of personnel to GFT and SNH D & G Council, SEPA execute contingency plans Refresher training GFT Monitor GFT SNH, SEPA, populations/treated areas D & G Council, NTS Objective 3: Develop coordinated control and eradication programmes for INNS Output 3.1- Collect data on the distribution and abundance of existing threats Complete catchment GFT and other wide surveys by trained partners personnel Objective 3.2 – Develop and initiate control and eradication programmes Implementation of GFT Local volunteers, control/ eradication DSFB’s, SNH, SEPA, programme for riparian FLS, RSPB, NTS INNS plants (Knotweed, rhododendron, skunk cabbage, balsam, giant hogweed, Sitka spruce regeneration) Implementation of mink GFT/DSFB/NTS Volunteers, SNH trapping programme Survey of screening GFT DSFB’s, MS facilities on stillwaters containing non-native fish Monitor distribution of DGERC SNH, Solway Partnership curly waterweed, common cord grass and wireweed Monitor the effectiveness GFT of control programmes Various Objective 3.3 – Coordinate partnerships to source future funding and develop projects 32 PUBLIC Action Lead Partners Complete draft biosecurity plan Consultation with all stakeholders to agree biosecurity plan Identify and develop opportunities for future funding of eradication projects GFT SEPA, SNH GFT GFT SEPA, SNH,NTS 33 TIMEFRAME 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 PUBLIC 11 MONITORING To ensure the effective implementation of this plan, it is vital that the outcomes and impacts of the actions are monitored and reviewed to ensure that the objectives are being met. Thus a fully coordinated monitoring programme must be established to ensure efficacy and sustainable treatment initiatives and include: • • • • • • Assessment of efficacy of surveillance and rapid response systems Occurrence and distribution of the selected INNS within the district Effectiveness of control/eradication programme Assessment of the ability to close established pathways of transmission Monitoring the effectiveness of all legislation and codes of practice especially those which are aimed at restricting/closing pathways Monitoring general activities within the district and assessing them in terms of risk for the introduction of INNS A monitoring programme will be developed based on the agreed objectives and outputs of this plan. Monitoring activities will be undertaken by GFT staff in conjunction with stakeholder representatives who by virtue of their work are out in the catchment on a regular basis e.g. roads department and access officers employed by local councils. 34 PUBLIC 12 REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation GGLP NTS DSFBs FLS DGERC GFT MS NNSS SEPA SFCC SNH Organisation Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership National Trust of Scotland District Salmon Fisheries Boards Forestry and Land Scotland Dumfries and Galloway Environmental Resources Centre Galloway Fisheries Trust Marine Scotland Non Native Species Secretariat Scottish Environment Protection Agency Scottish Fisheries Co-ordination Centre Scottish Natural Heritage Brockman, R. and Holden, M. (2015). River Stour Biosecurity and Invasive Non-Native Species Control Action Plan. Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Beauty & Stour Valley Project. Available: http://www.dedhamvalestourvalley.org/assets/River-Stour-Projects/Stand-AloneStour-Biosecurity-Plan-V2-10-06-2015.pdf. Last accessed: 9th Nov 2019. CBD. (2013). Quick guides to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Convention on Biological Diversity. Available: https://www.cbd.int/doc/strategic-plan/targets/compilation-quick-guideen.pdf. Last accessed: 9th Nov 2019. CBD. (2015a). What are Invasive Alien Species? Convention on Biological Diversity. Available: https://www.cbd.int/invasive/WhatareIAS.shtml. Last accessed: 5th Nov 2019. CBD. (2015b). Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Convention on Biological Diversity. Available: https://www.cbd.int/sp/targets/. Last accessed: 8th Nov 2019. CEH. (2004a). Information Sheet 7: Canadian Waterweed. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Available at: http://www.ceh.ac.uk/sci_programmes/documents/canadianpondweed.pdf. Last accessed: 9th Nov 2019. CEH. (2004b). Information Sheet; Lagarosiphon major, Curly water Thyme, Curly Waterweed. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Available at: http://www.ceh.ac.uk/sci_programmes/documents/curlywaterthymecurlywaterweed.pdf. Last accessed: 31st October 2019. CRF, (2014). Chinese mitten crab: update. Clyde River Foundation. Available: http://www.clyderiverfoundation.org/chinese-mitten-crab-update/. Last accessed: 28th Oct 2019. NNSS. (2011a). Parrot's Feather, Myriophyllum aquaticum. Non-Native Species Secretariat. Available: http://www.nonnativespecies.org/factsheet/factsheet.cfm?speciesId=2285. Last accessed: 25th Oct 2019. NNSS. (2011b). Giant Rhubarb, Gunnera tinctoria. Non-Native Species Secretariat. Available: http://www.nonnativespecies.org//factsheet/factsheet.cfm?speciesId=1647. Last Accessed: 25th Oct 2019. NNSS. (2011c). Zebra Mussel, Dreissena polymorpha. Non-Native Species Secretariat. Available: http://www.nonnativespecies.org/factsheet/factsheet.cfm?speciesId=1250. Last accessed: 25th Oct 2019. 35 PUBLIC NNSS. (2015). GB INNS Strategy 2015. Available: http://www.nonnativespecies.org/index.cfm?sectionid=55. Last accessed: 7 th Nov 2019. Plantlife and Royal Horticultural Society. (2010). Gardening without harmful invasive plants. Available at: http://www.plantlife.org.uk/publications/gardening_without_harmful_invasive_plants. Last accessed: 9th Nov 2019. Roy, H.E., Preston, C.D., Harrower, C.A., Rorke, S.L., Noble, D., Sewell, J., Walker, K. Marchant, J., Seeley, B., Bishop, J., Jukes, A., Musgrove, A., Pearman, D., Booy, O. (2014) GB Non-native Species Information Portal: documenting the arrival of non-native species in Britain. Biological Invasions. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10530-0140687-0. Last accessed: 9th Nov 2019. Sanderson, N. (2013). New Forest Non-Native Plants Project, Research on the impact of Skunk Cabbage Lysichiton americanus on native vegetation. New Forest Non-Native Plants Project. Available: http://www.nonnativespecies.org/index.cfm?pageid=413. Last accessed: 26th Oct 2019. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). (2006) Global Biodiversity Outlook 2. Montreal, 81 + vii pages. SNH. (2016). Scotland’s Biodiversity Progress to 2020 Aichi Targets. Available: https://www.nature.scot/sites/default/files/2017-11/Aichi-Targets-Interim-Report-September2016-A2098126.pdf. Last accessed: 9th Nov 2019. Solway Firth Partnership. (2017). Marine Invasive Non-Native Species in the Solway Firth. Available: https://solwayfirthpartnership.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Marine-INNS-inSolway-2018-2021.pdf. Last accessed: 9th Nov 2019. Solway Firth Partnership. (2019) Invasive Non Native Species. Available https://www.solwayfirthpartnership.co.uk/environment/invasive-non-native-species/. accessed: 25th Oct 2019. from: Last Williams, F., Eschen, R.,Harris, A.,Djeddour, D.,Pratt, C., Shaw, R.S., Varia, S., LamontagneGodwin, J.,Thomas, S.E., Murphy, S.T. . (2010). The Economic Cost of Invasive Non-Native Species on Great Britain. Available: https://www.cabi.org/VetMedResource/ebook/20123122024 . Last accessed: 9th November 2019. 36  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 5 Year Biosecurity Plan for the Kirkcudbrightshire Dee Catchment 2020-2024 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GGLP_34 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Description An account of the resource Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership Commissioned Report undertaken by Galloway Fisheries Trust environment GGLP https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/20/601/CAP_Theme_1_Glenkens_Gazette_Comms_Survey_Summary_cover.jpg 509c0e0d728dc863ac0b82f75605f06e https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/20/601/CAP_Theme_1_Glenkens_Gazette_Comms_Survey_Summary.pdf 0c6229e5b28190e4b72a1553fae4186f PDF Text Text pdftext_placeholder Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Community Action Plan Description An account of the resource Documents relating to the Glenkens and District Community Action Plan, initially drawn up by Glenkens & District Trust in 2020. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Project: A Connected Community Stage: Survey Research Summary Prepared by: Gill Warnock Date: October 2021 For: Glenkens & District Trust (GDT) & Glenkens Community & Arts Trust (GCAT) Survey Details We surveyed people in the Glenkens in July to August for their views on wider communication issues and to gather specific feedback on the Gazette. We received 103 responses to a four-page survey with nearly three-quarters completing it online. Survey Results: How people access local news, and information about the Glenkens We found people use a variety of sources for local information (24 additional sources were mentioned on top of those given). Facebook is the most popular (60% use regularly) except for those aged 65 & over who prefer local newspapers. For those aged 75 or over local newspapers eclipsed all other options. Nobody aged over 75 mentioned Twitter, Instagram or WhatsApp. Conversely, nobody aged under 55 mentioned national newspapers or radio. Smartphones were the most popular daily device across all ages. Even the least smartphone-friendly (those aged 75 or over) reported daily use from half of respondents Survey Results: Their views on the future for communications in the Glenkens The most popular idea was a website featuring urgent local information and event details (for attendees and organisers). Even the two least popular suggestions (tourist information and directory services) were of interest to 80% of respondents. Only one third of respondents entered their own suggestions. The most frequently mentioned idea was a website: updated daily with centralised information and links to other websites, Facebook pages, local directory and local producers listing etc. Survey Results: Their views on the Gazette Over two thirds of people read all or most of every issue and just under two-thirds keep it for reference (older age groups are more likely to do so). People were overwhelmingly happy with the usual contents and nobody felt there was too much local news, what’s on listings, freecycle or local directory content. All options had notable amounts of respondents feeling there was ‘too little’ especially What’s On Listings, Freecycle and local issues. The most popular responses for favourite content were news and history. Suggestions for the future included (in descending order of frequency): specific article ideas, general requests to include – or less frequently exclude – certain topics and ideas on Gazette distribution, publication frequency and promotion. Survey Results: Demographic information We received slightly more responses from females than males and from older age ranges. 55-64 year olds were the biggest group though we had responses from ‘under 18’ to ‘75 & over’. Almost all respondents gave Glenkens postcodes. They identified overwhelmingly as ‘white’. Over half of respondents were retired but nearly one in five ran their own business. Over half reported doing regular voluntary work which far exceeds the Scottish average for rural areas. Next Steps GDT and GCAT are considering full project reports.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Connected Community - Survey Research Summary Description An account of the resource Survey of people in the Glenkens in July to August 2021 for their views on wider communication issues and to gather specific feedback on the Gazette. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CAP_4 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Glenkens & District Trust CAP Theme 1 communication https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/20/628/A_Review_of_Rural_Education_in_the_Glenkens.jpg e578f167cd838e0b357b12f35e341e67 https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/20/628/A_Review_of_Rural_Education_in_the_Glenkens.1.pdf c4646c5b4c7416e47f85cee92e2fd64f PDF Text Text pdftext_placeholder Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Community Action Plan Description An account of the resource Documents relating to the Glenkens and District Community Action Plan, initially drawn up by Glenkens & District Trust in 2020. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document A review of rural education in the Glenkens Commissioned by the Glenkens and District Trust Written by Thomas Fisher and Theona Morrison, CoDeL November 2024 A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 2 Executive Summary This report reviews the links between education and the sustainability of rural communities. The review focuses on opportunities and challenges for educational provision in the Glenkens, a dynamic and engaged rural community in Dumfries and Galloway (D&G). The research reviewed some of the latest national and international research, and created case studies of practical strategies for delivering education in rural areas. The researchers also facilitated community sessions and interviewed people with relevant insights. Key findings: ✓ Educational opportunities are intricately bound up with community and economic development, as well as housing provision, and should not be seen in isolation. ✓ The provision of rural education plays critical roles in … • delivering on national (Scottish) and local (D&G) policy to support thriving rural communities, directly addressing depopulation and developing skills, opportunities and resilience for their long-term sustainability; • equipping rural communities with the skills to respond to the twin climate and biodiversity emergencies, building on existing local knowledge and experience; • sustaining vibrant local economies, through education that meets the recruitment needs of local employers, in the present and the future, and encourages enterprise. ✓ Recent rigorous research shows that school closures lead to local rural depopulation in the medium term. ✓ Place-based education can contribute to the sustainability of rural areas. It rebalances schooling not just to focus on ‘learning to leave’, but gives young people skills, opportunities and genuine choice to pursue their lives and careers locally, or elsewhere. ✓ Small rural schools face challenges, but can deliver many benefits to their communities and pupils, giving them a sense of belonging, respect and resilience to become responsible and contributing individuals, whatever pathway they take beyond school. ✓ There are many successful models of educational provision that have been developed to sustain rural communities in practice, for example, • learning locally relevant rural skills, drawing on local knowledge and resources (Perthshire); • developing curriculum opportunities and accredited qualifications that create pathways for young people into local employment and enterprise (D&G, Outer Hebrides and the Isle of Wight); • Developing life-long learning opportunities through diverse community organisations, in partnership with the public and private sectors (Uist and Denmark). A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 3 Hearing the voices of local people led to an emerging vision for education in the Glenkens: to create an educational hub at the heart of the community to deliver rural place-based learning from cradle to grave. The hub could become a centre of excellence for relevant rural skills, for example for the land-based and renewable energy sectors. This review was commissioned by the Glenkens and District Trust to set out options for educational provision to support the goal within the local Community Action Plan “to be an area where people will want to live, work, bring up their families and grow old.” The review was delivered by CoDeL, a social enterprise based in the Outer Hebrides with knowledge and experience in rural and island issues across Scotland and internationally, including depopulation and education. About the authors CoDeL’s two founding Directors, Thomas Fisher and Theona Morrison (who is also the current Chair of Scottish Rural Action that delivers the Scottish Rural Parliaments), bring extensive experience and understanding of rural issues, not just through research and policy development, but also direct lived experience of delivering and facilitating community action across a wide range of sectors for 20+ and 30+ years respectively in the Outer Hebrides, and previously in many different contexts within Scotland, Britain, Europe and internationally. Both Theona and Thomas have direct and long-term experience of innovating and delivering education and learning that directly addresses the specific needs of rural communities and local economies. Theona worked for almost 20 years for the Education Department in the local council in the Outer Hebrides, including a strong focus on enterprise education informed by a deep understanding of local economic literacy. In particular, she developed education linked to the needs of the local economy, and was part of the team that ensured the council adopted the Vocational Education Strategy in 2008. She managed the development of the first crofting course for schools delivered at the local secondary school in Uist, and supported the development of other vocational training matched to the needs and opportunities of the local economy, e.g. in health and social care. She has continued to support this kind of work as a member of the UHI Post Graduate Nursing & Midwifery Committee and of the advisory group that supported Community Land Scotland to develop curriculum resources for schools. Thomas organised the first Children’s Parliament group of children aged 8 to 13 in Uist and Barra, worked for almost a decade at the local adult education centre, Cothrom, a local social enterprise with a special focus on adults facing challenges in their lives. At Cothrom he developed the Enterprising Young People’s programme with Theona at the Education Department, delivering enterprise workshops for all senior phase pupils across the Outer Hebrides. Thomas also developed two mentoring programmes for young people, and, as a long-term facilitator for the Social Enterprise Academy, designed and delivered the first Wide Horizons programmes for young unemployed people, which have been delivered across the Highlands and Islands, and a range of leadership programmes, including for young leaders in rural and island communities. A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 4 Table of Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................... 2 About the authors ............................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction to this review............................................................................................................. 5 Introduction to CoDeL .................................................................................................................... 6 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 6 Context and issues............................................................................................................................. 7 The context: the Glenkens and Dumfries and Galloway .................................................................. 7 School closures and rural depopulation ......................................................................................... 9 Centralisation vs. local educational provision ............................................................................... 10 Opportunities and challenges of small schools ............................................................................. 13 The demands of the twin climate and biodiversity emergencies ................................................... 16 A note on integrated policy .......................................................................................................... 18 Potential models: evidence from within and beyond Dumfries and Galloway .................................. 19 Example 1: Rural skills (Breadalbane Academy and the Rural Skills Training Centre) ..................... 19 Example 2: Subject offerings and accredited qualifications relevant to the local economy (Outer Hebrides, Dumfries and Galloway, and the Isle of Wight) .................................................. 20 Example 3: Offering wider curriculum choices in small schools (Shetland and e-Sgoil) .................. 23 Example 4: Rethinking local food (Propagate)............................................................................... 25 Example 5: The Interns Project under the Galloway Glens Initiative.............................................. 26 Example 6: Enterprising Young People in the Outer Hebrides ....................................................... 26 Example 7: Life-long learning within the community (Uist and Denmark) ..................................... 28 Conclusions: looking forward ........................................................................................................... 29 Key principles emerging from this review ..................................................................................... 29 An emerging vision for educational provision in the Glenkens ...................................................... 31 Is the ambitious vision practical and achievable? ......................................................................... 33 Assets and strengths that can contribute to the realisation of the emerging vision ....................... 34 A note on housing ........................................................................................................................ 36 Reflections on options for education in the Glenkens ................................................................... 36 Concluding remarks ......................................................................................................................... 37 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 38 References....................................................................................................................................... 39 A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 5 Introduction Introduction to this review This review was commissioned by the Glenkens and District Trust (GDT). The Glenkens is an active and engaged rural community in Dumfries and Galloway (D&G). The Trust, established in 2011, is a fund distribution body to resource, enable and stimulate community development in the Glenkens and surrounding communities, defined as the Community Council areas of Balmaghie, Balmaclellan, Carsphairn, Corsock & Kirkpatrick Durham, Crossmichael, St. Johns Town of Dalry, Dunscore, Glencairn, New Galloway & Kells and Parton. The decision to commission this review was triggered by the proposed mothballing of Dalry Secondary School, but GDT wanted to review options for educational provision within the area more generally, rather than focusing just on the future of Dalry. GDT wanted “research to explore developments in, and discussions around, rural education in Scotland and beyond, particularly in areas that are suffering depopulation and have seen a decline in school rolls”. The aim is that this report “will be used to inform local groups, the Education Forum and the Council on potential options for educational arrangements in our area. Among other benefits this should support the goal in our Community Action Plan to be an area where people will want to live, to work, to bring up their families and to grow old. It could also be used to input into consultations by the Council’s Education Department on the future of education facilities in the Glenkens.” These aims reflect the integration of this review within other community processes, including the Glenkens and District Community Action Plan (CAP; see here) and the Education Forum set up by the CAP Steering Group, at the same time that GDT commissioned this review. The Glenkens is in fact a highly organised community that adopted the CAP in 2020, with three closely connected but distinct voluntary entities to ensure delivery and accountability of the Plan: GDT, the Community Action Plan Steering Group and the Glenkens Community and Arts Trust (GCAT). At an event on Education and Learning in the Glenkens in July 2024 (see here), Helen Keron, Executive Manager of GCAT, explained: The underlying aim of the CAP is for the Glenkens to be ‘a connected, resilient and carbon neutral place, where people will want to live, work and visit, to bring up their families, and to grow old’. The Community Action Plan is fully aligned with D&G Council’s Locality Plans and the South of Scotland Regional Economic Strategy – it represents non-siloed thinking that embodies ‘place’ and community wealth building in their widest senses. The CAP does not explicitly mention education; it was created by the communities in 2020 in the context that the current educational provision was thought to be assured. However, Education and Learning is an underpinning element of the ‘Economically Flourishing’ theme of the CAP, and the overall goal of sustainable communities. Cradle-to-grave education and learning provision is a crucial part of community wellbeing and empowerment, as well as averting depopulation. Can we work together to find a pathway between the current status quo and no provision at all? We are looking for a creative solution based on a vision of thriving rural communities where current and future economic development is underpinned by innovative educational provision, working in strategic partnership with businesses, communities and the Council and where all parties are valued for their expertise. A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 6 Introduction to CoDeL GDT commissioned Community Development Lens (CoDeL), based in Uist in the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), to deliver the review. CoDeL was launched in 2018 on the back of community-rooted research on young people returning, settling or staying in Uist. This led to collaboration with the James Hutton Institute on the Islands Revival blog bringing together case studies of island communities that were turning the tide of depopulation. This work changed the narrative around island demographics within Scotland. During Covid CoDeL led the partnership for an EU-funded research project that included 13 universities, research institutes, public bodies and private and social enterprises. The project researched the economic impacts of Covid on so-called ‘remote’ rural communities across the Northern Periphery and Arctic, from Canada to Finland, and including Scotland and Ireland. This research changed the narrative on ‘remote’ communities, highlighting their strengths, assets and resilience in times of crisis. The research earned CoDeL the Best RSA Blog Post of 2022 Award from the global Regional Studies Association. CoDeL has continued to do community-rooted research, on young island voices, rural social enterprise, community responses to evolving environmental policies, and case studies on community action in Uist and the Glenkens (working with GCAT, the Galloway Food Hub and Bairn Banter). CoDeL also delivers Uist Beò, an innovative digital platform to support repopulation within Uist (see here). CoDeL’s two founding Directors, Thomas Fisher and Theona Morrison (who is also the current Chair of Scottish Rural Action that delivers the Scottish Rural Parliaments), bring extensive experience and understanding of rural issues. This comes not just through research and policy development, but also from direct lived experience of delivering and facilitating community action across a wide range of sectors for 20+ and 30+ years respectively in the Outer Hebrides; and previously also in many different contexts within Scotland, Britain, Europe and internationally. Both Theona and Thomas have direct and long-term experience of innovating and delivering education and learning that directly addresses the specific needs of rural communities and local economies (see further about the authors at the end of this report). Methodology This report is based on a review of relevant published literature, interviews, case studies, and local community engagement. Literature review Although not always easy to find, there is in fact a significant and growing body of published research on rural education from across Europe and North America, on the challenges and opportunities of small rural schools and how rural education intersects with the development and sustainability of rural communities, including around depopulation. What was immediately apparent from this research is how common the themes and challenges, policy measures and opportunities are across different countries and places, and how emerging research is influencing insights elsewhere within Europe and North America. Dr Anna Karlsdottir, a Nordic academic, for example pointed to “a rapid decrease in the number of schools in rural areas in the Nordic countries” (personal communication). The situation in the Glenkens, and in Dumfries and Galloway generally, is far from unique, and examples and research findings from other countries are of significant relevance. A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 7 Interviews and case studies A larger research project would have allowed more extensive processing of this growing body of published research, which makes clear the impact of rural education policy on the future of young people and of rural communities. This is especially the case when such policy is not designed within a more integrated policy framework, including around depopulation and the climate emergency. However, the published research does not often reveal practical strategies for delivering effective rural education that can support and sustain local communities and economies amidst the current challenges, not least financial constraints. That is why the methodology included searching for some unpublished materials as well as interviews of individuals with relevant experience and insight. The interviews and other communications have included senior staff within Education Scotland, a senior