Events and training

Change in land management or ownership can be an opportunity for landowners and local communities, but it also carries risks. Poorly managed change can affect community viability, disrupt livelihoods, badly damage relationships that may have taken years or decades to build, and harm the reputation of the land owner or manager.

There are different routes available for communities who want to take on ownership or use of land or buildings, and different kinds of support available. Join this webinar to hear more about how to find opportunities for ownership and use, what different routes to ownership entail, and who can help you on your journey.

In this webinar we are joined by Rachel Skene and Sara Harkin from the North West 2045 project and Andy Rockall from the Community Woodland Association. We hear about their ground breaking work in creating and supporting engagement, dialogue and collaboration between communities and local landowners and managers .

In this webinar we discussed the benefits and challenges of collaboration between landowners and local communities in managing land and resources. We were joined by Henry Dobson, an estate manager at the Woodland Trust, and Angela Mercer, board member of Arkaig Community Forest, who are working together to restore native woodland habitats who shared how this project is helping local people reconnect with the land.

Who owns the piece of land that you walk past each day? How can you find out about plans for the local estate that sold recently? What is happening with the derelict site on the main street? Land Rights and Responsibilities Manager, Gemma Campbell, shares where to look and who to ask for information about who owns and manages land and buildings in your area, how they are being used, and changes or developments that are planned.

Land rights and responsibilities apply to everyone, whether you’re a landowner, land manager, a neighbour, community group member or simply an interested individual. In this session Good Practice Advisers Karen Grant and Uwe Stoneman explored the principles of Scotland’s Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement, and how they act as a guide to good practice in community engagement, collaboration and stewardship of land to help ensure that land delivers for people and nature, both now and into the future.

In the