education policy maker in Ireland, and Headteachers or teachers from other schools. The insights from this have been captured in a range of case studies found in the appendices to this report, including some case studies written by CoDeL itself. These have been supplemented by case studies which were shared at the event on Education and Learning in the Glenkens in July (see Glenkens and District Community Action Plan Steering Group et al, 2024). Material from the case studies is cited in this report, but those who want more detail can view each of the case studies. Community engagement The third major component of the methodology has been community engagement, participating in the July event in the Glenkens, delivering two community sessions in the Glenkens itself in September (attended by current and former parents and pupils, and the new Head Teacher at Dalry), and conducting seven interviews, including with the Executive Director of Education in D&G Council. The published research, especially on placed-based or place-conscious education, demonstrates that effective educational provision that is rooted in local places and communities must be adapted to the specific context in each place. For example, the local economy and the network of potential partners for engaging with local education will be different in each place. That is why voices and insights of local people are just as important as any published research. Indeed, with the deep commitment to education that communities in the Glenkens have demonstrated over many decades, it is apparent that there is significant insight and experience within the Glenkens, which has informed this review and could help with developing and implementing effective local educational strategies in future. Context and issues The context: the Glenkens and Dumfries and Galloway The Glenkens is a collection of remote-rural villages in Dumfries and Galloway, facing significant challenges of social isolation, rural poverty and inequity of provision. It has an older demographic, with very low numbers of 18-35 year olds. At the same time, the Glenkens has a track record of community empowerment stretching back decades, with many and diverse community organisations and actions. The Glenkens is increasingly organised and ambitious, aligned across the area around the Community Action Plan, published in September 2020 after significant community consultation. The Glenkens fall within Dumfries and Galloway (D&G) in south west Scotland. The region is a highly rural area, with agriculture accounting for 70% of land, and woodland a further 25%, with only three A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 8 towns with a population of more than 5000 people. The opening paragraph of the Vision for Land Use in the Glenkens (see here) reflects much of D&G as a whole (although not its coastal areas): We are a forested area, a farming area, an energy generation area. We are a watery area, given life by our rivers and lochs. Our natural environment is so special that we are part of the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere. Our landscapes attract visitors from all over the world. We are a peaty area and our soil stores some of Scotland’s best carbon. At the same time Dumfries and Galloway faces significant demographic challenges. The D&G Council Plan for 2023-28 (see here) expects the overall population to decline by almost 3% by 2028. Dumfries and Galloway has a greater proportion of older adults and a median age of 49.6 years compared to Scotland's (42 years). The population is aging and it is expected the proportion of older adults will grow over time with the number of younger people decreasing. The population projections by National Records of Scotland (NRS) in 2018 predicted that by 2043, for every 10 people of working age there will be 9 children or older adults, compared to 7 currently. The overall vision and ambition of the D&G Council Plan for 2023-28 is “to be a successful region, with a growing economy, based on fairness, opportunity and quality public services, where all citizens prosper. Working in partnership, with connected, healthy and sustainable communities. The region will be the natural place to live, work, visit and invest.” From the Dumfries and Galloway Council Plan for 2023-28: on education “The Council will improve education and learning opportunities to help all our children, young people and citizens fulfil their potential. This starts with pre-school, then school, before progressing into further or higher education or transition into work. “We will work with our partners to create and promote lifelong learning opportunities so everyone in the region can live a meaningful and fulfilling life, and contribute to their community.” ** Places of learning are inclusive, sustainable and meet the needs of local communities. ** Children, young people and adults transition successfully through all life stages. ** Young people and adults succeed in what they want to achieve. ** Local people can build their skills and confidence. Such educational provision will not only directly address aspirations for education within D&G, but also the second principle in the Plan on supporting our citizens, specifically addressing inequalities “to ensure inclusivity, accessibility, celebrate diversity and secure social benefits of change” for all, including in rural communities. One data point in the plan is that “4549 adults and children reported improved mental health and wellbeing through the Council’s lifelong learning activities”. A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 9 School closures and rural depopulation The impact of school closures on rural populations has been keenly debated and researched in many countries, in Britain, across Europe, North America and elsewhere. Some of the most recent rigorous research comes from Scandinavia, which has seen significant school closures across rural areas. The tensions within policy are very similar. “In the debates on possible school closures, policy makers often express their hopes of cost reductions and higher quality in education. On the other hand, local citizens fear that closing their local school will have adverse effects on the community and lead to population decline.” (Sørensen et al, 2021, p.226). Evidence from Denmark and Finland confirms a robust and statistically significant link between school closures and depopulation. Sørensen et al’s research on the impact of the closure of eight rural schools in one municipality in Denmark concludes that there is clear evidence of a negative population effect of rural school closures: … a statistically significant population decline of 7.6 percentage points was found in the eight communities affected by school closures throughout the 10-year post-closure period. Stated differently, we found that the population development in the affected communities would have been 7.6 percentage points more favourable if the schools had not been closed. (p.233) Lehtonen (2021) analyses the community-level population effects of 518 school closures that were carried out in Finland during 2011–2018. Of these school closures, 66% were in rural areas. The major finding of this study is the association of school closures with depopulation of the communities around the closed schools. The results indicate that after school closure, the population of the surrounding community decreases more than before the school closure. Therefore, a primary school seems to be an increasingly important element of the critical services that impact household location decisions. (p.145) Both studies reveal important aspects of the depopulation that results from school closures. First, the impacts of school closures are often very local, within the immediate local communities. Lehtonen’s analysis in Finland focuses on small catchment areas: the 5-km and 10-km catchment areas encompassing the local communities surrounding the school closures. Second, there is a time lag in those impacts. Sørensen et al used a 10-year timeframe, discovering that “the population decline first got statistically significant from the sixth year following the closures and onwards. … if we had used a post-closure period shorter than 6 years, we would not have found any significant population effect.” (p.233) It is obvious that a school closure may not lead to families moving away immediately, as they are bound by many other social, cultural and economic ties. “The delayed materialization of negative population consequences suggests inertia in the reaction towards the school closures. Residents in the affected areas may need time to evaluate the new situation and to possibly react to it, e.g. by moving away” (Sørensen et al, 2021, p.231). And the critical impact of reduced in-migration of families returning or settling, because there is no local school, will also take time to manifest itself in the data, as research from Canada demonstrates (Foster et al, 2021, p.23) … the [Canadian] data analysed for this article provide support for the common belief that the presence of community schools helps communities, rural, urban, or otherwise, retain and attract young population. We find that communities closer to a school [both elementary and secondary] are more likely to see inmigration of school-age children. A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 10 The evidence from Ireland also lends support (see Case Study 4 in the Appendices). “National and international data supports the Inishbofin islanders’ contention that appropriate education provision on the island increases sustainability of the community, as stated in their submission to the Department of Education requesting a post-primary school on the island.” When the Department turned down this request on the grounds of small pupil numbers, the Ombudsman for Children’s Office challenged the decision on the basis of human rights, and stated, “If the school was opened the numbers would grow as living on the island would be made viable for families with children or planning to have children, and families who have left ….. could now return with their children.” It is these two important insights, the local impacts and the time lag for those impacts to arrive, that distinguish the research from other earlier studies, which often used wider regional or municipal data and shorter timeframes, such as 2-year or 4-year post-closure periods. In consequence, earlier studies delivered either mixed results or no population effect of rural school closures. Sørensen et al complemented their demographic analysis with qualitative research, interviewing local people on the impact they experienced from the school closures (pp.231-33). They “reported of families with children who had moved away from the village as a direct result of the school closure.” The most frequent negative consequences mentioned included “depopulation, difficulties in attracting and retaining families with school-aged children, eroding social connections”, “less people volunteering and a decline in the number of members in local associations” pointing to “an erosion of social capital in the community” and even “social fragmentation”, especially among children who were sent to different schools after their local school closed. The research by Sørensen et al in Denmark and by Lehtonen in Finland confirms a robust link between school closures and local depopulation, which comes after a time lag, and is supported by the research from Canada also.1 This presents a significant challenge to Dumfries and Galloway, a rural region facing an ageing population and depopulation, that has 100+ schools, many of them small and old. Critical considerations for council policy are not just financial constraints, or even just educational policy, but the wider impacts of school policy in the context of overall council policy, especially in addressing depopulation. As the Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education in Scotland recommended back in 2013 (Scottish Government and COSLA, 2013), Local authorities, together with their health and other Community Planning partners, should consider rural education holistically for their area, from early years to further and higher education, actively seeking solutions to enhance the viability of rural communities. [emphasis added] Centralisation vs. local educational provision “The reasons behind school closures in most countries are cited typically as financial (i.e. small rural schools are too costly to run in comparison to larger schools).” (Fargas-Malet and Bagley, 2022, p.830). In the recent long period of deep austerity it is not surprising that many local authorities have struggled with maintaining small schools. Nevertheless, financial reasons are not the only factor involved. For 1 Dr Anna Karlsdottir, a spatial geographer at the University of Iceland and Nordregio, who has reviewed spatial disparaties in the significant school closures seen across the Nordic region this century (e.g. in Karlsdottir et al, 2019), writes: “One thing is sure, that the attraction value/amenity value of potential future inhabitants with kids declines with local schools closing down. That then reduces the regional ability for transition and renewal.” (personal communication) A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 11 example, issues like the breadth of curriculum choice and other opportunities, as well as pupil socialisation, are important other considerations for children and parents. However, extensive relevant research suggests that there may well also be underlying biases against rural education, biases that are in fact reflected across much public policy. Michael Corbett was the first to articulate these concepts most clearly, in his thesis and book, Learning to Leave (2007), about rural education in Nova Scotia in Canada. The blurb for the book states: This innovative case study from Nova Scotia analyzes the relationship between rural communities and contemporary education. Rather than supporting place-sensitive curricula and establishing networks within community populations, the rural school has too often stood apart from local life, with the generally unintended consequence that many educationally successful rural youth come to see their communities and lifestyles as places to be left behind. They face what Michael Corbett calls a mobility imperative, which, he shows, has been central to contemporary schooling. Learning to Leave argues that if education is to be democratic and serve the purpose of economic, social, and cultural development, then it must adapt and respond to the specificity of its locale, the knowledge practices of the people, and the needs of those who struggle to remain in challenged rural places. Learning to Leave has triggered much additional research. For example, Gulløv and Gulløv (2020) clearly analyse how children and young people in rural Denmark are educated to leave, from early learning in nurseries through the choices that young people are forced to make in terms of their secondary education, all within a system in which almost all further and higher education has been highly centralised in the past few decades.2 The impact on further rural decline is hardly surprising. In a later lecture, Corbett (2021) argues that centralisation promoted on the premise of increased efficiency has in fact long been core policy across developed economies, from health-care provision to education: … the relentless centralization and bureaucratization of public services whose mandate is principally driven by the establishment of performance norms and the application of standardized indicators to quantify relative performance across space. These comparative metrics, in turn, support managerialism and the marketization of education. (p.2) Corbett analyses how such centralisation has its roots in thought and policy since the mid-19th century, since when the primacy of centralised and urban centres was seen as embodying modernity and progress, while rural, and especially small rural, was seen as backward and in decline. Powerful economic and political dynamics, which have drawn social, cultural and educational policy and practice in their wake, have led to the rapid growth of urban living and an apparently relentless decline in rural populations. The evidence from Canada and Denmark confirms that these processes have meant that schooling in rural areas has often focused on educating young people to leave or even escape their place, and to pursue aspiration and success in urban centres, through the pursuit of ever more specialist and 2 Gulløv and Gulløv directly link the findings of their own research to Corbett’s: “As argued by Corbett & Forsey (2017), in the organisation of the education system, curriculum, assessments, counselling, teachers’ preferences and indeed the whole educational mindset there is a fundamental orientation toward an urban middle-class way of life with an emphasis on individual aspirations and social flexibility. These values permeate the students’ beliefs and hierarchies in terms of what is desirable and recognisable. Despite the fact that a local sense of social commitment and attachment is regarded in general as positive in the local setting, the high-school students [in Denmark] refer to it mostly as an obstacle which has to be overcome in order to gain success in an urban, middle-class way.” (p.122) A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 12 narrowly-defined knowledge, which is assigned the highest value in our economic and social structures. Significant recent publications suggest that many research agendas, including on education provision, have in fact been deeply influenced by a deficit perspective on rural areas, rather than recognising and valuing the many assets and strengths of rural communities. In the book Ruraling Education Research Roberts and Guenther (2021) devote considerable attention to this issue: … remote is often conceptualised as peripheral to the city by distance as well as socially and culturally. However … for people whose families live in remote towns, it is the city that is distant and peripheral. Such perspectives are rarely considered in discussions of educational policy. To address this, and other, implicit biases, this chapter examines how language socially constricts the ‘problem’ to be solved, rather than implicitly valuing people, places, and communities. (p.13, emphasis added) The counterpoint to centralisation rooted in seeing rural areas as backward is a strong emerging focus within research, as well as practice on the ground, of place-based or place-conscious education. Place-conscious education is a response to more than a century of what Wendell Berry (1997) called ‘unsettlement,’ or the progressive emptying of the countryside, which has detached the majority of people in advanced capitalist societies from the sources of the energy, food, and materials necessary for shelter and comfort, while at the same time vilifying rural people and places as backward. A focus on place in education also confronts “metrocentric” education and social policy that fail to account for differences between places and how rural areas have been largely absent from key educational discussions. (Corbett, 2021, pp.1-2) Many of the principles underlying a place-based approach to education are in fact reflected in the principles set out in the Dumfries and Galloway Council Plan overall for supporting communities: They are also reflected in Scottish Government policy: “We know that a place-based approach to applying national, regional, and local policies will be essential to sustainably and effectively address depopulation.” (Scottish Government, 2024, Addressing Depopulation Action Plan). This applies to education policy as much as policies in any other sector. The next section on small schools will reflect more on the value of place-based education. Here we conclude that the drive for efficiency savings, especially in times of austerity, presents a significant A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 13 challenge for Dumfries and Galloway as a primarily rural region, but also an opportunity to build on its extensive rural assets. One of the key principles to emerge from this research (see pp.29-30 below) is that rural education “needs to be rooted and connected in the place, drawing on local assets, connections, networks and partnerships, and incorporating local experience and knowledge, including experience and skills in adapting rapidly to changing circumstances. Educational provision needs to demonstrate in practice, from nursery through further and higher education to life-long learning, that it values local assets and strengths, experience and knowledge.” With its over 100 schools, most of them rural, Dumfries and Galloway is well placed to develop this principle in practice. And, as we shall see, this is also critical amidst the twin climate and biodiversity emergencies. It is important to recognise that there should be no assumption that young people must stay in their rural areas. What is required is to recognise “a core tension between pedagogies of belonging and pedagogies of mobile aspirations” (Cuervo et al, 2019). What is required is a significant rebalancing of schooling that does not just focus on learning to leave, but gives rural young people genuine choice and opportunity (a) to pursue their lives, and work, locally within their community, or (b) to migrate elsewhere, whether to urban or other rural places, or (c) to pursue a mix of these options. Including significant opportunities to develop skills relevant to rural life (see the Case Studies from the Western Isles and on Breadalbane for examples) can contribute to this rebalancing to give young people genuine choice, including to develop a career path locally. And the community consultation complemented this focus on formal schooling to include broader educational provision for the community as a whole that enables local rural people to enhance their knowledge and skills to meet their personal and community aspirations throughout their lives. This is already reflected in the Dumfries and Galloway Council Plan for 2023-28: “We will work with our partners to create and promote life-long learning opportunities so everyone in the region can live a meaningful and fulfilling life, and contribute to their community.” Opportunities and challenges of small schools In the previous section we explored a potential bias within much policy against rural, seeing it as backward. It is also important to draw attention to a potential bias against small schools. The two biases are of course closely related, as reflected in Fargas-Malet and Bagley’s article in 2022, titled “A scoping review of 21st-century research on small rural schools in Europe”. The authors report that in several countries ... there is a policy bias which presumes that rural schools are somehow deficient, that multi-age teaching in small rural schools is ‘inferior’ to age homogenous teaching in larger schools, and that the way to improve rural education is making schools bigger. Significantly, these prejudices seemingly exist despite little or no hard evidence that pupils in small schools do worse than others in larger ones. (p.830) This is confirmed by Sørensen et al (2021: p.226): Studies have found that school closures have reduced costs, while empirical studies on whether sending pupils to larger schools improves student achievement have produced mixed results. Moreover, several studies have stressed the importance of the local school for the local community. Thus, small rural schools have been found to promote social cohesion and social capital, be rich on parent involvement, and to contribute to the general ‘health of a community’. The authors (p.227) quote Wood, on rural schools as “not only an educational establishment, but also a focal point for community life”. A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 14 Fargas-Malet and Bagley’s review of research on small schools identifies a range of common challenges, including financial pressures and inadequate infrastructure, falling school rolls and the challenges of delivering a wide-ranging curriculum. There are also challenges around recruiting and retaining teachers, as well as challenges for teachers in the job, including intense workloads, multi-age teaching and professional isolation. Nevertheless, Fargas-Malet and Bagley conclude their review as follows (pp.839-40): despite all the challenges mentioned, teachers and principals have expressed being satisfied with working in a small rural school, and some believed that it was a good learning environment for all pupils, including those with special needs. In fact, small rural schools have also been shown to provide multiple opportunities to teachers, principals, pupils and the communities they serve. Firstly, small rural schools are possibly well placed to provide ‘a place-based curriculum’, which emphasizes children’s relationship with nature and promotes local history and culture. Secondly, small rural schools appear better able to form strong links to their communities, as well as utilize the communities’ potential to enrich the educational experience of their pupils, which in turn builds social capital and social cohesion. Thirdly, small rural schools have shown their potential to identify and address pupils’ individual needs. Finally, small rural schools have been used as a testing ground for innovation. In relation to all of the above, and returning to the title of our paper, small would in some ways still appear to be beautiful! In Ireland, according to Joe McHugh the Minister for Education and Skills in 2019, almost half of all schools are small schools, and almost 15 per cent of all Irish children attend one (see Case Study 4 in the Appendices). The Irish Government takes a positive attitude towards small schools, both primary and secondary, and is committed to supporting and strengthening them: Small schools can and do provide an excellent education to our children, right in the heart of their communities. I went to a small school as a child. I live in an area where small schools are a facet of life and that is replicated up and down the country. They are often the heartbeat and lifeblood of a community. … Ní neart go cur le chéile – we need to work together to find new ways of supporting small schools [to ensure their long-term sustainability]. This commitment to small schools continues, with the Secretary of State for Education in Ireland, Minister Foley, stating in May 2024 that small schools are a support and a beacon for local communities. They are at the heart of educating generations of young people and providing a focal point for families and communities. … small schools collaborating and working together offers promise for the future. Similarly, in 2023 the Nordic Rural Youth Panel (Nordregio, 2023) also included the following recommendation among its 40 recommendations for rural revitalisation: “Working to maintain and develop smaller schools in rural areas, as they are important for both children and the local community. At the same time, cooperation should be promoted between smaller schools ”. It is important to emphasise that while the research on small rural schools cited above includes many small primary schools, some small secondary schools are also included in the evidence base, including in the Irish example. The advantages of small schools featured prominently in the community consultation in September, where ex- and current pupils of Dalry primary and secondary school shared a story or example of how their small local schools had benefited themselves or others (see Box and also the Appendices). A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 15 Dalry school provided a safe space to feel comfortable and a sense of belonging away from a difficult homelife. Teachers had enough time / small class numbers to notice, to care. Positives of smaller groups and friendships ... Smaller groups – children / students have to learn to get on with each other and understand each others differences / opinions / likes / dislikes. True inclusivity, & kindness, & being part of the village. If it weren’t for Dalry I would have to go to a larger school which I have already tried and then decided I much preferred Dalry so I came back. A small, close knit community where families know each other and look out for each other. Open space, fresh air, nature on our doorstep. Incredible sense of community, unlike anywhere else! In small community schools children are aware of backgrounds of other kids; helps with acceptance and understanding if behaviour problems arise. Schools don’t have hierarchical system. Students can talk “back” to teachers; different relationship. Dalry welcomed my daughter when she joined 2 years ago. The way she settled in so easily helped us to feel a part of our new community. An obvious challenge for small schools may be to offer a wide subject choice for pupils, which the community consultation identified as a significant concern for current and potential future parents within the Glenkens. Evidence from two small secondary schools interviewed during this research demonstrates that a flexible and can-do approach by the school management can overcome this challenge to deliver significant personalisation of pupil choices across a wide range of subjects, especially when sharing teachers with other neighbouring schools, and supplemented with some online provision also. The evidence from Ireland reinforces this (see Case Study 4 in the Appendices): Notwithstanding the additional challenges faced by [five small post-primary] island schools arising from their off-shore remote locations, these Education Training Board island schools have built up a reputation for being well led and managed, academic excellence, resilience, innovation in adopting and adapting teaching and learning methodologies, including experimenting with distance learning to best support their communities. When it comes to pupil socialisation, some families want to choose larger schools, but small schools can deliver advantages, including for particular pupils. This is reflected in the Glenkens already, where the D&G Council’s willingness to give parents a free choice about which school their children attend has meant that 5 our of the current 13 pupils at Dalry Secondary School come from outwith the catchment area. One of the main attractions for families is the small size of the school which allows a more personalised education with closer relations among peers and between pupils and teachers. Head teachers of small secondary schools I spoke to feel that the pupils coming out of their schools are often more socially able than those coming out of larger schools due to the fact that pupils relate to people of all ages and have learned to work alongside others who they may not see eyeto-eye with, and therefore develop empathy and respect for others. (Sarah Ade) Small schools deeply connected to their community can also be very good at nurturing a sense of belonging and being rooted. In a rapidly and sometimes dramatically changing world, a sense of belonging, of having an identity that is deeply rooted, can be a critical strength for young people growing up in today’s world. As one of the participants in the community consultation said, A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 16 Going to Carsphairn and then Dalry enabled me to feel truly rooted within my community; from this I was able to move away and engage with other communities, before coming ‘home’ to raise my own children. I think a strong sense of community is key to feeling secure and grounded in life [generally]. The case study of Baltasound Junior High School in Shetland (Case Study 3 in the Appendices) shows how much a school can actively build connection with the local community. In the fortnight prior to the interview, the coastguard, the fire service and the local health centre had all visited the school or been visited by pupils. The school even has “Bring your Parent Days”, where parents follow their children for the whole day in school. The Headteacher explained, “They are absolutely knackered at the end of the day, but they love opportunities to come into the school. We are the hub of community activity. One school, one community.”3 The demands of the twin climate and biodiversity emergencies There is rapidly increasing evidence of the impact of the climate and biodiversity emergencies, on local communities, nations and globally. These emergencies demand responses across all policy areas. Within their Plan for 2023-28, Dumfries and Galloway Council has positioned Safeguarding our Future as the very first principle: • • Address the climate emergency: urgently respond to climate change and transition to a carbon neutral region. Protect our natural capital: protecting and enhancing our region’s natural capital and habitats through conservation and sustainable development. In the Scottish context, the vast majority of natural assets, including Scotland’s biodiversity, are located in rural Scotland, including of course within Dumfries and Galloway. Education will therefore play a key role in addressing the climate and biodiversity emergencies, by enabling rural people and communities to have the skills and be equipped to manage those resources effectively. As the Commission for the land-based learning review reported to the Scottish Government (2023:1): The Commission has sought to review learning in Scotland’s land-based and aquaculture sectors from early years to adulthood …. The aim of the work is to help deliver a just transition to net-zero, by ensuring the learning system equips people with the skills and knowledge both they and the Sector requires and that the workforce is sufficient. … Collectively these [land-based] industries utilise and manage the majority of Scotland’s land and coastal areas and have the largest impact on our environment. More recently, the land-based industries have also been included within ‘Green Careers’ recognising the key role the Sector plays in nature restoration, climate change mitigation and adaptation. … the wide variety of career opportunities available across all of the Sector’s industries reflect the specialist skills and knowledge required to produce food and raw materials from our natural environment in a safe and sustainable manner. This includes the need to manage land in a way that continues to provide a range of ecosystem services such as flood protection, pollination and opportunities for recreation. The recent increase in the number of skilled workers needed to meet 3 The day includes having school dinners with the pupils. “Complaints about the quality of school dinners tend to stop after this!” A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 17 long term Scottish climate and biodiversity targets also presents an opportunity to improve wellbeing and increase our national connection with nature. Yet across the Sector, businesses are experiencing workforce shortages and struggling to recruit. Given their importance in terms of food and materials production, addressing the nature and climate crises and supporting rural communities and the economy, it is imperative that we find solutions which attract more entrants, widen the pool of applicants, and increase training opportunities. Likewise, the Irish Government published The 2nd National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development – ESD to 2030 in June 2022 (see here). Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has three interlinked and equally important strands: Environmental, Social and Economic Sustainability. The accompanying ESD to 2030 Implementation Plan 2022 – 2026 sets out the roadmap to achieving its targets by 2030 “across the Education Sector from early learning and care to third level and beyond to non-formal and informal education”. ESD aims to ensure that all learners have the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. ESD is acknowledged as a key enabler for the achievement of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Funding of €250,000 is being delivered to organisations to support them in carrying out ESD related projects to schools, including, for example, making the school and its grounds more sustainable; teacher training in ESD; student projects; collaborative projects between the school and the local community, etc. None of this should be seen as a call for urban based experts needing to educate backward rural residents. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has stated very clearly that current policies and frameworks “emanating from predominant political and economic decisions based on a narrow set of values ... will fail to deliver on climate and biodiversity” until they incorporate the understanding, perspectives, values and worldviews of local communities and indigenous peoples (IPBES, 2022). This places the experience, knowledge and worldviews of local communities, especially rural communities, at the very heart of effective responses to the climate and biodiversity emergencies. Abi Mordin, founder member of Propagate (see Case Study 9 in the Appendices) and local resident, is just one among many with local experience and knowledge rooted within Dumfries and Galloway itself. In reflecting on education amidst the climate and biodiversity emergencies, Abi states, The principles of soil function are still not being taught in schools and agricultural colleges, despite the fact that healthy soil is vital for plant growth and nutrition, is more resilient to the impacts of flood and drought, and stores more carbon. The understanding of the role played by soil has progressed dramatically in recent years, but information about management for carbon sequestration, soil health, climate change, livestock and people has not yet been incorporated into the curriculum. The Dumfries and Galloway Learning for Sustainability Partnership Group has been set up, having identified big gaps in the provision of education across food, food security and sustainability. The Learning for Sustainability Action Plan highlights the importance of embedding this into the curriculum, but this is not yet being delivered in schools as teachers have not been trained to deliver the subject. A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 18 A note on integrated policy The overall vision and ambition of the Dumfries and Galloway Council Plan for 2023-28 is to be a successful region, with a growing economy, based on fairness, opportunity and quality public services, where all citizens prosper. Working in partnership, with connected, healthy and sustainable communities. The region will be the natural place to live, work, visit and invest. The plan itself sets out an integrated vision across different sectors and policies, and seeks to embrace the creativity and resilience of local places and people, and to make rural communities and places vibrant and thriving. With over a third of the council’s budget spent on education, educational provision within D&G’s many rural communities must play a critical element of any strategy to deliver on the council’s vision. Educational provision cannot be seen on its own, but must contribute to delivering environmental, demographic and economic sustainability for rural communities across D&G. This includes investing in people through education: “Dumfries and Galloway is shaped and defined by the people who call it home. They are its lifeblood and reflect the history, heritage and culture of the region.” This means that considerations for educational provision are not just financial constraints, or even just educational policy, but the wider impacts of school and education policy in the context of overall council goals, especially in addressing depopulation. The Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education recommended back in 2013 (Scottish Government and COSLA, 2013), Local authorities, together with their health and other Community Planning partners, should consider rural education holistically for their area, from early years to further and higher education, actively seeking solutions to enhance the viability of rural communities. [emphasis added] This is reflected in the D&G Council Plan: Together with partners, the Council will strive to promote a region of opportunity and innovation – where natural capital drives green growth, ambition and quality of life rivals the best in the UK, communities are empowered and cultural identity and heritage are cherished. This will enable people to thrive and attract a new generation to live, work, visit, learn and invest in the South of Scotland. The box contains some other relevant recommendations from the Commission, which were highlighted by our Irish sources who derived inspiration from the Commission’s work. The Commission for the Delivery of Rural Education was asked to review the Schools Consultation Scotland Act 2010 and its application, and make recommendations on the delivery of all aspects of education in rural areas. Thirty-eight clear recommendations were made, including: • The Scottish Government and local authorities should agree a coherent rural regeneration strategy to support economic outcomes for rural areas. • Local authorities, the Scottish Government, teaching institutions and trade unions should work together to explore innovative solutions to reduce the barriers to teaching in remote areas; and to ensure effective delivery of CPD to teachers in rural schools, learning from international best practice to reduce teachers’ isolation and sustain skills and development. • There must be a commitment to resource the curriculum in small rural secondary schools to support the achievement of positive outcomes and destinations for young people. This will require innovative and flexible arrangements to be developed including use of local primary school teachers and other experts within the local community. (Note: Experts within the local community were used in the Outer Hebrides to deliver the boatbuilding and crofting courses.) A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 19 Potential models: evidence from within and beyond D&G This section contains evidence of good practice that is captured in the case studies. The case studies demonstrate potential models that could prove effective in addressing some of the issues and challenges set out above. Many of the examples focus on the links between education and the local economy and community, including pathways into employment for young people, but also supporting local enterprise. Others deal with curriculum choices, including learning to help address the climate and biodiversity emergencies. And the final example focuses on life-long learning opportunities. Example 1: Rural skills (Breadalbane Academy and the Rural Skills Training Centre) An obvious starting point for reviewing potential models is delivering education on rural skills that are relevant to rural communities across D&G, including of course within the Glenkens. There is an existing Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) accredited National Progression Award in Rural Skills, described as “a starting place for candidates pursuing a future in one of the major land-based industries” (see https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/41752.html); it also includes a qualification at National 4 level. The case study of Breadalbane Academy in the Appendices demonstrates just how effective education for rural skills using these SQA qualifications can be. Initially developed with funding from Lantra, delivery of the course builds on significant assets and opportunities, like the many farms and estates within a 10-mile radius of the school. The subject provides opportunities to gain qualifications, specific tickets (e.g. in operating quad bikes and maintaining chainsaws) and significant practical work experience. There are many different pathways, so it is great for diverse pupils. The course delivered at Breadalbane has received glowing SQA reports, not least because of how good many of the local partners are in delivering opportunities for practical experience and learning. The current course lead at Breadalbane reckons that 50% of pupils taking rural skills end up in local employment in land-based activities. Many of them might have done so anyway, as they come from families with similar employment. However, not only does the rural skills course provide opportunities to gain tickets, qualifications and experience, it also values, affirms and accredits skills that some pupils come with already through their family background. This is hugely important for place-based education, recognising and building on local skills, and valuing pupils for skills they may already have. As the course lead said, “I have learnt a huge amount myself about sheep, pigs and deer from pupils who could easily deliver a lesson based on knowledge and skills they are already masterful in”. An example from within Dumfries and Galloway of working effectively with local partners to deliver locally relevant skills is the forestry classroom at Dalbeattie High School funded by Jas P Wilson, a large forestry and firewood machinery suppliers and engineers based in the town. And here are reflections by Wallace Currie, a lecturer based at SRUC’s Barony campus in Dumfries and Galloway (Currie, 2024): As a former lecturer and Nuffield Scholar who’s traveled extensively to study global agricultural education, I’ve seen the transformative power of integrating rural topics into learning. … In the Netherlands, Switzerland, and New Zealand, for example, students engage directly with agriculture, gaining insights into food production and sustainability. These experiences equip young people with practical knowledge, foster a deep connection to the land, and prepare them for futures in rural industries or as informed consumers. … By integrating topics like farming, environmental stewardship, and sustainability into early education, we can inspire a passion for these fields long before young people consider their careers. A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 20 Example 2: Subject offerings and accredited qualifications relevant to the local economy (Outer Hebrides, Dumfries and Galloway, and the Isle of Wight) The rural skills qualifications are just one example of subject offerings in local schools that include qualifications to meet recruitment needs of local businesses, in the present and the future, and to provide pathways for pupils to realise those opportunities, either by staying or returning. Such offerings are critical if educational provision is going to address depopulation, whether within the Glenkens, Dumfries and Galloway as a whole or elsewhere, and the range of potential subjects and qualifications is significant. In addition many local employers state that they have recruitment gaps, which is confirmed within the wider community.4 The Box takes information from Case Study 1 in the Appendices to reflect the strategy adopted by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CnES), namely a formal Vocational Educational Strategy, to address similar needs across the Outer Hebrides. To address the dire population projections, a formal Vocational Educational Strategy was introduced and adopted in 2008. Local Labour Market Intelligence (LLMI) was key to informing decisions around which courses would be introduced into the curriculum, based on ‘where the jobs would be in the future’. If it was identified that a sector of the economy was struggling with recruitment gaps or predicted to expand, but an appropriate course didn’t exist, a writing group was established and the courses were commissioned, written, verified and accredited, with parity of esteem to sit alongside the qualification diet offered to pupils. It was important that courses were not just for the less able, but relevant to all pupils. Such courses included, at National 5 level, Harris Tweed, Crofting, Maritime Skills and, at Higher Level 6, Local Food Production, which could provide progression following a number of courses including the crofting course. The strategy meant every child had the entitlement to a nationally accredited industry recognised qualification linked to employability within the local economy informed by LLMI. The delivery of the courses, along with many Skills for Work courses, were delivered, at least in part, by an industry experienced tutor. This gave pupils learning in context and relevance which proved successful and popular with pupils. Other courses were already available through SQA but were not necessarily offered by the schools. In this case any accredited presenting centre could verify and deliver the course. For example, a collaboration between Stirling University and the Western Isles Health Board created a Pre-Nursing Scholarship to address recruitment gaps in the nursing sector. Further collaboration followed with the Education Department of CnES and Cothrom, a local training centre. All this enabled young people to gain relevant work-based experience in the local hospital, clinic and GP practices and gain qualifications, equivalent to at least two Highers, for entry into a nursing degree. Subsequently this was replaced by the Foundation Apprenticeship in Health and Social Care, with the addition of the Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) 2 in social care, which is essential to access employment within the social care sector. This was a council wide programme of curriculum development, including local labour market intelligence, effective partnerships (including with employers in the public, private and Third sectors), course design, all 4 Compare the situation in Nordic countries: “There is already a severe lack of care workers, nurses, ICT workers, carpenters, electricians, mechanics in many rural areas of the Nordic countries” (Karlsdottir et al, 2019, p.21). A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 21 within an overall integrated strategy. Initially the delivery of specific courses was located in one secondary school (e.g. maritime studies in Barra and crofting in Uist), but as internet-based teaching was developed across the Outer Hebrides (including through e-Sgoil, CnES’ online teaching and learning platform), some of the courses became available to pupils in the other secondary schools also. Obviously a different set of qualifications will be relevant within the Glenkens and within Dumfries and Galloway. We have not engaged in any review of local labour market intelligence in D&G. However, drawing on the D&G Council Plan for 2023-28, as well as the record of the Education and Learning in the Glenkens event, some of the key sectors within the local economy that (a) provide opportunities for local young people to stay and (b) support the sustainability of local communities are: • • • • • • • agriculture, forestry and renewable energy; other land and environmental based activities (UNESCO biosphere, peat restoration, dark skies, etc. etc.); all public sector services, including health and social care; digital services; culture, heritage (including industrial heritage) and arts; hospitality and tourism; a wide range of micro- and community enterprises. The following figure, taken from the D&G Council Plan for 2023-28, reflects the largest employment sectors currently across Dumfries and Galloway as a whole. It is equally important to consider, like in the Outer Hebrides, which jobs are likely to be needed in the future. A very good example comes from the presentation by Vattenfall Wind Power at the event on Education and Learning in the Glenkens in July (See Case Study 8 in the Appendices). Senior Project Manager Matthew Bacon is currently overseeing the site design and planning permission process for the Quantans Hill wind farm near Carsphairn, and said, Onshore wind is a growth area, and the number of qualified employees needs to vastly increase to meet the demands of the 2030 deadline. Most of Vattenfall’s renewables developments will be in the Highlands and Dumfries & Galloway, and there are a huge range of roles in the sector, ranging A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 22 from construction, forestry, turbine construction and maintenance to environmental work and project managers. … the Climate Exchange May 2024 report … showed that operational positions needed on wind farms are predicted to rise by 250% by 2030 in Dumfries and Galloway, from 112 to 395 positions. These are long-term, well-paid roles. Vattenfall’s apprenticeship programme will create 50 new apprenticeships by 2030, working with Developing the Young Workforce. The company is looking to recruit across a wide range of ages to both graduate and early stage apprenticeships. Vattenfall asked consultants to come up with a draft strategy for the community benefit fund from Quantans Hill wind farm if consented, and through this have identified objectives relating to jobs and young people, including access to local economic opportunities. This could lead to training 250-350 young people and providing up to 50 qualified apprentices, although these numbers are currently indicative and the strategy is still a draft. However, this potentially offers huge opportunities for South West Scotland in terms of renewables posts. The benefits of this scheme can potentially be maximised if other wind farm developers work with Vattenfall on supply chains and with schools and colleges to develop a joined-up scheme. While there was need in the Outer Hebrides to develop new qualifications, which may also be appropriate for the Glenkens and for Dumfries and Galloway as a whole, many suitable courses already exist in the SQA menu of courses, and can be utilised quickly. Examples include: • • • • Foundation Apprenticeships in Health and Social Care, to which can be added SVQ 2 in Social Care as that is a requirement to work in the sector ( https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/76825.html); Construction Skills (https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/94698.html); Engineering (https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/31441.html), into which some renewable energy has been embedded; Hospitality (https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/31584.html), which of course includes front of house skills etc. For such courses, a key element is ensuring relevant local work-based placements for pupils, e.g. in local hotels and restaurants for hospitality. There are in fact many obvious local partners to develop further tailored pathways into employment for pupils. The next sections provide evidence from Propagate and the experience of the Galloway Glens Initiative. Here is an offer from another dynamic company within the renewable energy sector, Natural Power Consultants (NPC) (see Case Study 7 in the Appendices): NPC is willing to work with local young people to help them to move into the Renewables sector, either through relevant courses at local further and higher education institutions, or through the introduction of a skills pathway. A skills pathway could help young people from the area to study for qualifications which were more directly relevant to the skills needed by local employers. NPC has already been in touch with Castle Douglas/Dalry Secondary Schools and Kirkcudbright Academy. To illustrate that developing a locally relevant curriculum is already happening in a variety of different places, not just in the Outer Hebrides, Education Scotland highlighted the work of the Cowes Enterprise College in the Isle of Wight around its maritime curriculum. The Glenkens is a part of Dumfries and Galloway which is not coastal, but the box on Cowes further illustrates what can be achieved through curriculum innovation within a school environment. And the college has produced a how to guide on designing a careers driven and local context curriculum (see here). A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 23 Cowes Enterprise College, a secondary school academy in the Isle of Wight, has sought to create a broad and sustainable curriculum that is anchored in their local maritime context, which they call Maritime Futures. It includes teaching curriculum subjects through immersion in maritime topics, for example design and build of model boats in design technology using concepts taught in science; looking at migration by sea and a case study of the Mary Rose in history; and, in geography, studying containerisation, coastal defences and tourism in the local context. Local employers and maritime experts routinely deliver lessons, and pupils become engaged in the interactive and practical learning. Maritime Futures has inceased attainment and motivation among pupils, and instilled a sense of place, changing “their perspective of where they are living from backwater to centre stage”. The Academy is currently working on designing a specific accredited maritime course for those pupils who find the above maritime projects interesting. Maritime Futures also seeks to create positive associations with local economic opportunities, with students having encounters with local employers and job opportunities. And these do not only include standard maritime careers. In history, for example, the pupils have learnt alongside professional curators and conservators, and heard from a professional shipwreck diver. The College has created a series of resources to inform and inspire others, including an introduction on their website (see here), a case study of Maritime Futues and its impacts (see here) and the how to guide on designing a careers driven and local context curriculum (see here) In concluding this section, it is critical to point to the evidence from the Outer Hebrides, the Isle of Wight and elsewhere that a focus on practical and vocational qualifications relevant to the local economy is not a recommendation for the traditional two-tier educational system, with some pursuing more academic subjects and others more vocational qualifications. Any vocational provision must be nationally recognised and accredited with parity of esteem so that it does not become seen as the place for the less able. Indeed, many of these qualifications can lead on to excellent employment opportunities in sectors that are important for the future. In terms of parity of esteem, the crofting course in the Outer Hebrides, for example, is perceived as being on a par with biology applied in a locally relevant context. With such parity of esteem, these qualifications are equally relevant to all pupils, even if the focus is skewed toward local employability. If the accreditation levels stand equally alongside a more traditional offer, it means that for young people who are likely to go on to Higher Education, the offer is still relevant for them and contributes to them recognising that the area they grew up is a place to return to. Some pupils on the crofting course have gone on to gain their PhD and returned to the islands, have become Vice Chair of the local agricultural committee and office bearer of the livestock committee, all rooted in their community, and contributing to the local community. Example 3: Offering wider curriculum choices in small schools (Shetland and eSgoil) One of the challenges that small schools may confront is offering a wide subject offering for pupils. It is clear that in the Glenkens some parents have chosen to send their children to other schools because they provide wider subject choices. We specifically discussed this with two very different small secondary schools who have successfully developed personalised choices for their pupils. The evidence demonstrates that a flexible and can- A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 24 do approach by the school management can in fact deliver significant personalisation of pupil choices across a wide range of subjects, especially when sharing teachers with other neighbouring schools, supplemented with on-line provision also. So an exclusive focus on “efficiency”, that would argue that it is inefficient financially to offer subjects for very small pupil numbers, may be partly misplaced, based in particular on comparisons with urban schools with larger classes. A small rural secondary school can offer a wide choice of subjects, but each year it will deliver only those subjects that pupils actually choose – fulfilling pupil personalisation and choice. This delivers an effective and desirable personalised educational offering for individual pupils without the need to allocate resources to those subjects not chosen by the specific cohort of pupils. Baltasound Junior High School in Shetland (see Case Study 3 in the Appendices) offers English and Maths, three sciences, two social sciences, music and art, home economics and technical subjects (including IT). Modern languages are also possible through e-learning. The school shares some teachers with secondary schools on other islands, and each year the Head Teacher at Baltasound spends significant time and energy timetabling classes based on pupil choices that year. This is done in a public space, so that pupils see the HT doing it, and even make suggestions. Key features of this approach are flexibility and the determination to make things work. When numbers are small, the school may combine classes (e.g. teaching chemistry to S3 and S4 pupils in the same class). One year the school added a computer game development course in computer science, based on the aspirations of the specific cohort of pupils that year. If there are gaps in teaching provision, then the school will find a way round. Currently they don’t have a teacher trained in Home Economics, but a teacher is delivering the subject supported by other Home Economics teachers elsewhere to ensure alignment with SQA accreditation. When the school was without a technical teacher, they used e-Sgoil (the only time they have done this). And if a pupil is very keen to do a different subject than those on offer, the school will seek to be really flexible to make it work. This has happened for example in the case of a pupil who wanted to study Modern Studies. On another occasion a subject choice for one pupil could simply not be timetabled, but they had the ability to pursue this choice through self-study, and the school allocated support from a qualified teacher in that subject. The Head Teacher commented, I have a relative who works in a big secondary school in England, even with some large subjects running identical classes in different rooms at the same time. There is no tailoring, no flexibility, no ability to go off on an interesting tangent. They don’t even know all the names of their pupils. Many of our former pupils are still in touch with the school. Very few pupils don’t do well here, and then excel when they move to Lerwick in S5. Most continue the trajectory from their junior secondary. All the pupils are given a lot of responsibility at a young age. They take personal responsibility and become effective contributors. Obviously such flexibility requires a flexible allocation of human resources, which may be challenging for a small school by itself and for D&G Council as their employer. However, in the case of Dalry Secondary, for example, the school is currently linked with Castle Douglas Secondary, which is very important to deliver a full choice of subjects. In addition, web-based learning can further widen what subjects are offered and delivered. One of the original purposes of e-Sgoil in the Outer Hebrides was to ensure that (a) all pupils across the islands would be given the same subject offering, not just those in the largest school in Stornoway, and that (b) all pupils would have access to more specialised subjects that might be taught in person in any one A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 25 of the four secondary schools (see Case Study 1 in the Appendices). Obviously it took significant resources to develop e-Sgoil, which now earns some of its income from providing services beyond the Outer Hebrides. However, offering wider choices through e-Sgoil to pupils across the four secondary schools within the Outer Hebrides is not resource intensive once the technology platform is in place. A key success factor is simply coordinating timetabling across the four schools to allow pupils in different schools to share the same class times. As Anne Paterson said at the July event on Education and Learning in the Glenkens, “Distance learning and technology is available but has not yet been capitalised on. It could work by digitally pooling classes so that young people can take subjects with their peers in other schools whilst physically present in their local school.” This only requires the support of a non-specialised teacher for pupils in those schools joining on-line. Example 4: Rethinking local food (Propagate) Like renewable energy, regenerative food production, as well as sustainable management of soil, are also critical for the climate and biodiversity. And skills around food production are vital for a sustainable future: local food production that contributes to sustainability, food security, health and nutrition, and reduces food miles. These topics align with the predominantly rural region of Dumfries and Galloway. In terms of delivering opportunities in these subjects for pupils, local partnerships are once again key. There is already an active local social enterprise, Propogate, committed to “rethinking local food”. The Galloway Food Hub, set up by Propagate, is already stimulating demand and awareness of local food (see Case Study 9 in the Appendices). Through Propagate there are existing opportunities that could provide pathways for young people into work that can directly address the climate and biodiversity emergencies. These opportunities could also use land around schools, for example around Dalry School, while Propagate’s own small market garden can host workshops and training days. Some of the learning and other programmes available through Propagate that could be co-delivered in partnership with local schools are: • • • Cultivate - 'grow your own' programme with 8 sessions on learning about organic veg production. Veg Power - developed to link veg growing with healthier cooking. Profiles a 'veg of the week' each week over 10 weeks, and looks at food systems and food justice. The course signposts to Food Hygiene training, and so leads towards a number of progression pathways around growing, preparing, food hygiene and hospitality. Permaculture design courses and Growing Food in Small Spaces which are linked with the UK 'Children in Permaculture' project. In terms of accreditation for engaging in such learning opportunities, again there is the menu of rural skill qualifications at SQA which could easily be aligned to the skill set and delivery partners in agriculture, horticulture and permaculture in the local area. The previous example of rural skills at Breadalbane Academy is instructive, where the course lead ensures that whatever learning and work the pupils deliver is aligned with the SQA qualification, to ensure that the pupils not only learn and share valuable skills but gain recognition for their skills through an accredited qualification. A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 26 Example 5: The Interns Project under the Galloway Glens Initiative The first examples of relevant models have focused on learning opportunities within schools. The Galloway Glens Initiative’s interns project (‘Galloway Rural Skills’, see Case Study 6 in the Appendices), provided opportunities for young people beyond school, providing pathways into work through a programme of internship/work experience positions: 15 roles were supported over 4 years. Key to the success of the programme were the partnerships with the local employers who hosted the interns. These included a couple of large employers, Drax and Natural Power Consultants, but also smaller employers: Galloway Fisheries Trust, GCAT/Catstrand, Crichton Carbon Centre (an environmental charity), Carsphairn Community Woodland, Czernin-Kinsky Scottish Company Ltd (a family-run forestry company), Mr Pooks restaurant as well as the Better Lives Partnership. These internships were full-time and paid for 6 months with 50% funding intervention. Two of the roles supported were subsequently extended for a further six months. The Galloway Rural Skills project had a number of aims, some directly linked to addressing depopulation: • • • • • to provide work and training opportunities; to give young people a chance to see what it was like to work in Dumfries and Galloway; to illustrate the range of heritage-related and other careers available in the region; to address the current departure rate of young people; to introduce a new range of employers to the benefits of internships/work experience programmes. Beyond the selected candidates, the approach and overall programme sought to take every opportunity to highlight the merits to young people of working and living in Galloway. Later roles were advertised on the indeed.com website. This advertised the role but also advertised the concept of working in Galloway, raising the profile of the range of careers available. It was hoped that even people who didn’t apply would start to think about Galloway as an attractive place to work The Galloway Glens Team were keen that the interns weren’t simply taken on for basic duties, essentially just at a subsidised rate. Hosts were therefore asked to make the internships as rewarding as possible, with maximum benefit for intern future employment. A strong and active approach to recruitment was vital to the success of the intern programme. At least 9 out of the 15 interns have continued working in the sector of their internship: • • • • 3 secured a permanent role with the host, and 2 more a subsequent role with the host. 2 secured a permanent or subsequent role in the sector, but not in D&G. 1 entered further education in the sector of the internship. 1 was able to continue independent self-employed work. Example 6: Enterprising Young People in the Outer Hebrides The D&G Council Plan for 2023-28 confirms that 98.8% of all businesses in D&G are micro (below 10 employees) or small (below 50). The case study from the Western Isles in the Appendices also points to the critical importance of micro-enterprise within a local rural or island economy. In so-called ‘remote’ rural areas the vast majority of enterprises are in fact micro-enterprises (although the Glenkens does have a noticeable number of small or larger enterprises based in the area). A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 27 Engaging with work opportunities through micro-enterprise can be more challenging, with many micro-entrepreneurs struggling to provide apprenticeships, even though these are critically important for sustaining, for example, local trades and local farming. The Galloway Glens initiative, which adopted a very flexible and can-do approach, is a good example of what a focused but flexible partnership with smaller local enterprises can deliver. The D&G Council Plan also states that the region experienced 420 new start-up businesses in 2022. Fostering and sustaining micro-enterprise, including the most micro with no or only a few employees, as well as community and social enterprise, is a key strategy for the sustainability of rural communities, and needs to be reflected in rural education provision. A broad base of private, public, third sector and community enterprises is more resilient than being dependent on just one or two larger employers, who may bring inward investment and offer multiple jobs in one sweep, but such external investment can be fickle. In a global market, cheaper labour elsewhere will pull the plug in a relatively short time after start-up funds have been swallowed up. One strategy that can contribute to a broad base of enterprise within the local area is effective enterprise education and support that could enable some young people to set up their own business. There have long been a range of enterprise programmes which have enabled school pupils to trial setting up an enterprise, including in the Outer Hebrides. However, the Education Department in partnership with the local social enterprise, Cothrom, delivering adult education, co-designed and delivered the Enterprising Young Peoples programme that linked exploring enterprise opportunities with local economic literacy (see Case Study 1 in the Appendices). Over a few years, day-long workshops were delivered to every senior phase pupil across the Outer Hebrides, in which every pupil set out and presented an enterprising idea, whether private businesses, social enterprises or community projects. Because the workshops enabled pupils to understand the local economy and identify local enterprising opportunities, all the ideas they came up with were very strongly rooted within the local context. While the programme provided some follow-up through coaching for those young people who wanted to take their ideas forward into practice, this element was never adequately resourced. At the same time, the impact of the programme was not so much short-term, found in how many pupils implemented their enterprising ideas (very few, not least because all were still at school), but more likely to be long-term. When each participating pupil presented their idea at the end of the day, and got positive feedback from community representatives, the overwhelming impact was the sense of just how many good enterprising opportunities there were within the local economy. It is very difficult to determine the contribution of the many different initiatives over more than two decades that have led Uist and Barra in the Outer Hebrides to experience the largest number within any Scottish islands of young people returning in their 20s and 30s. However, the Enterprising Young People’s programme, which was delivered to more cohorts in Uist and Barra than elsewhere, has contributed, by demonstrating to young people that there are so many opportunities they could return to in the future, should they wish to. A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 28 Example 7: Life-long learning within the community (Uist and Denmark) Example 2 above sets out evidence on the progress made in the Outer Hebrides to develop qualifications and pathways relevant to the local economy. It is equally important to recognise other contributing factors that have delivered life-long learning opportunities in particular (see Case Study 1 in the Appendices). Like many other rural areas in Scotland, Uist (the seven inhabited islands from Berneray to Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides) has benefited from learning opportunities provided through a local college, Lews Castle College (LCC), now part of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI). LCC’s learning centre in Benbecula next door to the secondary school provided opportunities for young people and adults to engage in further and higher education, and at times extended the curriculum offer for senior phase pupils by taking courses at the centre, courses that were not taught in the school. What is more distinctive to Uist is the extent of life-long learning opportunities developed by the community sector over the last 30 years. Cothrom, a charitable adult learning centre was initially set up in 1992 to help women back into work, a mission that ensured a long-term commitment to childcare, including eventually the creation of Cothrom’s own Gaelic-speaking nursery. Another fullday all year round nursery was established by a community organisation in North Uist as well; this has now been absorbed into the new primary school built for North Uist. Over the years Cothrom has developed a wide range of life-long learning opportunities for adults, with a strong focus on learning and support services for young people and adults facing challenges in their lives. Accredited qualifications included SQA qualifications in horticulture, delivered in partnership with another community organisation, Tagsa Uibhist. The collaboration has contributed to a significant expansion of local horticulture. Tagsa developed the largest community growing project in Uist, which was managed for a time by three graduates from the first cohort of the horticulture course. 5 And it was the partnership between the local council’s Education Department and Cothrom that delivered the Enterprising Young People’s programme (see Example 6 above). Taigh Chearsabhagh, the arts and heritage centre set up in 1994, has long collaborated closely with LCC (now UHI) to deliver art courses at further and higher education level, recently being able to teach a full BA. The primary inspiration for art at Taigh Chearsabhagh has always been the distinct island environment. And the local community riding school offered accredited qualifications in equestrian studies. Most recently, the Gaelic music and culture organisation within the community, Ceòlas, first set up in 1996 to run an annual summer school, entered into partnership with UHI. They jointly built a £7 million cultural centre, Cnoc Soilleir. This was opened in 2022 and now delivers community-based courses and events in Gaelic language, music and culture, as well courses accredited by UHI, including resident academic staff in music and in archaeology. Gaelic music, dance and culture have in fact long been part of community-based learning, including for young people through the two annual feisean (one in South Uist, one in North Uist, both targeted at children, with many of the tutors being young people themselves), as well as a range of local dance schools. 5 For more detail on the emergence of a multi-pronged and integrated strategy, led by Tagsa Uibhist, to start rebuilding a local food economy in Uist, see the CoDeL case study at http://codel.scot/community-actions-inuist-and-glenkens, which also includes three case studies from the Glenkens. A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 29 The evidence highlights two important characteristics of these educational opportunities delivered through the community sector. First is their organic growth over many years, with community organisations responding to needs as well as opportunities as they arose within local communities. Second is the extent of partnerships, among different community organisations, between these organisations and the local college delivering further and higher education, and also with the local council. The Enterprising Young People’s programme was delivered through an innovative partnership agreement between local council and community organisation as equal partners equally responsible for all outcomes, rather than a typical Service Level Agreement or equivalent, in which the commissioning authority holds much of the power. There are of course many different models to deliver life-long learning in rural communities. An example of a very different model is the folk high school in Denmark (see Case Study 5), a non-formal residential school offering learning opportunities in almost any subject. Most students are between 18 and 24 years old and the length of a typical stay is four months. It is a boarding school, so students sleep, eat, study, and spend their spare time at the school. There are no academic requirements for admittance, and there are no exams - but students do get a diploma as proof of their attendance. One of the core ideas of the folk high schools is equality and mutual learning between teachers and students. Everybody has the same duties and the same rights. Classes are characterised by the free word, dialogue and an open curriculum which can be changed during the course. The main focus is to discover and strengthen the unique skills of each student in a challenging yet supportive social atmosphere. “The task of the schools is to create a climate where culture is a reality.” There are approximately 70 independent folk high schools located all over Denmark, offering learning opportunities in more than 300 different subjects. Every year in Denmark, an average of 40,000 people attend a folk high school for courses of varying lengths. Conclusions: looking forward Key principles emerging from this review Some key themes have emerged from both the secondary research and the case studies, which this section draws out as a series of principles that are important for the delivery of rural education. (To make the principles support a broader framework for policy and action, additional principles have been included, around creativity, inclusiveness and digital skills which were discussed in meetings with the Steering Group for this research, but which were not a focus of the primary and secondary research gathered for this report.) Educational provision needs to … • 6 be rooted and connected in the place, drawing on local assets, connections, networks and partnerships, and incorporating local experience and knowledge, including experience and skills in adapting rapidly to changing circumstances. The last is essential for the resilience of rural communities and in preparing young people for jobs in the future that have not yet been conceived.6 Educational provision needs to demonstrate in practice, from nursery through Tapping into the resilience that rural communities so often display will strengthen young people’s own resilience within a fast changing world, whether they stay or move away. The focus on what works well locally is therefore good for young people wherever they may evetually end up. A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 30 further and higher education to life-long learning, that it values local assets and strengths, experience and knowledge. • A better education that is rooted locally also strengthens young people’s ability to choose where to go. So education provision needs to value and support local communities and their sustainability, e.g. giving young people education and learning that delivers genuine choices and opportunities, equipping them to go anywhere, whether they stay, leave or a combination of both, rather than only “learning to leave”. • deliver to the needs of the local economy; and provide opportunities for young people and those engaged in life-long learning to meet those needs through learning that links to the local labour market and local community action.7 This principle relates not just to the local economy as is, but also enabling young people to identify enterprising opportunities that (a) enable them to forge their own paths and (b) address needs that are currently not being met within the local area, or society more widely. • support creativity, which is critical for young people and adults to respond to and demonstrate resilience in the face of the rapid changes like climate change that all of us are facing, and will continue to do so in future. 8 • be inclusive, meeting the needs of all. This includes provision of education and learning for those with diverse and special needs, and can build on the strengths of small schools where diverse pupils may often be taken at ‘face value’ without stigmatisation or labelling. • give young people the opportunity to apply and develop their digital skills so that they can thrive in an increasingly digital world, but also practice skills for adaptability in the face of rapid change and uncertainty, e.g. about the impacts of AI on future work. Intergenerational work, with young people helping adults in their community to acquire better digital skills can bring mutual benefit, including valuing the digital skills that many young people already have. • urgently needs to adapt learning and practice to the demands made by the twin climate and biodiversity emergencies, equipping young people and adults with the necessary knowledge, experience and skills to live more sustainably. These are diverse, for example ranging from technical skills for renewable energy through growing local food to social capital for community resilience. 7 Relevant strategies can include, as some examples, using local assets as educational resources (see Examples 1 and 4 above), delivering accredited qualifications that relate directly to local labour markets but are recognised nationally (see Example 2 above), and providing relevant life-long learning opportunities (see Example 7). 8 The following are comments from Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for the Directorate of Education and Skills and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General at OECD in an Education Scotland podcast (7 March 2024): “We found that, across the board, everywhere where we looked at this, 15-year-olds were less creative than 10-year-olds.” “Our education systems destroy some of the capabilities that are innate to us as humans … this kind of compliance-based, conformity driven culture in education drives out some of the creativity that in early childhood develops very naturally.” “There’s a more global trend towards more project-based learning where students set their own goals and have to become good at monitoring their own learning progress. What we all know that in the world of today it’s not what you do in school – it’s your motivations, your capacity to continue learning throughout life on your own, to organise yourself, to have that inner resilience that’s increasingly important.” A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 31 An emerging vision for educational provision in the Glenkens In this report we have set out relevant secondary research, concrete examples of positive action elsewhere that deliver effective education within rural communities, and some broad principles that can frame educational provision in rural areas. An important strand of the research was also to hear the views and voices of local people within the Glenkens itself, who have the direct experience of education in the area. Such engagement was facilitated through two community sessions (involving parents, current and former pupils and teachers), as well as conducting interviews with some community representatives, all in September 2024. These sessions facilitated local voices and information sharing that have been included in sections of this report. What was also apparent was the commitment and passion for education that was shared among the participants from the Glenkens, and the depth of relevant knowledge and experience, insight and aspiration within local communities. The sessions focused on direct experiences of local education, in the past and the present, and aspirations for the future. The latter led to the emergence of ideas for a vision for education provision in the Glenkens, and the following diagram seeks to capture some of the elements of the vision. The short sessions did not allow the creation of fully integrated visions within and across the two sessions, and to ensure that all participant voices are heard, we have included two Appendices (11 and 12), one of our notes while participants were contributing their ideas verbally, and the other of what each participant themselves recorded on paper. Clearly parents, pupils and other stakeholders wanted to see an educational hub or campus at the heart of communities in the Glenkens, for rural place-based learning from cradle to grave. The hub would not just be located in one building, but also have mobile elements that can take educational provision out into communities. The obvious core of such provision are the current primary and secondary school in Dalry. The vision seeks to demonstrate a positive and sustainable future for those schools as part of a wider educational offering that can sustain high-quality and innovative educational provision, relevant to the local area, at the heart of the Glenkens. An essential part of a vision relevant to the local area would be to develop a centre of excellence with a special focus on giving young people the opportunity to develop essential rural skills, especially skills for the land-based and renewable energy sectors, enabling young people who want to to stay, or those who leave, to return later. Some of the examples or models from elsewhere cited in the previous sections of this report would be highly relevant for developing such a centre of excellence. What is striking in fact is how much those positive examples or models from elsewhere align with the vision from within the local community in the Glenkens. Inclusive, accessible, safe making strong, viable & healthy community good place for families encouraging new generations to stay, or come, and thrive I know that anything is possible Opportunities for all I can be who I want to be For all ages and abilities Everyone encouraged to learn, but not necessarily academic I feel safe and supported, and confident in my chosen path Child / person specific Flexible, including flexi-schooling Individual pathways Challenging, and happy to learn Mentoring and self-directed learning people can leave, but not forced to Learning / Wellbeing Hub / Campus ... in centre of community Wide selection of subjects ... from cradle to grave, so that people do not have to leave Traditional and modern skills ... life-long & intergenerational learning “Small” that enables ... Nurturing, support, kindness Sense of belonging Practical skills and academic options Everyone getting on with each other, both peers and across ages Apprenticeships & local job opportunities Everyone valued Outdoor learning & non-traditional settings Rooted within community On-line learning with cutting-edge technology to expand choice; also mobile options to take learning into community Rural skills and trades brought back Practical skills for life Community contributing to skills teaching “Past skills for future communities” with local decision-making and control, devolution Children managing mental health Not hierarchical, different relationship btw teachers & pupils After-school clubs & activities outside teaching time drawing on what is already there; there is so much going on locally and nature on doorstep Eco-sustainable buildings Sports, arts, crafts, growing food People come in and children go out Renewable energy Entertainment & social opportunities, as well as learning Self-sufficiency Great food, locally sourced; some prepared by children Resources from windfarms Good transport Is the ambitious vision practical and achievable? A critical question is whether such a vision for an educational hub, a centre of excellence, is practical and achievable. The evidence from the views of multiple stakeholders captured in this review, and from the research and documentation reviewed, suggests it is practical. In fact it meets the needs and aspirations of (a) the communities within the Glenkens, (b) key private sector actors and (c) the Dumfries and Galloway council. For local communities critical elements include educational provision that is local, avoiding potentially very long bus journeys; that is able to meet the needs and aspirations of individual pupils effectively; that delivers opportunities for life-long learning; and that, not least, contributes to repopulation within the Glenkens by helping to make the area a great place to live and work, for young people and families to stay, return or settle. As the Glenkens Hub argues on education and learning (see here): The provision of high-quality education for our young people and learning opportunities for our whole community is a key under-pinning of thriving communities here in the Glenkens. We know that lack of provision leads to families leaving the area, which is completely at odds with our aims of achieving sustainable communities through averting de-population. Locally-based private businesses, many operating in land-based activities like renewable energy and forestry, want skilled individuals whom they can recruit locally, knowing that will lead to greater employee retention, rather than being forced to bring in (often expensive temporary) workers from outside. And recruitment gaps for local businesses are found across the board, including among local community organisations and social enterprises. Despite The Green House in Dalry being Natural Power Consultants’ head office, recruiting staff to the Glenkens with the right skills and experience is a challenge. Across the board, the renewables industry is growing rapidly because of the move towards Net Zero, and companies are struggling to recruit from an insufficient pool of potential candidates. (See Case Study 7 in the Appendices) And the Education and Learning Directorate within Dumfries and Galloway Council aspires to improve education and learning opportunities to help all our children, young people and citizens fulfil their potential. This starts with pre-school, then school, before progressing into further or higher education or transition into work. We will work with our partners to create and promote lifelong learning opportunities so everyone in the region can live a meaningful and fulfilling life, and contribute to their community.” (D&G Council Plan for 2023-28) The vision for educational provision in the Glenkens directly addresses these aspirations, and links very closely with the Rural Skills Training Centre being developed with funding from D&G Council and South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE). The SQA qualifications in rural skills are particularly relevant to the Glenkens, and the Rural Skills Centre could provide significant opportunities for collaboration between local schools and the wider community. Depopulation across Dumfries and Galloway, which is almost all rural, remains one of the biggest challenges confronting the Council. The emerging vision provides a positive response that could deliver an innovative and effective strategy to turn around depopulation in rural areas, delivered through partnership working across the community, private and public sectors. It would deliver pathways to work opportunities that enable young people, and their families, to stay, return or settle in the area. With very strong links to rural skills and land-based activities, the vision can also evolve to include a centre of excellence for learning within the community that directly addresses the challenges of the climate and biodiversity emergencies. A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 34 With the distinct mix of a highly active community within the Glenkens, many local employers and enterprises, including local trusts, from large to small, and a local Council aspiring to find positive and sustainable solutions, there can be few better areas within D&G than the Glenkens to develop and demonstrate such an innovative educational strategy that directly addresses depopulation and climate challenges, that delivers the sustainability for local rural communities that is critical if rural areas across D&G are going to survive and thrive. The strategy could develop an innovative partnership, rooted in the Glenkens as a place, that demonstrates best practice in responding to the challenges of rural depopulation and the climate emergency, enabling it to attract attention and funding for its ambitions. It would also be recognised under the Scottish Government’s Rural Delivery Plan, and its Action Plan to address depopulation. The Plan “endorses the importance of local leadership and seeks to exemplify the maxim ‘local by default, national by agreement’. We know that a place-based approach to applying national, regional, and local policies will be essential to sustainably and effectively address depopulation.” Assets and strengths that can contribute to the realisation of the emerging vision The emerging vision is sufficiently coherent and accords with the needs and aspirations of all sectors that it could act as a sound starting point for collaboration. Critical for success would be to build on existing assets and strengths within the community and area. This research has identified many of these. Assets and strengths within the community sector ... The Glenkens is fortunate to have highly active communities, with a plethora of active community organisations (see here). These include organisations and trusts with significant experience in community ownership of assets and engaging constructively with local windfarms. They also include organisations focused on local heritage, local land and natural assets, including the Carsphairn Community Woodland that is developing the Rural Skills Training Centre. And of course many of these community organisations themselves require skilled employees. Activities across the area are coordinated under the Glenkens and District Community Action Plan (see here), with its four key themes of a Connected Community, an Asset Rich Community, an Economically Flourishing Community and a Carbon Neutral Community. The Plan is being progressed through an organisational structure for effective delivery, governance and accountability shared across the Glenkens and District Trust, the Glenkens Community and Arts Trust and the Glenkens & District Community Action Plan Steering Group. In addition to a highly active and organised community, families and communities within the Glenkens have long had a very strong commitment to education. This is evidenced in: • the very high educational attainment of Dalry Secondary School in the past; • the significant local experience in delivering alternative educational provision, for example at Kilquhanity School (since the 1940s) (see Case Study 5 in the Appendices); • the determination with which local communities have fought school closures, such as Carsphairn primary school and Dalry secondary; • the expertise in establishing groups like Bairn Banter (see Case Study 10 in the Appendices), including a deep commitment to developing outdoor educational provision for children; A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 35 • the high levels of flexible schooling currently exercised by parents in the Glenkens; • the active and dynamic parent councils in the area. This strong commitment was clearly reflected in the attendance at the sessions CoDeL facilitated in September, and in the ambitious vision that emerged. Assets and strengths within the private and enterprise sector … Many of the key sectors within the local economy are land-based, including agriculture, forestry and renewable energy, with a range of businesses, from micro to large. The hospitality and tourism sectors are also important. And the community sector is a critical part of the local economy too, not just delivering vital services, but also providing employment in community enterprises and charities. (For a list of many local businesses see here.) There are significant local employers with an interest in local education and learning. These include, for example, Natural Power Consultants Ltd and Vattenfall Wind Power, who presented at the event on Education and Learning in the Glenkens in July 2024, setting out their needs for skilled workers to recruit (see Case Studies 7 and 8 in the Appendices). Young people in the Glenkens struggle to see a future for themselves in the area because of limited job opportunities. Lack of higher education facilities in the area is also a challenge for employers like Natural Power Consultants who normally recruit at graduate level …. South West Engineering and Fabrications Ltd is a good example of a local small business employing 15 employees, including many local people. However, they face recruitment gaps as well, especially in critical skills like fabrication and welding, and a fifth of their workforce comes from abroad. There are no shortages of local businesses, whether private or community, micro or larger, that can contribute to enriching educational provision in the Glenkens by highlighting opportunities, sharing experience, contributing to elements of the curriculum, and offering opportunities for work experience and internships, apprenticeships and jobs (see Case Study 6 for some examples). Critical for the success of delivering on the emerging vision will be larger businesses, potentially including windfarms (such as Vattenfall), that might also contribute financial and other resources, not just work opportunities. Assets and strengths within the public sector … Dumfries and Galloway has a long history of delivering rural education, including through a multitude of small schools, as well as supporting diverse and dynamic schools, especially at secondary school level, that create their own particular ethos and distinct educational provision, and even compete with each other to attract pupils. Within some schools there is a strong tradition of partnership; we have already cited the example of the forestry classroom at Dalbeattie High School funded by a large local forestry machinery suppliers and engineers. The Education and Learning Directorate at D&G Council is also very supportive of parental choice, for example with many parents sending their children to schools outwith their catchment areas and exercising their rights to flexi-schooling. In addition, implementing the vision would also contribute to other themes at the core of the D&G Council Plan for 2023-28: the economy; health and wellbeing; and travel, connectivity and infrastructure, as well as the first principle of “securing our future” through “addressing the climate A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 36 emergency” and “protecting our natural capital”. With a skewed demographic across rural D&G, recruiting people to deliver health and social care will remain critical. The emerging vision for an educational hub within the Glenkens clearly fits very well within the Council’s overall framework of ambition and delivery for the area. The educational hub would also fit well into wider regional and national policy. This includes SOSE’s strategy to support the South of Scotland's communities, environment and economy. SOSE has already invested in the Carsphairn Community Wood, for example, which is now developing the Rural Skills Training Centre. Obviously, more work is required on the vision and a huge amount of detail would need to be worked through among all the relevant partners. This will require discussion and negotiation among partners over time, perhaps with some facilitation, or even appointing a Development Officer, to develop the vision and implementation strategy in greater detail. It is likely to be unrealistic, in the current financial climate, to attract large funding all at once to create the educational hub or campus envisaged in the vision. Instead it will have to develop on the basis of incremental and organic growth over many years. A note on housing Developing educational provision, and opportunities for local employment cannot be delivered effectively in isolation. Affordable housing must be a critical part of the mix. This is deeply relevant to the Glenkens. Recently two families with pupils at Dalry have had to move out of their existing homes and have been unable to find alternative homes in the catchment area. The community also knows that existing housing has been bought up by wind and power generation companies when they develop new infrastructure, removing such housing from the market. And there are individuals and families who are living in temporary accommodation and caravans for long periods. Even though this review has focused on rural education, it cannot ignore the challenge of available and affordable housing, especially when housing is lost to developers, incoming retirees and holiday homes. The lack of housing is deeply undermining potential school rolls and also, of course, the ability of young people and families to take up work opportunities in the local labour market. Much of the vision and the educational strategies that are reflected in this report cannot be realised unless the local housing crisis is also addressed. A strong action plan relating to housing needs to be taken up within the Glenkens and District Community Action Plan to complement the development of high-quality local educational provision. Reflections on options for education in the Glenkens Key decisions about secondary school provision in Dalry will be taking place in the next couple of years and these will deeply affect the viability of the community vision that is emerging. So some next steps for Dalry may be critical at this moment in time. The Glenkens Education Forum, under the Glenkens & District Community Action Plan Steering Group, and with the support of GCAT, will need to reflect on the emerging vision and decide how to take developing the vision and strategy forward. Critical to these community discussions will be bringing the various public and private sector organsiations on board, to see the opportunity for an education centre of excellence that includes a specialist focus on land-based and renewable energy skills. A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 37 While decisions about the continuation of Dalry Secondary School or not will have very little immediate impacts on D&G’s overall education budget (the total cost of the school represents only just over 1% of the total educational budget), they will have very serious consequences for educational provision in local communities throughout the Glenkens. The closure of Dalry Secondary is likely to undermine the positive vision and opportunity that has emerged during this research. A few participants at the community sessions proposed the idea of establishing an independent school in Dalry in partnership with the private sector alone. We believe it is unrealistic for local communities within the Glenkens to deliver on this. Communities in the Glenkens are already highly active in many different activities across the area; and, to be successful, huge energy and resources would have to be invested in developing an independent school, detracting from those other initiatives. We have also spoken to an independent school with a specialist eductional focus. Even with Government finance for places, the school still has to raise very significant additional funding every year to be able to deliver their educational offering; an independent school in Dalry would face similar challenges on an annual basis. Finally, the vision for an educational hub in the Glenkens in fact goes beyond what a small independent school could offer. The decision has been taken not to mothball the school this year, and a new Head Teacher for Castle Douglas and Dalry is working energetically to ensure good educational provision at Dalry Secondary School. For example, he is working hard on curriculum offering, additional opportunities such as Duke of Edinburgh awards, and establishing local partnerships. Also helpful in the short term would be to introduce one or two new courses aligned with local employability oppoprtunities, and the HT is already looking at such opportunities. This could illustrate the direction of travel and test demand from within the Glenkens community. Overall this report provides evidence and examples that can assist all involved to determine a positive path forward for local education to benefit the Glenkens communities in the longer term. To fully utilise the evidence and examples, people need to have time to digest and consider them and to discuss in detail what can realistically be achieved and delivered. In view of the long-term implications of closing a school, we would encourage all involved to take the time to look at options and to debate and discuss them in an open and respectful way before taking such a major step. This process will take time, but premature decisions to close the school without a full assessment of the implications, opportunites and possible mitigation measures will severely hamper the longer term sustainability of all the communities in the Glenkens. Concluding remarks Looking at the national and local policy context, at the focus on mitigating the risks of rural depopulation and at the passion for education and community development within the Glenkens, there is an opportunity, by working together across the public, private and community sectors, to develop rural education provision in the area that is innovative and transformational. Such place-based education could directly address rural depopulation and climate challenges, and meet the needs of the local economy and of local communities in the present, and for the future. It could build on local assets and strengths, experience and knowledge, to create resilient rural communities, individuals and enteprises, able to adapt rapidly to the many changing circumstances that rural Scotland will increasingly face in the future. A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 38 It could “help deliver a just transition to net-zero” in the Glenkens, “by ensuring the learning system equips people with the skills and knowledge both they and the Sector require” (Commission for the land-based learning review, Scottish Government, 2023:1). In this way it could serve as a valuable model for other communities across Dumfries and Galloway and further afield in Scotland. With the distinct mix of a highly active local community, many local employers and enterprises, including in the land-based and renewables sectors, and a local Council aspiring to find positive and sustainable solutions, we believe there can be few better rural areas than the Glenkens to develop and demonstrate such an educational strategy. The strategy needs to be developed through an innovative partnership, rooted in the Glenkens as a place, that demonstrates best practice in responding to the challenges of rural depopulation, the climate emergency and thriving local economies and communities, enabling it to attract attention and funding for its ambitions. As the Executive Manager of the Glenkens Community and Arts Trust put it at the event on education and learning in the Glenkens in July 2024, We are looking for a creative solution based on a vision of thriving rural communities where current and future economic development is underpinned by innovative educational provision, working in strategic partnership with businesses, communities and the Council and where all parties are valued for their expertise. Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Glenkens and District Trust, who commissioned this review, and for the diverse inputs and support from the members of the Steering Group, Fiona Smith, Richard Middleton, Sarah Ade and Stephen Connelly, as well as Emma Hutchison at Foundation Scotland. We thank all those who gave of their time to share with us about rural education, including Abi Mordin (Propagate), Alison Macleod (Carsphairn Community Woodland), Anna Karlsdóttir (University of Iceland), Dougie Woodrow (Breadalbane Academy), Gillian Brydson (Dumfries and Galloway Council), Helen Keron (GCAT), Iain Stewart (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar), Joan MacKay, Nicola Crawford and Stephen Bullock (Education Scotland), Kenneth Taylor (St. Mary’s Music School, Edinburgh), Lesley Atkins (Galloway Food Hub), McNabb Laurie (Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands), Melissa Ade (Bairn Banter, Carsphairn), Paul Thomson (Baltasound Junior High School, Shetland), Rosie Alexander (Scottish Islands Research Network) and Tomás Mac Pháidín (Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board, Ireland). In particular we want to thank all the participants at the two community sessions in Balmaclellan in September: current and former pupils, parents and teachers, and the new Head Teacher for Dalry, Stephen Foster. 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Examining the impact of remoteness from a school on Canadian communities’ attraction and retention of school-age children”, International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies 12(2): 12–34 Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership, Dumfries and Galloway Council and National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland (2023), Galloway Glens Intern Programme: Overview + Findings Glenkens and District Community Action groups/community-action-plan-steering-group Plan (2020), https://glenkens.scot/community- Glenkens and District Community Action Plan Steering Group and Glenkens Community and Arts Trust (2024), “Education and Learning in the Glenkens” (11th July 2024), https://glenkens.scot/reportsresources-archive/education-and-learning-in-the-glenkens-event Glenkens Community and Arts Trust (2023), “A Vision for Land Use”, https://glenkens.scot/reportsresources-archive/a-vision-for-land-use-in-the-glenkens Government of Ireland, Department of Education (2022), The 2nd National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development – ESD to 2030, https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/8c8bb-esd-to-2030-secondnational-strategy-on-education-for-sustainable-development/ A review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 40 Gulløv, J and Gulløv, E (2020), “Mobility and belonging – A case from provincial Denmark”, Journal of Pedagogy 11 (1): 107–126 IPBES, The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (2022), The assessment report on the diverse values and valuation of nature: Summary for policymakers, https://www.ipbes.net/the-values-assessment Karlsdottir, A, Cuadrado, A, Gaini, F, Jungsberg, L and Ormstrup Vestergård, L (2019), Enabling vulnerable youth in rural areas: not in education, employment or training, Nordregio Report 2019:8 Lehtonen, O (2021), “Primary school closures and population development – is school vitality an investment in the attractiveness of the (rural) communities or not?” Journal of Rural Studies 82: 138–147 Nordregio (2023), “The Nordic Rural Youth Panel’s Recommendations”, https://pub.nordregio.org/r-202313-from-fields-to-futures-40-action-points-for-rural-revitalisation/the-nordic-rural-youth-panelsrecommendations.html Roberts, P and Guenther, J (2021), “Framing Rural and Remote: Key Issues, Debates, Definitions, and Positions in Constructing Rural and Remote Disadvantage”, Chapter 2 (pp.13-27) in Roberts, P and Fuqua, M (eds), Ruraling Education Research: Connections Between Rurality and the Disciplines of Educational Research, Springer Scottish Government and COSLA (2013), Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education, https://www.gov.scot/publications/commission-delivery-rural-education-report/documents/ Scottish Government (2023:1), Commission for the land-based learning review: report to Scottish Ministers, https://www.gov.scot/publications/commission-land-based-learning-review-report-scottishministers/documents/ Scottish Government (2023:2), “Target 2030”: A movement for people, planet and prosperity: Scotland’s Learning for Sustainability Action Plan 2023-2030, https://www.gov.scot/publications/target-2030movement-people-planet-prosperity/documents/ Scottish Government (2024), Action Plan to Address Depopultion, https://www.gov.scot/publications/supporting-enabling-sustainable-communities-action-plan-addressdepopulation/ Sørensen, J, Svendsen, G, Jensen, P and Schmidt, T (2021), “Do rural school closures lead to local population decline?”, Journal of Rural Studies 87: 226–235  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A review of rural education in the Glenkens Description An account of the resource This report reviews the links between education and the sustainability of rural communities, and focuses on opportunities and challenges for educational provision in the Glenkens, a dynamic and engaged rural community. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CAP_25 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Glenkens & District Trust Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource CoDeL CAP Theme 3 education https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/20/630/Appendices_Rural_Education_Review_Nov2024.jpg 5ad77cd9e102f1f30b01377b9f067583 https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/20/630/Appendices_Rural_Education_Review_Nov_2024.pdf 00cbb7a8ab3233a529154dad74c9087c PDF Text Text pdftext_placeholder Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Community Action Plan Description An account of the resource Documents relating to the Glenkens and District Community Action Plan, initially drawn up by Glenkens & District Trust in 2020. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document A review of rural education in the Glenkens: Appendices November 2024 Table of Contents Case study 1: That’s how we did it in the Western Isles! ................................................................... 2 Vocational Educational Strategy and Local Labour Market Intelligence ........................................... 2 e-Sgoil ........................................................................................................................................... 3 The community sector and life-long learning ................................................................................. 4 Case study 2: Breadalbane Academy in Perthshire ........................................................................... 5 Case study 3: Baltasound Junior High School in Shetland ................................................................. 6 Case study 4: Reflections from Ireland .............................................................................................. 8 Casestudy 5: From Denmark to Galloway ....................................................................................... 11 Folk high schools in Denmark ....................................................................................................... 11 Kilquhanity School, Galloway ....................................................................................................... 12 Case study 6: Galloway Glens Intern Programme ............................................................................ 13 Case Study 7: Natural Power Consultants (NPC) ............................................................................. 15 Case study 8: Vattenfall Wind Power .............................................................................................. 16 Case study 9: Abi Mordin, Propogate .............................................................................................. 17 Case study 10: Bairn Banter, Carsphairn ......................................................................................... 19 Appendix 11: Creating a vision for Dalry / Glenkens Education: Notes taken of participants’ contributions .................................................................................................................................. 23 Appendix 12: Creating a Vision for Dalry / Glenkens Education: Writing and drawing by participants..................................................................................................................................... 26 Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 2 Case study 1: That’s how we did it in the Western Isles! Sources: Direct experience of CoDeL’s Directors in developing educational opportunities within the Western Isles (Outer Hebrides); also e-Sgoil, Evidence of Impact Report 2024, https://e-sgoil.com/media/kljl4rf2/impactreport-2024.pdf Vocational Educational Strategy and Local Labour Market Intelligence The Outer Hebrides had amongst the worst population projections: an expected decline of 25% in total population and of one-third in the working age population by 2046. To address this the Local Authority, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CnES), adopted a formal education strategy in 2008 designed to stem population decline. Historically the curriculum was stacked heavily in favour of those going on to Higher Education. In reality this was only relevant for approximately 34% of the school leaver cohort, which left a majority of young people seeking work or Further Education to equip themselves for the world of work post-school, which often still took them away from the islands. It was essentially ‘education for export’: to ‘get-on’ in life was to ‘get-off’ the islands. Universal education for all in the islands had been thoroughly embraced and in the 1980s the islands had the highest university entrance rate per head of population in the country. This also meant that young people who wanted, for example, to become a mechanical engineer, had to leave to become qualified. When young people reach their adult life, naturally they form social bonds which may last throughout their lives. If those bonds are formed ‘away’ from home, despite initial intentions, many will not return. This meant the islands were leaching their young and able population. To address the dire projections, a formal Vocational Educational Strategy was introduced and adopted in 2008. Local Labour Market Intelligence (LLMI) was key to informing decisions around which courses would be introduced into the curriculum based on ‘where the jobs would be in the future’. If it was identified that a sector of the economy was struggling with recruitment gaps or predicted to expand, but an appropriate course didn’t exist, a writing group was established and the courses were commissioned, written, verified and accredited with parity of esteem to sit within the qualification menu offered to pupils. It was important that courses were not just for the less able, but relevant to all pupils. Such courses included, at National 5 level, Harris Tweed, Crofting, , Maritime Skills and, at Higher Level 6, Local Food Production, the last providing opportunities for progression from a number of courses, including the crofting course. The strategy meant every child had the entitlement to a nationally accredited industry recognised qualification linked to employability within the local economy informed by LLMI. The delivery of the courses, along with many Skills for Work courses, were delivered, at least in part, by an industry experienced tutor. This gave pupils learning in context and relevance which proved successful and popular with pupils. As examples, we know there are young people who took the Crofting course, perceiving it as being on a par with Biology and in a locally relevant context, who went on to gain their PhD, returned to the islands, have become Vice Chair of the local agricultural committee and office bearer of the livestock committee, all rooted in their community, and contributing to the local community and economy. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 3 Other courses were already available through SQA but were not necessarily offered by the school. In this case any accredited presenting centre could verify and deliver the course. For example, a collaboration between Stirling University and the Western Isles Health Board created a Pre-Nursing Scholarship to address recruitment gaps in the nursing sector. Further collaboration followed with the Education Department of CnES and Cothrom, a local training centre. All this enabled young people to gain relevant work-based experience in the local hospital, clinic and GP practices and gain qualifications, equivalent to at least two Highers, for entry into a nursing degree. Subsequently this was replaced by the Foundation Apprenticeship in Health and Social Care, with the addition of the SVQ2 in social care, which is essential to access employment within the social care sector. This meant that a range of courses were delivered in collaboration with local businesses and community organisations. Evidence has demonstrated that Work Experience ranks highly in pupil personalisation and choice exercises; whether they like it or not, they gain from the experience it provides. The Skills for Work and other courses increased the collaboration with local sectors such as hospitality, garages, Scottish Water, the veterinary surgery, etc. The Western Isles were head and shoulders above every Local Authority in Scotland with the number of pupils achieving such a range of employability relevant qualifications. This doesn’t count for much if the area still loses its young people, so tracking and checking ‘where are they now’ was really important. e-Sgoil The world was changing, IT connectivity was improving, and there were also teacher recruitment gaps. So in 2016 the e-Sgoil online teaching and learning platform was launched. One of its original purposes specific to the Outer Hebrides was to ensure that (a) all pupils across the islands would be given the same subject offering, not just those in the largest school in Stornoway, and that (b) all pupils would have access to more specialised subjects that might be taught in person in any one of the four secondary schools. Obviously it took significant resources to develop e-Sgoil, which now earns some of its income from providing services beyond the Outer Hebrides. However, offering wider choices through e-Sgoil to pupils across the four secondary schools within the Outer Hebrides is not resource intensive once the technology platform is in place. A key success factor is simply coordinating timetabling across the four schools to allow pupils in different schools to share the same class times. One of e-Sgoil’s stand-out strengths was to satisfy the demand for Gaelic education across Scotland, and this continues today. Covid saw the rapid expansion of such online provision enabling teachers across all curricular areas but geographically dispersed to be able to deliver to equally dispersed pupils. Beyond Covid, ideally teachers spend some face-to-face time with pupils, which builds the rapport which enhances the online experience. According to the Evidence of Impact Report, e-Sgoil’s Vision is to provide all learners with equitable access to high-quality teaching and learning, embedded in values of equity, opportunity, innovation and inclusion. e-Sgoil’s five aims include: • • • provide education characterised by pupil personalisation and choice; give learners equitable access to high quality teaching and learning; work with partners to create and enhance inclusive learners’ experiences. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 4 e-Sgoil continues to deliver to the Scottish Government’s National e-Learning Offer (NeLO), working closely alongside Education Scotland, the Northern Alliance and representatives from other Regional Improvement Collaboratives. Partnership working has enabled e-Sgoil to extend its reach allowing more young people to benefit from what is on offer. The community sector and life-long learning While the Outer Hebrides were way ahead with qualifications and pathways relevant to the local economy, it is important to recognise other supporting and contributing factors. This included the local college, Lews Castle College (LCC), based in Stornoway, which set up a learning centre in Benbecula just next door to the secondary school. The centre provided opportunities for local young people and adults to engage in further and higher education opportunities, and at times enabled senior phase pupils to take courses not taught in the school. Within the community sector in Uist two social enterprises in particular emerged to deliver significant education and learning opportunities. First was Cothrom, a charitable adult learning centre, that was initially set up in 1992 to help women back into work, a mission that ensured a long-term commitment to childcare, including eventually the creation of Cothrom’s own Gaelic-speaking nursery. Cothrom went on to develop a wide range of life-long learning opportunities for adults, but with a strong focus on delivering learning and support services for young people and adults facing challenges in their lives. Included within Cothrom’s offering was an SQA accredited qualification in horticulture, delivered in partnership with another key community organisation, Tagsa Uibhist, which has contributed to a significant expansion of local horticulture. In fact, the largest community growing project, which is at Tagsa, was for a while managed by three graduates from the first cohort of the horticulture course. 1 Second was Taigh Chearsabhagh, the arts and heritage centre set up in 1994, which collaborated closely with Lews Castle College (which later became part of UHI), to deliver art courses at further and higher education level, recently being able to teach a full BA. The primary inspiration for art at Taigh Chearsabhagh has always been the distinct island environment, which attracted students locally and from off the islands, as well as the community. Taigh Chearsabhagh was in fact a merger of the local historical society and the local arts association, the network of the many artists within Uist. In addition, the community riding school, established back in 1974, started offering accredited qualifications in equestrian studies. Building on this long experience of community organisations like Cothrom and Taigh Chearsabhagh, the Gaelic music and culture organisation within the community, Ceòlas, which was first set up in 1996 to run the annual summer school, entered into partnership with the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI). They jointly built a £7 million cultural centre, Cnoc Soilleir. This was opened in 2022 and now delivers community-based courses and events in Gaelic language, music and culture, as well courses accredited by UHI, including resident academic staff in music and in archaeology. Gaelic music, dance and culture have in fact long been part of community-based learning, including for young people through the two annual feisean (one in South Uist, one in North Uist targeted at children, with many of the tutors being young people themselves), as well as a range of local dance schools, etc. 1 For more detail on the emergence of a multi-pronged and integrated strategy, led by Tagsa Uibhist, to start rebuilding a local food economy in Uist, see the CoDeL casestudy at http://codel.scot/community-actions-in-uistand-glenkens, which also includes three casestudies from Glenkens. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 5 Building on long-standing enterprise programmes within schools, Cothrom and the CnES Education Department collaborated on a more innovative non-accredited programme to enable every senior phase young person to experience a day-long workshop, specially designed based on a New Economics Foundation model, to provide them with economic literacy of their place. Local literacy of where pupils live is not traditionally taught in schools. A headteacher of the school once said that pupils could name entrepreneurs of businesses elsewhere, with famous names or brands advertised across shops, buses, businesses and on the internet, but not those entrepreneurs who ran the bus company that took them to school every day or the local construction companies that built local housing. It was quite literally revelatory to hear the enterprising ideas which every young person who participated in the day-long workshops proposed when they had focussed on, and gained an understanding of where they lived. Finally, in 2018 CoDeL undertook research to track young adults across the seven inhabited islands from Berneray to Eriskay. During this time an accredited Leadership course was also delivered. In this case, it was not so much the accredited nature of the course which was most valued. This was a cohort of young adults for whom an age range of perhaps 5 to 10 years would have been unworkable during school years, but as adults, with different experiences under their belt, they had one thing in common: they had chosen to return, stay or settle in the islands. Geographically quite dispersed from across seven islands and around 60 miles, it was the coming together as informed adults which gave them voice and confidence to lead, speak and be heard in the community. Case study 2: Breadalbane Academy in Perthshire Source: Interview with Dougie Woodrow, Course Lead for rural skills at Breadalbane Academy There is an existing SQA accredited National Progression Award in Rural Skills, described as “a starting place for candidates pursuing a future in one of the major land-based industries” (see https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/41752.html); it also includes a qualification at National 4 level. The case of Breadalbane Academy demonstrates just how effective education for rural skills using these SQA qualifications can be. Initially developed with funding from Lantra, delivery of the course builds on significant assets and opportunities, like the many farms and estates within a 10-mile radius of the school. These include, as examples, pupils working on West Park Farm, working with game keepers on estates, learning about conservation at the Crannoch Centre, and learning about brush cutting, chain saws and quodbikes at Dùn Coillich,2 a community-owned landscape regeneration and rural skills training project, managed by Highland Perthshire Communities Land Trust. The course lead has access to a minibus which he can use to take pupils around during a double period. There are so many work opportunities locally, for example on farms, or with forestry expanding so quickly, and so many job opportunities as a result. Opportunities to learn rural skills are very tangible, and pupils like it, bringing lots of energy. Originally the classes just provided an introduction, now pupils can go through to Nat4 qualifications and a 2 “Hugging the eastern shoulder of Schiehallion, Dùn Coillich is a diverse mosaic of precious habitats. Thanks to the efforts of an army of volunteers and rural skills trainees dedicated to restoring this landscape from the remnants of a deer farm, it’s home to an increasing number of species as native trees return, land is sensitively managed and nature flourishes.” https://www.duncoillich.org/ Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 6 National Progression Award, for example. In fact the subject provides opportunities to gain not just qualifications but also specific tickets (e.g. in operating quad bikes and maintaining chainsaws), and significant practical work experience. There are many different pathways, so it is great for diverse pupils. Previous course leads have involved pupils in horticulture in a community garden and in meat processing. The course delivered at Breadalbane has received glowing SQA reports, not least because of how good many of the local partners are in delivering opportunities for practical experience and learning. The current course lead at Breadalbane reckons that about 50% of pupils taking rural skills end up in local employment in land-based activities. Many of these might have ended up in the same sectors anyway, as they come from families with similar employment. However, not only does the rural skills course provide opportunities to gain tickets, qualifications and experience, it also values, affirms and accredits skills that some pupils come with already through their family background. This is hugely important for place-based education in recognising and building on local skills, and valuing pupils for skills they may already have. For example, pupils have explained all about how much money their families made at a sheep sale. As the course lead said, “I have learnt a huge amount myself about sheep, pigs and deer from pupils who could easily deliver a lesson based on knowledge and skills that they are already masterful in”. The course lead ensures that, for those pupils who bring skills and experience from home, he matches their work and contributions to the needed requirements for SQA qualifications. A few take rural skills on into higher education, for example a pupil who now works in veterinary care locally. The rural skills programme is part of a commitment by the Academy to provide wider educational opportunities. The Breadalbane Guarantee (see here) highlights so many assets and opportunities on the school’s doorstep, enabling every pupil, for example, to plant a tree, climb a Munro and engage in water sports. The SQA qualifications in rural skills are particularly relevant to the Glenkens, where the Rural Skills Training Centre is being developed within the Carsphairn Community Wood with funding from Dumfries and Galloway (D&G) Council and South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE). This could provide significant opportunities for collaboration between education in schools and within the wider community. Case study 3: Baltasound Junior High School in Shetland Source: Interview with Paul Thomson, Headteacher at Baltasound Baltasound is the most northerly school in Scotland in the island of Unst in Shetland. According to the school website, We are a fully inclusive school with Nursery to Secondary 4 students all on the same campus. A diverse and enterprising school, we pride ourselves as being part of a dynamic island community with students, staff and parents all working together. There are 90 pupils across the whole school, aged 2 to 16, with occasional pupils with complex needs who stay beyond 16. Pupils continuing into S5 and S6 go to Lerwick, boarding during the week. The school shares some teachers with neighbouring island schools, for example on Yell; a few teachers, e.g. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 7 in art and music, teach across three schools. Seven teachers and the Headteacher are based on Unst, with an additional four shared teachers who are based on other islands. There are many informal interactions between the school heads in different islands. The population of Unst is stable at around 650. Some of the teachers at the school are former pupils who have returned. For example, one of the current probationers in the primary school is former pupil, and several former pupils are training as teachers or in childcare through the University of the Highlands and Islands in Shetland. The new school motto, chosen through a whole school and community competition, is “Peerie School, Big Dreams”. This reflects that we are a small rural school on the most northerly island in the UK; although we are able to progress through our school and become anyone we dare or dream to be. It also needs all stakeholders in the school (pupils, parents, staff, partner agencies and community) to do all we can to ensure our pupils have all the skills and qualities required for life beyond school. And this will allow those big dreams to come true. The Shetland word ‘peerie’ (which means small) also shows that our dialect, our location on Planet Earth and our history are also a vital part of who we are. Baltasound Junior High offers English and Maths, 3 sciences, 2 social sciences, music and art, home economics and technical subjects (including IT). Modern languages are only possible through elearning, but the school rarely uses e-Sgoil, not least because the timetabling, and pupil supervision, are challenging. Pupils start their National 5 courses in S3, allowing a reasonable pace to get through the set curriculum, with time to add other things not formally specified in the curriculum to make their learning a richer experience. Each year the Head Teacher at Baltasound spends significant time and energy timetabling classes based on pupil choices that year. This is done in a public space, so that pupils can see the HT doing it, and even make suggestions. Key features of this approach are flexibility and the determination to make things work. When numbers are small, the school may combine classes (e.g. teaching chemistry to S3 and S4 pupils in the same class). One year the school added a computer game development course in computer science, based on the aspirations of the specific cohort of pupils that year. If there are gaps in teaching provision, then the school will find a way round. Currently they don’t have a teacher trained in Home Economics, but a teacher is delivering the subject supported by other Home Economics teachers elsewhere to ensure alignment with SQA accreditation. When the school was without a technical teacher, they used e-Sgoil (the only time they have done this). And if a pupil is very keen to do a different subject than those on offer, the school will seek to be really flexible to make it work. This has happened for example in the case of a pupil who wanted to study Modern Studies. On another occasion a subject choice for one pupil could simply not be timetabled, but they had the ability to pursue this choice through self-study, and the school allocated support from a qualified teacher in that subject. The Headteacher commented, I have a relative who works in a big secondary school in England, even with some large subjects running identical classes in different rooms at the same time. There is no tailoring, no flexibility, no ability to go off on an interesting tangent. They don’t even know all the names of their pupils. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 8 Many of our former pupils are still in touch with the school. Very few pupils don’t do well here, and then excel when they move to Lerwick in S5. Most continue the trajectory from their junior secondary. All the pupils are given a lot of responsibility at a young age. They take personal responsibility and become effective contributors. With the school so firmly rooted in the local community, there are so many opportunities for local entrepreneurs, businesses or services to come into the school. In the fortnight prior to the interview, the coastguard, the fire service and the local health centre had all visited the school or been visited by pupils. The school even has “Bring your Parent Days”, where parents follow their children for the whole day in school. The Headteacher explained, “The parents are absolutely knackered at the end of the day, but they love opportunities to come into the school. We are the hub of community activity. One school, one community.” The day includes having school dinners with the pupils. “Complaints about the quality of school dinners tend to stop after this!” Case study 4: Reflections from Ireland The case of Inishbofin, small schools and Education for Sustainable Development Sources: 1. 2. 3. GRETB Report on Inishbofin Community Post-Primary School Application - 18 March 2020 The Ombudsman for Children’s Office report for Inishbofin Secondary Steering Group, Inishbofin Island, County Galway, June 2020 Government of Ireland reports and press releases (see links within text) The case of Inishbofin Ireland has only five off-shore island post-primary schools, all of which are Education Training Board (ETB), co-educational, multi-denominational Gaeltacht schools, under the patronage of Galway and Roscommon ETB and Donegal ETB. Notwithstanding the additional challenges faced by these island schools arising from their off-shore island remote locations, ETB (Education Training Board) island schools have built up a reputation for being well led and managed, academic excellence, resilience, innovation in adopting and adapting teaching and learning methodologies, including experimenting with distance learning to best support their communities. Research in Scotland has had similar findings regarding small rural schools, including island schools citing the high quality of education provision, progression and outcomes. (GRETB, 2020, p21). The island of Inishbofin experienced a population decrease between 2006 and 2011, yet an increase in the number of children in age range 0 – 19 years. A paradox which indicates that when educational attainment increases people tend to be more likely to be in a position to stay on an island, bring up their children and are actively engaged in employment. National and international data supports the Inishbofin islander's contention that appropriate education provision on the island increases the sustainability of the community, as stated in their submission to the Department of Education (DES) requesting a post-primary school on the island. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 9 Their attempt to have secondary provision for the children of Inishbofin was turned down: “This submission was refused by the department, on the basis that there were not enough children to warrant the funding.” This surely becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy as how will families be attracted to move to an area if there isn’t a school pathway for their children? This was confirmed by the Ombudsman: We feel that all children are equal and deserving of their needs being met, no child should be left behind as reinforced by the EEAS, the diplomatic service of the European Union, where they stated that ‘they reinforce its commitment to combating for a fairer world for children, an inclusive world where no child is left behind.’3 If the school was opened the numbers would grow as living on the island would be made viable for families with children or planning to have children, and families who have left … could now return with their children. GRETB’s recommendation in the submission was that “the proposal be seriously considered by DES with a view to a favourable decision regarding establishing a post-primary school and advises that the school be designated as a Community College.” Small schools and Education for Sustainable Development The Secretary of State for Education in Ireland, Minister Foley, announced support for ‘small schools’ (4 teachers or less) very recently in May 2024. Minister Foley said, Small schools are a support and a beacon for local communities. They are at the heart of educating generations of young people and providing a focal point for families and communities. The project has shown that small schools collaborating and working together offers promise for the future.4 The 2nd National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development – ESD to 2030 was published in June 2024 (here). It is co-sponsored by the Department of Education, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. It brings together education, further and higher education. It also links sustainability into education including links with the wider community.5 ESD aims to ensure that all learners have the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. ESD is a target under the Sustainable Development Goals (Target 4.7) and is acknowledged as a key enabler for the achievement of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ESD to 2030 has five priority areas, in line with UNESCO’s framework for ESD for 2030: • • • • • Aligning Policy Transforming Learning Environments Capacity Building of Educators Empowering and Mobilising Youth Accelerating Local Level Action 3 the key words ‘an inclusive world where no child is left behind’ have also been adopted by the Scottish Government. 4 https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/36ca7-minister-foley-announces-two-year-extension-of-small-schoolsproject-to-support-sustainability-of-small-schools-in-rural-ireland/ 5 https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/14f35-minister-for-education-announces-250000-in-funding-foreducation-for-sustainable-development-esd-projects-for-organisations/ Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 10 The accompanying ESD to 2030 Implementation Plan 2022 – 2026 sets out the roadmap to achieving target 4.7 by 2030 “across the Education Sector from Early Learning and Care to third level and beyond to non-formal and informal education”. ESD has three interlinked and equally important strands: Environmental, Social and Economic Sustainability. Funding of €250,000 is being delivered to organisations to support them in carrying out ESD related projects to schools, including, for example, making the school and its grounds more sustainable; teacher training in ESD; student projects; collaborative projects between the school and the local community, etc. In addition, whilst hosting a consultation symposium on sustaining small schools on 26 June 2019, Minister McHugh stated: Small schools can and do provide an excellent education to our children, right in the heart of their communities. I went to a small school as a child. I live in an area where small schools are a facet of life and that is replicated up and down the country. They are often the heartbeat and lifeblood of a community. Almost half of our schools are small schools, and almost 15 per cent of our children attend one. The [Irish] Government is committed to supporting and strengthening these.” Ní neart go cur le chéile – we need to work together to find new ways of supporting small schools [to ensure their long-term sustainability]. Scotland – as reported in Ireland! The Irish documents report favourably on the Commission for the Delivery of Rural Education,6 which was set up by the Scottish Government to review the Schools Consultation Scotland Act 2010 and its application, and to make recommendations on the delivery of all aspects of education in rural areas. Thirty-eight clear recommendations were made, including: 6 7 • The Scottish Government and local authorities should agree a coherent rural regeneration strategy to support economic outcomes for rural areas. • Local authorities, the Scottish Government, teaching institutions and trade unions should work together to explore innovative solutions to reduce the barriers to teaching in remote areas; and to ensure effective delivery of CPD to teachers in rural schools, learning from international best practice to reduce teachers’ isolation and sustain skills and development. • There must be a commitment to resource the curriculum in small rural secondary schools to support the achievement of positive outcomes and destinations for young people. This will require innovative and flexible arrangements to be developed including use of local primary school teachers and other experts within the local community.7 • Local authorities, together with their health and other Community Planning partners, should consider rural education holistically for their area, from early years to further and higher education, actively seeking solutions to enhance the viability of rural communities. https://www.gov.scot/publications/commission-delivery-rural-education-report/pages/3/ Experts within the local community were used in the Outer Hebrides to deliver the boatbuilding and crofting courses. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 11 Casestudy 5: From Denmark to Galloway Sources: • Denmark: https://danishfolkhighschools.com/, and https://www.britannica.com/topic/folk-high-school • Kilquhanity: Glenkens and District Community Action Plan Steering Group and Glenkens Community and Arts Trust (2024), “Education and Learning in the Glenkens” (11th July 2024), https://glenkens.scot/reports-resources-archive/education-and-learning-in-the-glenkens-event Folk high schools in Denmark Folk high schools, which originated in Denmark in the mid-19th century as a means of providing the ‘common people’ with a knowledge of their history, religion and cultural heritage, are residential schools for adults that are common in Scandinavian countries and have been adopted elsewhere in Europe. The first school opened in Denmark in 1844. Following Denmark’s military defeat by Prussia in 1864, the folk high schools served as a powerful instrument of national regeneration. There are no entrance qualifications, grades, or leaving examinations. The schools are private but receive state subsidies. Courses are short in duration, lasting from several weeks to one year. Most students are young adults, and many folk high schools also attract an international body of students. According to https://danishfolkhighschools.com/, a folk high school is a non-formal residential school offering learning opportunities in almost any subject. Most students are between 18 and 24 years old and the length of a typical stay is four months. It is a boarding school, so students sleep, eat, study and spend their spare time at the school. During their stay, they live, eat, study, party and clean together with the other students. Everybody has the same duties and the same rights. There are no academic requirements for admittance, and there are no exams - but students do get a diploma as a proof of your attendance. One of the core-ideas of the folk high schools is equality and mutual learning between teachers and students. The classes are characterised by the free word, dialogue and an open curriculum which can be changed during the course. The main focus is to discover and strengthen the unique skills of each student in a challenging yet supportive social atmosphere. “The task of the schools is to create a climate where culture is a reality.” There are approximately 70 independent folk high schools located all over Denmark, offering learning opportunities in more than 300 different subjects. Every year in Denmark, an average of 40,000 people attend a folk high school for courses of varying lengths. While there are seven different types of folk high schools in Denmark, they all have the same purpose: to provide life enlightenment, public enlightenment, and democratic education. In other words, folk high schools aim to provide an education that enables individuals “not only to make a living but also to live a meaningful life”. Writers on folk high schools have written about communal singing, storytelling, residential schooling, democratic education, life enlightenment, learning through the body, exam free school, social learning and education for humanity. The seven different types in Denmark are: 1. Christian, bible or spiritual schools; 2. General and Grundtvigian schools: traditional folk high schools with many disciplines where students can immerse themselves in a single topic or choose between multiple topics; Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 12 3. Gymnastics and sports schools: about half of the course is dedicated to sports, while the other half will be more general education; 4. Lifestyle schools with a special focus on diet, exercise and personal development, as well as offering general education with a choice of various subjects; 5. Schools for senior citizens that arrange short-term courses only throughout the whole year; 6. Specialised schools, with a specific focus on a single discipline e.g. film, design or arts. However, half of the teaching according to the law for folk high schools must be of a broad general nature; 7. Youth folk high schools (16 to 19 years): there are only two of these schools. The Global Folk High School Movement was established during the International Folk High School Summit in September 2019. This enables people to join a community from all around the world working professionally as folk high school practitioners, researchers or in other ways working with thoughts surrounding the special pedagogical praxis of the folk high school. Kilquhanity School, Galloway We conclude this casestudy with a short comparison with local Kilquhanity School, the first ‘'free school'’ established in Scotland. While Kilquhanity is for children and the folk high schools focus on young adults, they share some similar ideas and approaches. According to Andrew Pyle, Head of Kilquhanity Children’s Village since 2007, the school is set on a 7-acre estate between the Bridge of Urr and Corsock. It was set up in the 1940s on the principles of Summerhill School.8 Unusually for the time, there was no physical punishment, and apart from basic numeracy and literacy, there was no compulsory curriculum. Principles of communal living were also strongly embedded in the way that the school was run, with democracy being an underpinning principle. The whole school community would meet every Thursday afternoon for a council meeting. A pupil would chair the meeting and record the minutes, and there was no restriction on points that could be raised. Rather than staff being responsible for intervention and punishment in cases of unacceptable behaviour, incidents were discussed in the meeting, with all parties involved giving their view and a collective decision made on how to proceed. Staff and pupils also carried out all the necessary housekeeping and gardening tasks, with every pupil engaging in ‘useful work’ tasks for 45 minutes per day. These included cooking, cleaning, chopping wood, etc. If the tasks were not carried out, the whole community would suffer, including the individual, but there was scope to swap your task with another person. This focus on the community and the individual’s role, as well as the principles of free choice in learning which meant that the students followed the learning that interested them, was conceived to develop pupils with a strong sense of individual responsibility to the community, and educational motivation through the freedom to explore. 8 A.S. Neill, who founded Summerhill in Suffolk in 1921, “set out to make a school that would fit the child rather than forcing pupils to do what parents and educators thought might be best for them. Summerhill is as unlike a conventional school as it could possibly be, founded … to provide a space where children can grow in a ‘freerange’ environment.” (https://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/) Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 13 Case study 6: Galloway Glens Intern Programme Source: Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership, Dumfries and Galloway Council and National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland, Galloway Glens Intern Programme: Overview + Findings, 2023 The specific interns project, ‘Galloway Rural Skills’, included a programme of internship/work experience positions, with 15 roles (over four years) supported in posts hosted by a variety of employers. These were full-time paid internships for six months with 50% funding intervention. Two of the roles supported were subsequently extended for a further six months. The Galloway Rural Skills project had a number of aims: • to provide work and training opportunities; • to give young people a chance to see what it was like to work in Dumfries & Galloway; • to illustrate the range of heritage-related and other careers available in the region; • addressing the current departure rate of our young people (the population of Dumfries and Galloway continues to be one of the oldest in Scotland); • to introduce a new range of employers to the benefits of internships/work experience programmes. Beyond the selected candidates, the approach and overall programme sought to take every opportunity to highlight the merits to young people of working and living in Galloway. Later roles were advertised on indeed.com website. This advertised the role but also advertised the concept of working in Galloway, raising the profile of the range of careers available. It was hoped that even people who didn’t apply would start to think about Galloway as an attractive place to work The Galloway Glens Team were keen that the interns weren’t simply taken on for basic duties, essentially just at a subsidised rate. Hosts were therefore asked to make the internships as rewarding as possible, with maximum benefit for intern future employment. A strong and active approach to recruitment was vital to the success of the intern programme. The approximate cost of a 6-month internship was £12,800 (excluding employer staff time and project worker time). Note: The scheme relied on the strong advertising of roles. This usually resulted in a competitive appointment process. This scheme therefore did not provide dedicated support to applicants classed as ‘further from the workplace’ or needing additional support. Nine out of the 15 interns have continued working in the sector of their internship: • 3 secured a permanent role with the host, and 2 more a subsequent role with the host. • 2 secured a permanent or subsequent role in the sector, but not in D&G. • 1 entered further education in the sector of the internship, and 1 was able to continue independent self-employed work. Among the remaining six, two have moved away from D&G or the UK for roles outwith the sectors of the internships (one to Humberside, one to Bolivia), and two are now working in temporary roles in D&G, but not in the sector. Some ambitions of some of the interns: I would like to be working for Galloway Fisheries Trust leading a successful freshwater Pearl Mussel Conservation Project among many other projects. Living in a house that I own in the local area. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 14 I’d like to be a lepidopterist doing habitat restoration. To reach my goal I would need to take part in a Moth research project and have worked as a Butterfly Conservation Field Assistant. both interns at Galloways Fisheries Trust To travel, work Freelance, and work again for Better Lives Partnership. (Intern at Better Lives Partnership) Running my own arts space or festival in Glasgow with a programme that centres around connecting people to nature in natural environments in the city. (Intern at Catstrand) Ambitions of some of those whose subsequent path was not known at the time of writing: I'd be living in a comfortable apartment shared with friends or living with friends rurally with ease of transport, an enjoyable job, and feeling fulfilled but productive. (Intern at Better Lives Partnership) I want to be working in forestry or related industry, be financially stable, and live rurally. I want to be feeling successful and accomplished in life. Helping friends and family as much as possible. (Intern at Carsphairn Community Woodland) Reflections on the employers: These were the employers who provided internship opportunities: • Galloway Fisheries Trust (4 interns) • Better Lives Partnership (2 interns) • GCAT/Catstrand (2 interns) • Crichton Carbon Centre (environmental charity) • Carsphairn Community Woodland • Czernin-Kinsky Scottish Company Ltd (family forestry company) • Mr Pooks restaurant • Drax • Natural Power The Intern Programme was ‘relationship-led’. They did not advertise for hosts, instead approaching partners or organisations that they had worked with or had already established a relationship with. It was commonly cited that the project was providing impetus to something the host had been meaning to do previously. Many of the organisations wanted to give an internship to a young person they could keep on and who would become part of their team. The internship was a way of testing them out while offering a nurturing environment of mentorship and training. A number of hosts did keep the interns on after completion of the six-month period. It is interesting to note the hosts were a range of sizes, from micro businesses through to large organisations. Natural Power used the internship to re-start their intern activities and Drax used it to address historically low local application rates for their established apprenticeship programme. Both of these cases illustrate that the intern model is not restricted to smaller organisations. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 15 It was great to note the near-universal enthusiasm from hosts to undertake similar initiatives in the future. Natural Power won a Green Industry award for their hosting of an intern role. Conclusions and key learning points ✓ There is an appetite from employers to take part in an Intern Scheme, but it will often not be fully realised without support – either financial input or broader partnership backing. ✓ There are a number of sectoral/employer employment support schemes in operation but none of these prevent additional work in the sector. ✓ The time-limited nature of the Galloway Glens Scheme was often an advantage, resulting in the prioritising and expediting of the internship advertising process by the hosts. ✓ However, the five years delivery phase of the Galloway Glens Scheme was not long enough to undertake apprenticeship roles – with ‘shared apprenticeships’ possibly requiring even more lead time and support. ✓ Pro-active advertising of roles adds value, using press releases and targeted use of recruitment channels. Accompaniment of professional photos to illustrate the role resulted in an increase in number of applicants. ✓ Roles should also be advertised through sector networks/university lecturers. ✓ Pro-active advertising also addresses wider challenges such as the general perception that an area has no jobs of interest. ✓ Interns require clear a management structure, ideally a single manager, and awareness from the host beforehand that on-the-job mentoring will be required. ✓ The Galloway Glens’ limited area of operation allowed closer relationships to be developed with employers. ✓ Roles should be advertised with as few restrictions (geography/age) as possible to maximise the number of applicants. Case Study 7: Natural Power Consultants (NPC) Source: presentation at the Education and Learning in Glenkens event (see here) by Richard Nash, who has been the Director of Finance and Board Company Secretary for Natural Power Consultants Limited (NPC) and its subsidiaries for the last 10 years. He has also been a resident of New Galloway and Kells for 10 years now and has two children, both of whom went to Dalry Primary and Secondary schools before completing their Highers at Castle Douglas. Natural Power Consultants Limited (NPC) is an energy consultant and service operations business headquartered at The Green House in Dalry, with offices across the UK and Ireland as well as a presence in France and the USA. The company employs 500 people globally, providing services to help investors and developers with renewable energy generation projects, from planning to construction, analysis and operations. NPC does not own renewables assets. It operates the largest independent control centre for renewables in the UK, working with the National Grid to balance power from renewable energy projects into the Grid. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 16 Despite the Green House being NPC’s head office, recruiting staff to the Glenkens with the right skills and experience is a challenge. Across the board, the renewables industry is growing rapidly because of the move towards Net Zero, and companies are struggling to recruit from an insufficient pool of potential candidates. At the same time, young people in the Glenkens struggle to see a future for themselves in the area because of limited job opportunities. Lack of higher education facilities in the area is also a challenge for employers like NPC who normally recruit at graduate level; UWS and the University of Glasgow have campuses in Dumfries, but there is a general perception that people need to leave the area for higher education. However, NPC is willing to work with local young people to help them to move into the Renewables sector, either through relevant courses at local further and higher education institutions (e.g. the BSc in Environmental Science and Sustainability from the Dumfries Campus of the University of Glasgow) or through the introduction of a skills pathway. A skills pathway could help young people from the area to study for qualifications which were more directly relevant to the skills needed by local employers. Engaging with local schools is key to this process; NPC has already been in touch with Castle Douglas/Dalry Secondary Schools and Kirkcudbright Academy, and while Kirkcudbright pupils have visited NPC, the company has struggled to engage with the Castle Douglas/Dalry cluster to date. Richard joined the Dumfries and Galloway College Board in order to help to turn round the college’s perceived poor reputation, as his son experienced. It was also to improve the college outcomes with local employers like Natural Power. As an example of how business and educational institutions can work together and improve outcomes, Richard facilitated meetings between NPC and D&G College tutors in order to tailor the Wind Turbine Technician course already running at the College and make it fit for purpose for local employers. NPC offered an opportunity for three students to do a summer placement at Brockloch/Windy Standard. Two of the students were subsequently recruited into posts at NPC. The College was very positive about the outcome and has named the course after NPC. The Scottish Funding Council also put it into their ‘outcome and agreements report’ as an example of good practice and economic transformation. The cornerstone to achieving this type of success is having the connections between education and business to make this work. Case study 8: Vattenfall Wind Power Source: presentation at the Education and Learning in Glenkens event (see here) by Matthew Bacon, a senior project manager in Vattenfall’s onshore wind team. He is currently overseeing the site design and planning permission process for the Quantans Hill wind farm near Carsphairn. Matt outlined his journey into the renewables sector, having come from a rural, agricultural area of Lincolnshire with some of the same issues as the Glenkens. He was inspired to look for a career in renewables because of a personal wish to work towards mitigating the climate crisis when looking for a job as a new graduate. At this point the sector was relatively new and there were not many established routes into the sector, but structured pathways are now available. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 17 Vattenfall has roughly 21,000 employees across the UK and Scandinavia, running hydro and wind generation sites, district heating, electricity network facilities etc. In the Glenkens, Vattenfall has put in an application to construct 14 wind turbines and battery storage at Quantans Hill near Carsphairn. The application includes 250Ha of land managed for biodiversity, interpretation boards and improved access to the site for recreational purposes, and a community benefit package likely to total around £16m over the operational lifespan of the site, as well as scope for apprenticeships and work for local businesses during the construction phase. Vattenfall Wind Power is committed to the use of local suppliers in its projects and has recently launched an apprenticeship scheme directly associated with all its new developments across Scotland. Matt is keen to explore with local communities how Vattenfall can create an employment pathway into the renewable sector in south-west Scotland. Onshore wind is a growth area, and the number of qualified employees needs to vastly increase to meet the demands of the 2030 deadline. Most of Vattenfall’s renewables developments will be in the Highlands and Dumfries & Galloway, and there are a huge range of roles in the sector, ranging from construction, forestry, turbine construction and maintenance to environmental work and project managers. Matt highlighted the Climate Exchange May 2024 report which reinforced this, showing that operational positions needed on wind farms are predicted to rise by 250% by 2030 in Dumfries and Galloway, from 112 to 395 positions. These are long-term, well-paid roles. Vattenfall’s apprenticeship programme will create 50 new apprenticeships by 2030, working with Developing the Young Workforce. The company is looking to recruit across a wide range of ages to both graduate and early stage apprenticeships. Vattenfall asked consultants to come up with a draft strategy for the community benefit fund from Quantans Hill wind farm if consented, and through this have identified objectives relating to jobs and young people, including access to local economic opportunities. This could lead to training 250-350 young people and providing up to 50 qualified apprentices, although these numbers are currently indicative and the strategy is still a draft. However, this potentially offers huge opportunities for South West Scotland in terms of renewables posts. The benefits of this scheme can potentially be maximised if other wind farm developers work with Vattenfall on supply chains and with schools and colleges to develop a joined-up scheme. Matt highlighted the following website as a good place to begin for those interested in a career in renewables: https://www.scottishrenewables.com/our-industry/starting-in-renewables. Case study 9: Abi Mordin, Propogate Source: presentation at the Education and Learning in Glenkens event (see here) and interview by Abi Mordin, a founder member of Propagate, which launched the Glenkens Food Hub project in 2021 (now Galloway Food Hub; see here). Abi has been working across community and local food projects for over 20 years, and is an experienced grower, facilitator, practitioner and researcher. She works at local and national level to embed sustainable practice into food production. She lives in Balmaclellan. Abi focused on land-based skills for the future. Propagate is a worker-led collective based across Central and South Scotland with 18 members working on sustainable food topics. Farming, tourism, forestry, energy generation and transmission, game and community uses can be seen as competing demands on our land-based resources. However, work is being done to bring together land managers, for example at the South West Scotland (SWS) Future Landscape Conference, Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 18 held at SRUC’s Barony campus on 1st July, 2024. This event, looking at identifying the skills needed for the future, as well as launching a ‘Natural Innovation Partnership’ between SRUC and SOSE, highlighted the fact that ‘Nature doesn’t do silos, and neither should we’. Focusing on farming and food production, Abi organises the SWS Regenerative Farming Network, a growing group of livestock and vegetable producers with around 250 members, who are focused on the key principles underpinning retaining and improving soil ecosystem quality. However, the principles of soil function are still not being taught in schools and agricultural colleges, despite the fact that healthy soil is vital for plant growth and nutrition, is more resilient to the impacts of flood and drought, and stores more carbon. The soil food web, where in healthy soil there will be billions of microorganisms in one teaspoon of soil, can be easily disrupted. The understanding of the role played by soil has progressed dramatically in recent years, but information about management for carbon sequestration, soil health, climate change, livestock and people has not yet been incorporated into the curriculum. Regenerative management is guided by five principles of soil health, three rules of adaptive management and four ecosystem processes (see report on the Education and Learning in Glenkens event). All these principles need to be adapted for each location’s microclimate, sometimes even on a field-by-field basis. The Barony’s horticulture course was discontinued eight years ago, reducing the scope for people to learn about commercial vegetable production in the region. The UK imports 70% of its fruit and veg, much of which is grown in places facing severe water scarcity. Young people are not learning about commercial growing; a market garden requires very different management from a school vegetable plot, allotment, or home-grown vegetables. Most commercial food crops are grown with a high level of chemical inputs (fertiliser and pesticide) which radically disrupt soil ecosystems. Produce not marked as organic will have been grown using those systems. Propagate has been working to raise awareness of the issues and the solutions, including their film ‘Rooted’ and accompanying educational resources: https://www.propagate.org.uk/rooted. The Dumfries and Galloway Learning for Sustainability Partnership Group has been set up, having identified big gaps in the provision of education across food, food security and sustainability; the group meets quarterly to share successes and agree strategies to work together on broad sustainability issues. The Learning for Sustainability Action Plan (here) highlights the importance of embedding this into the curriculum, but this is not yet being delivered in schools as teachers have not been trained to deliver the subject. However, the Scottish Government have introduced a number of interrelated policies on food (see https://www.nourishscotland.org/mapping-our-food-policy-landscape/). The Scottish Government have committed to producing a Good Food Nation Plan which will need to be implemented at a local level, and the Agriculture Bill has also recently been introduced after years of consultation and engagement – it is still a framework bill, so it is possible to lobby the government to shape the final piece of legislation. The Rural Support Plan will deliver payments on a tiered basis, with Tier 3 focusing on agri-environment schemes. These schemes embody good practice as well as attracting subsidy so it is vital that land workers are prepared and trained to implement these changes and that education provision recognises this need. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 19 The case of Propogate points to opportunities and pathways for young people into work that can also directly address the climate and biodiversity emergencies. The Galloway Food Hub, set up by Propogate, is already stimulating demand and awareness of local food (see detailed case study here). Local schools, including Dalry School, have land which could be utilised. In partnership with Propagate a number of programmes could be co-delivered, including, for example, • Cultivate - 'grow your own' programme with eight sessions on learning about organic veg production. • Hidden Veg – Propogate’s small market garden can host workshops and training days. • Veg Power - developed to link veg growing with healthier cooking. Profiles a 'veg of the week' each week over 10 weeks, and gives participants the opportunity to share knowledge and lead. Dives into food systems and food justice, and signposts to Food Hygiene training – thereby leading towards a number of progression pathways from growing, preparing, food hygiene and hospitality. • Permaculture Design Courses with experienced and knowledgeable teachers. Also Growing Food in Small Space and linked with the UK 'Children in Permaculture' project. In terms of accreditation, there is a menu of rural skill qualifications at SQA which could be aligned to the skill set and delivery partners in agriculture, horticulture and permaculture in the local area. Skills around food production are the future: local food production that contributes to sustainability, food security, health & nutrition, and reduces food miles, all addressing the climate crisis. Case study 10: Bairn Banter, Carsphairn Source: Case study by CoDeL from April 2024: see here, which includes illustrations also. Key Insights ✓ In rural communities with populations spread over large areas, it is vital to nurture connections. Social opportunities are really important for young children, as they impact significantly on children’s development. They are also important for parents and carers. ✓ Local services are critical for nurturing positive population trends. Bairn Banter has enabled many young families, including those who have moved into the area, to meet socially on a regular basis, to enable children and families to socialise with each other, a critical investment for the future population, economy and community in the area. ✓ The loss of a local school can be a real blow to the sustainability of a local community; schools are often the very heart of a community. While there are frameworks to ensure that local schools are not closed without consultation, local authorities can circumvent community influence over such decisions by mothballing schools (i.e. not officially ‘closing’ them). ✓ Bairn Banter is another example of great things being delivered in rural and island communities by energetic and committed volunteers. This is all part of community resilience and cohesion, but exacts a significant toll on rural and island people. And dependency on volunteering limits how much communities can do. Funding to pay some hours to volunteers who deliver on so Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 20 many Scottish Government priorities could have a dramatic impact on services and cohesion within rural and island communities. ✓ The ‘Community Action in Uist and Glenkens’ project clearly demonstrates how even small amounts of funding for locally rooted community intiatives can trigger significant action: the returns on the investment are large when communities are enabled to deliver on their priorities, what they are passionate about. This was demonstrated so clearly in practice during the pandemic, but since then funding has often reverted back to the much more highly controlled and outcome-driven processes, with outcomes so often determined by distant policy-makers or funders, rather by communities themselves. ✓ In the case of Bairn Banter a small grant of £2,500 has enabled the group to raise match funding and purchase a trailer to take the group’s activities to other areas in Glenkens, and to enhance outdoor educational opportunities for young children, all within a few months. Case study Bairn Banter is a volunteer run stay and play children’s group based in the rural hill village of Carsphairn in Dumfries & Galloway. The group was established in July 2021 by the founder Melissa Ade and her husband, Ben. Together with their three small children, they continue to provide a welcoming, nurture enriched, inclusive, fun play space for children and their families to attend on a weekly basis for free. So how did Bairn Banter begin? As the country emerged out of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, which caused a detrimental effect on rural communities and young families, it was felt by many local parents and grandparents that there was a lack of social opportunities within the local area for pre-school children. Carsphairn also suffered within the same year with the mothballing of the local primary school, which severed vital connections for young children within the parish. Coupled with the ongoing cost of living crisis, social situations seemed to ‘dissolve’ and many young children begun to struggle without their vital socialising needs being met. Research carried out by the Institute of Education concluded that; “children's social background impacts the early development of cognitive and social-emotional competences, like verbal skills, selfcontrol and peer relationships, and their subsequent outcomes in adulthood.” (see here) All these considerations led Melissa to establish Bairn Banter. To aid with local networking and some experienced support she set to work approaching the Carsphairn Community Council who now offer a very helpful ‘umbrella’ for the group. As well as children, parents/carers also suffered from lack of social interaction with others, with potential knock-on effects on their social and mental wellbeing and, in the longer term, on the overall economics of the rural area. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 21 Bairn Banter has grown into a much loved asset to the Glenkens, as it is the only pre-school/children’s group operating in the area. The group offers a wide variety of fun activities and experiences for children ranging from 0-7 years and always welcomes older children including siblings along. Bairn Banter consistently operates every Saturday morning from 10am – 11.45am in Carsphairn and aims to offer a nourishing healthy snack for both children and adults to support families with potential food poverty issues. Many of the snacks are now being sourced through the Galloway Food Hub. “Two of the four themes of the Glenkens and District Community Action Plan are ‘A Connected Community’ and ‘An Economically Flourishing Community’. We know that to flourish, we need young families living and working in the area, but there are very limited private or statutory facilities to support them. Bairn Banter’s stay and play sessions on Saturdays offer important socialisation opportunities for exCovid babies who are now pre-schoolers and their older siblings, as well as respite and peer support for parents and carers. The Glenkens Community and Arts Trust, who lead on delivery of the Community Action Plan, see Bairn Banter as a key partner in delivering these priorities in the Plan.” Helen Keron, Executive Manager, GCAT As Bairn Banter moves forward into the future, they want to break down the barrier of social exclusion due to transport barriers. Bairn Banter know that they are not reaching all the young families in the area. A particular barrier to attendance is the location of Carsphairn at the top of the Glenkens area. Public transport links to it are basically non-existent. So Bairn Banter is launching a new way of working where they bring Bairn Banter to the other communities in the Glenkens. They did a survey in 2022 that showed that transport was the main barrier to attendance, so they are confident that it will be well received. With a small amount of funding through the project, quickly matched with funding from the local windfarm, Bairn Banter has now purchased a box trailer that will be used to advertise, store, and transport the group’s equipment and resources to occasional free events and other local venues, like Town Halls or outdoor parks, around the wider Glenkens. The first event, outdoors, is booked for 1st June. The word is out that Bairn Banter have the opportunity to be mobile and is sparking interest from other areas. The group is now awaiting quotes from artists to design and decorate the trailer with a unique mural to help promote Bairn Banter and other aspects of the local area such as farming, renewable energy, local community initiatives, etc. Bairn Banter hopes that when the trailer is ‘on tour’, many will be drawn to the attractive display and perhaps be encouraged to visit and indeed, down the line, settle in the area. The trailer will allow Bairn Banter to ‘branch out’ to offer more outdoor learning opportunities to enhance opportunities for outdoor learning for children, young people and their families, and connect communities together within the beautiful outdoor environment. Melissa is working towards obtaining a Level 3 Forest School Leader qualification this year. The trailer will become Bairn Banter’s ‘mobile welfare base’ as well as vital storage of equipment such as waterproofs, water, tools, safety equipment, etc., whilst travelling to areas of woodlands around the Glenkens. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 22 Delivering on Scottish Government Priorities Bairn Banter delivers on many Scottish Government Priorities, for example within the National Performance Standards, e.g "we grow up loved, safe and respected so that we realise our full potential", "we live in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe”, and "we are healthy and active". While so-called ‘remote rural areas’ do as well or slightly better than other rural and urban areas in terms of attainment, employment and other positive destinations on leaving secondary school, numeracy and especially literacy levels at primary school are lower in ‘remote rural areas’ (Rural Scotland Data Dashboard). This may well reflect the lack of pre-school opportunities in some areas, making community initiatives like Bairn Banter critical for those areas. Bairn Banter’s focus on developing more outdoor education, using the trailer as a mobile facility to take equipment and activities into outdoor spaces, is also delivering on the Scottish Government’s commitment, made in Scotland’s National Outdoor Play & Learning Position Statement (see here), to value and expand opportunities for playing and learning outdoors. And not least Bairn Banter contributes directly to the Addressing Depopulation Action Plan (2024), by providing a critical local service that connects local families, to each other and to their locality. Creating opportunities and a positive space for young families is vital to ensure a long-term demographic future. The mix of families that have stayed, returned or newly settled in the Glenkens is a striking feature of the Bairn Banter sessions, and provides an important incentive for them to stay. The Depopulation Action Plan “endorses the importance of local leadership and seeks to exemplify the maxim ‘local by default, national by agreement’. We know that a place-based approach to applying national, regional, and local policies will be essential to sustainably and effectively address depopulation.” Bairn Banter is one piece in the local jigsaw to deliver on these, and is integrated into the wider local strategies set out in the Glenkens and District Community Action Plan, which includes delivering on local childcare as a priority for a flourishing local community. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 23 Appendix 11: Creating a vision for Dalry / Glenkens Education: Notes taken of participants’ contributions These notes were recorded by the facilitators based on verbal contributions to the vision from participants at the two community sessions held in Balmaclellan in September. They are in the order in which participants came forward with their ideas. Participants imagined how things would be in 2030, and many spoke in the present of 2030. So these comments represent how they would like things to be. Community schools at centre of village, optimising travel eco-sustainable, open A frame – let’s build for next 100 years, not just 25 Campus: cradle to grave, centre of community. Grow at rate suitable to each child. Adult learning too, lifelong learning Cutting edge technology – connect to experts on line Health and wellbeing Swimming Affordable family housing and community land. Local families Enables children to live successful lives in this area – practical aspects – renewables/forestry vs going away to get work. Mentorship – enabling – access to knowledgeable people to help guide individuals’ pathways (incl. right up to loder age) Not limited – if you want to be a forensic scientist, why not? How can? Rather than why not? Mentality Self-directed learning Leadership to help each individual be themselves, to develop which ever way they want. My children will be challenged, happy to learn. Acknowledgement from council that education is vital here; they support education centres Eco-school built from wood from Carsphair community woodland, solar panels, enterprise Everyone encouraged to learn, but not have to be academic. E.g. everyone’s job is important, non-hierarchical. Everyone has some variation of training, be up-to-date Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 24 Schools don’t have hierarchical system. Students can talk “back” to teachers; different relationship. Choose career they want, not be failures for less academic Encouraged and inspired to achieve whatever they want. Rural skills brought back to rural areas, e.g. skilled tradesmen. Trades academy / hub, not just technical college, also for younger children. So much going on in area, very busy. Linked with school. People come into school to explain what they do. Children go out. After school clubs, sports, handcrafts, growing food, plants Bus at later times. Devolution of funding down to community. E.g. £40,000 per child x 60 pupils in catchment area. Wow, what we could do! Community ownership of assets. Nature-based nursery Teachers qualified, know how to nurture children Nursery, open longer Food is brilliant – locally sourced veg, foraging, good soil, children involved in preparing Big demand for renewable energy → countless jobs Small holdings, sustainable living Absentee landlords selling plots. Internet works, people can work from home. Children taught tools to manage mental health. System nurtures them, not stresses them. Looking today, not stressed by future. Loads more small farmers; demand for local food. Educating for wider world. Quite a lot of former pupils have returned. For everyone in Glenkens to be able to access the education they need. Advanced highers (e.g. in maths) on-line, in a hub. Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 25 Hub of creative skilled people Arts and crafts ‘vocational’ skills Transport provision. Childcare to adulthood campus so that people do not have to leave Glenkens. Centre of intergenerational learning Work together Wide range of subjects in the curriculum, with a large pupil cohort Rented accommodation available No empty homes Apprenticeships for water, electricity … Self-sufficiency Good sample of subjects Music technology / nature stuff / rural skills / farms round about / more than ICT Education delivered in community woodlands and nurseries Out in all kinds of weather So close, and part of heritage Feeling of ownership / belonging Rural Skills Centre; Sustainability Affordable housing has increased Traditional skills and new emerging subjects Attracted to area because good place for families People can choose to leave, but are not forced to by circumstances Houses for couples to move in, when their children have left More houses for families, and for working (Pamela Trust has long waiting list, now in 2024) Better balance of population Intergenerational working Digital art classes available (like centre in DC – Castle Douglas??) Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 26 Appendix 12: Creating a Vision for Dalry / Glenkens Education: Writing and drawing by participants These contributions were made by the participants at the two community sessions held in Balmaclellan in September local community, locally managed, locally owned, locally produced, locally sourced Learning ‘Hub’ offering huge choices for all and hopefully encouraging new generations to stay here and thrive Education from baby to adult education / Education from cradle to grave education children young people ❖ Education / Development Centre / Hub / Campus ❖ All Ages / All Scopes ❖ Specialists connected via internet – Remote Learning Facilities Building sense of ownership, of local decision-making and control True community inter-generational learning COMMUNITY Community Mingling among peers in school / children don’t have to go to schools outside community Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 27 HEALTHY HAPPY COMMUNITY Wellbeing + learning hub SCHOOL CAREERS PEOPLE After school clubs / Transport home / 24 hours / In person All is considered to make strong, viable, healthy community Pavements / cycling tracks between Dalry, New Galloway and Balmaclellan Swimming pool heated by ground source heat pump Bairn Banter travelling trailer + learning / play → taking it to all communities in Glenkens Vibrancy: welcoming (Come for a Day Stay!), exciting, interesting, multi-subject outside learning – environment – non-traditional settings Integration: generations, multi-skills, inclusive, accessible, for all abilities “Past skills for future communities” ❖ I know that anything is possible ❖ I can be who I want to be ❖ I’m learning practical skills for life ❖ I feel safe and supported and confident in my chosen path Appendices for a Review of rural education in the Glenkens, Page 28 (Young person:) Digital art introduced to Art & Design Course Widening skills offered Technology in music Proper lessons on using AMPs (as an example) ✓ Community-owned land, alternative energy ✓ Devolution of Power and Money ✓ Resources from windfarms flowing into schools ✓ Kids and people learning ✓ Suitable opportunities for all ✓ Child/person specific mentorship ✓ Good selection of subjects – as wide and varied as possible ✓ Subjects: broad range to give children wide experience and good basic knowledge ✓ Practical skill learning ✓ Teach traditional skills mixed with modern ✓ Links to community skills teaching ✓ Learning outdoors (in all weathers) ✓ On-line access to specialists ✓ Varied activities within and outside teaching time ✓ Young people have opportunities for entertainment, social, learning ✓ Good transport / Great transport ✓ Use the environment and what is happening already  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A review of rural education in the Glenkens appendices Description An account of the resource Appendices to A review of rural education in the Glenken Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CAP_25a Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Glenkens & District Trust Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource CoDeL Relation A related resource A review of rural education in the Glenkens CAP Theme 3 education https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/20/629/250113_EducRev_CoDeL_MSPs_cover.jpg 3d47fe4cdc1cae34d5671cad4bb3b3d9 https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/20/629/250113_EducRev_CoDeL_MSPs.pdf 31651601ee0cce4d669ca8893e1bd5c2 PDF Text Text pdftext_placeholder Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Community Action Plan Description An account of the resource Documents relating to the Glenkens and District Community Action Plan, initially drawn up by Glenkens & District Trust in 2020. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data  Text Any textual data included in the document A review of rural education Theona Morrison and Thomas Fisher November 2024 Links between education and the sustainability of rural communities  Latest rigorous research (from Denmark, Finland & Canada), confirms school closures contribute to depopulation in the medium term (e.g. from year 6 onwards).  While small rural schools face challenges, they can deliver many benefits to communities and pupils, giving them a sense of belonging, respect and resilience.  This presents a significant challenge to D&G, a rural region facing an ageing population and depopulation, that has 100+ schools, many of them small and old.  Critical is to consider school policy not just in terms of financial constraints, or even just educational policy, but its wider impacts, not least on depopulation. Key findings  The provision of rural education plays critical roles in delivering on national (Scottish) and local (D&G) policy to support thriving rural communities, directly addressing depopulation and developing skills, opportunities and resilience for their long-term sustainability.  Rural education must ...  give young people skills, opportunities and genuine choice to pursue their lives and careers locally, or elsewhere (place-based education rather than schooling focused on ‘learning to leave’)  enable vibrant local economies, meeting recruitment needs of local employers, in the present and future  equip rural communities with skills to respond to the climate and biodiversity emergencies, building on existing local knowledge and experience. Place-based education: some examples  There are many successful models of educational provision that have been developed to sustain rural communities in practice, for example,  Western Isles: vocational strategy  Breadalbane Academy: Rural skills  Baltasound Junior High School, Shetland  Galloway Glens Internship Programme  And there are many opportunities for developing locally relevant skills and job opportunities: e.g. in renewables, and in local sustainable food production Local hub or centre of excellence  Emerging community vision to create an educational hub at the heart of the community to deliver rural place-based learning from cradle to grave.  The hub could become a centre of excellence for relevant rural skills, for example for the land-based and renewable energy sectors. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A review of rural education presentation Description An account of the resource A presentation from Community Development Lens (CoDeL) looking at the links between education and the sustainability of rural communities, and the need for local education hub or centre of excellence. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CAP_26 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Glenkens & District Trust Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource CoDeL CAP Theme 3 education https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/20/617/GlenkensLandUseVision_final.jpg 970c9b2903d9ef4b10a5be0ec6ced88e https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/20/617/GlenkensLandUseVision_final.1.pdf 55bf94889e06772ee04f4e9592dedbc4 PDF Text Text pdftext_placeholder Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Community Action Plan Description An account of the resource Documents relating to the Glenkens and District Community Action Plan, initially drawn up by Glenkens & District Trust in 2020. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document A Vision for Land Use in Glenkens 1) Land Use in the Glenkens – 2023 Context • We are a forested area, a farming area, an energy generation area. We are a watery area, given life by our rivers and lochs. Our natural environment is so special that we are part of the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere. Our landscapes attract visitors from all over the world. We are a peaty area and our soil stores some of Scotland’s best carbon. It is our home, where we work, live and play. All of these land uses are intertwined and affected by influences within and outwith our control. • We are an organised and coherent community which has sought and achieved balance in land use over many years through partnership working and effective engagement. However, we are now overwhelmed by the speed and intent of land use change in the area and by the lack of power that we hold to effect change. Coupled with top-down consultations about interrelated policies taking place seemingly in isolation from each other, this has led to disengagement in some and huge frustration in others. The disconnect between national and regional policy intent and what is actually happening in the Glenkens feels absolute. • The true seat of power in the land-use sector is opaque. No one public body holds accountability. Community interests are not safeguarded and best practice guidelines are not always adhered to. Statutory routes to effecting the change that communities want to see don’t exist. Regulatory bodies are not able to keep up with market forces. • Some of the land use developments in our area appear to be purely extractive. Most profits and benefits are realised elsewhere, jobs are created elsewhere. Community Wealth Building principles are not embedded or mandated and so the impact of these developments on our communities is not a catalyst for more jobs, a circular local economy and thriving and sustainable communities. Opportunities are being missed. 2) Our Vision That everyone who takes value from our land returns value to it. That the Glenkens is an exemplar of sustainable land use practice in building resilience for climate, biodiversity & communities, where learning is valued and all voices are listened to and respected. Key to this will be that: • Land use enhances local climate and environmental resilience, biodiversity and thriving communities and supports re-population. Local plans such as the Glenkens and District Community Action Plan ensure this. National and regional policies and drivers are aligned to this end, and compliance with these policies is the norm. A balanced mosaic of land use enables soil and waterway regeneration, and significant biodiversity improvements support climate adaptation and sustainability. Repopulation is supported through sensitive house-building and increased business opportunities. Community Wealth Building is an underpinning priority. • There is a balance of land use, access and ownership, achieved using whole catchment planning. There is more biodiversity, repopulation, nature-friendly farming, multi-functional forestry, business and tourism opportunities, all supporting a strong local and circular economy. Cumulative effect is a key consideration. • Every part of the community feels included. We are informed timeously about the issues that are relevant to us and have an influence over regional and national policy to support a Just Transition to Net Zero. We continue to engage with the wider issues because our voices are heard, valued and acted on. Nothing about us without us! • We have strong partnership working. Representatives of all land use stakeholders, including community representatives, participate in new and functional regional and national mechanisms that allow them to effectively advocate for themselves and to influence incentives and land use policy tools. 3) Recommendations for Action. We want to make this vision a reality through positive actions and collaborative working. Locally, we plan to: a) Embody best practice in using land for biodiversity protection, climate mitigation & adaptation and support of a flourishing local economy, sharing learnings with the GSA Biosphere, regionally and nationally and continuing to learn from others. b) Seek funding to resource a local Land Use Forum that is inclusive of all stakeholders and designed to narrow the gap between sectors. The Forum will continue these important discussions and allow us to: • Advocate for our vision of land use in the Glenkens at regional and national level. • Support and network local environmental or land use projects. • Enhance community-level biodiversity and environmental awareness, including briefings on upcoming consultations. • Support key consultees in land use applications (e.g. Community Councils) to submit informed and balanced responses. • Create positive actions that will help landowners reach their targets while mitigating the impact on or enhancing habitats and biodiversity. • Research and drive adoption of learning from other areas that would make a difference to biodiversity in the Glenkens. c) Use our local Action Plans to encourage enhanced biodiversity in every aspect of Glenkens land use change. Acknowledge through these plans the links between biodiversity and climate resilience. d) Seek funding to collate existing Glenkens mapping data and fill in the gaps to create baseline land use mapping. Create a publicly accessible and maintained database of environmental data for the Glenkens and district. Regionally, we need: a) A Regional Land Use Framework and a Local Development Plan that take into account hyper-local issues of cumulative impact and / or high environmental sensitivity. There must be mechanisms in place to systematically identify and then address issues across the South of Scotland, not just action driven by high-capacity communities. A Communities Rep on the SoS RLUF Advisory Group with a clear mandate to engage, represent and advocate is an important first step. b) Adequate local authority or regional resources within D&G Council, the GSA Biosphere and Scottish Forestry, based on catchment or geographic areas, to support local compliance with regional policies, guidance and strategies such as the Forestry and Woodland Strategy, Local Biodiversity Action Plan, Local Development Plan and Place Planning. This resourcing would enable: • Immediate action on the D&G Forestry and Woodland Strategy (2014) and Local Biodiversity Action Plan (2009) reviews. • Incorporation of catchment-level planning and community benefits, by ensuring that community representatives are included in review processes as strategic partners rather than consultees. • Having Community Wealth Building, respect for local knowledge and sense of place enshrined in all scheme reviews and new policies. • Meaningful community participation in local land use decision making on a caseby-case basis as per Scottish Land Commission guidelines. c) Community Councils to be statutory consultees for land-use decision making by both private and public sector projects and for them to be resourced sufficiently to have a sufficiently representative and technical view . d) To have the rules over compensatory planting changed from replacing like-for-like to likefor-better environmental gain. To have biodiversity offsetting for developments within the Glenkens and district done within the Glenkens and district , not elsewhere in the region. Nationally, we need: a) National mechanisms and drivers that value and respect the rural voice and by design balance climate, biodiversity, productivity and thriving communities, and enforce compliance with best practice. Community Wealth Building principles embedded across all policies and subsidy schemes related to land use and waterways. • The Land Rights and Responsibilities statement incorporated into subsidy regimes. • Holistic subsidy schemes for agriculture and forestry that acknowledge that Climate + Biodiversity are linked and set conditions accordingly. • Economic and financial systems are adjusted so that they have positive rather than negative effects on sustainability. Specifically, the cost of public harm should be factored into the financial cost of development, b) Clarity on the roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of all public bodies involved in land use decision making. Followed by a gap analysis to reveal why the unintended consequences that we see are taking place, followed by actions to fix them. c) Not just to be consulted with – we want to be listened to and able to effect change through robust channels that all communities can access. For example: • A clear statutory route for community stakeholders to influence decision making on priorities for local land use. • Our Land Use Forum recognised as a strategic partner for representing Glenkens and district issues. • Mandated membership of community representatives on the groups that steward areas that have been designated as important regionally, across Scotland and across the UK. (For example: Rural Stewardship Scheme / Environmentally Sensitive Area Scheme / Woodland Planting Grants / RLUFs) d) Land Reform that creates a mosaic of varied but balanced land ownership and land use across the country. 4. Process This document is the output from a land use discussion programme run in the Glenkens by the Social Enterprise Academy on behalf of the South of Scotland Regional Land Use Partnership (RLUP) Pilot. It received funding from the Scottish Government through the Scottish Rural Network and South of Scotland Enterprise, and it is part of a wider Community Learning Programme being trialled in rural communities from four RLUP pilot areas across Scotland. Two ‘Lighting the Spark’ webinars were held in October 2022, followed by 6 online sessions, where participants heard inspirational regional and national stories on land use best practice, debated the issues that the Glenkens currently faces and discussed the Vision and necessary actions for the area. The Glenkens Community and Arts Trust then convened a Working Group of community representatives to distil that work further into this document. It is aligned with the GSA UNESCO Biosphere’s Mission to ‘promote a balanced relationship between human interaction and the natural environment, through the establishment of effective partnerships, community engagement, innovative projects, research and learning. Ensuring that local communities act collaboratively and responsibly to build thriving sustainable societies in harmony with their natural surroundings.’ It was discussed fully at the final CLP event on the 31st January 2023 with national, regional and local stakeholders. Their comments on the Recommendations were reviewed and the majority suggestions were incorporated into a final-draft version. This was published in the June / July 2023 edition of the Glenkens Gazette and on the Glenkens Hub Glenkens Hub Land Use in the Glenkens, seeking public review and comment. This final version including feedback from that public review stage was adopted by the CAP Steering Group as an Addendum to the Glenkens & District Community Action Plan in June 2023. Thanks very much to all who contributed to this Vision – your input is greatly appreciated. We hope you will see your views, edits and passion for this area reflected here! Copies will be sent to the SoS RLUP Advisory Group and the SoS Regional Economic Partnership, plus other regional and national stakeholders, and we hope it will help local and regional groups work together more effectively for balanced Land Use in the Glenkens. June 2023  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Vision for Land Use in the Glenkens Description An account of the resource This Vision and the associated recommendations are intended as the first step to creating a balance in Glenkens land use where all voices are heard, respected and valued. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CAP_14 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available GCAT Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Glenkens & District Trust CAP Theme 3 land use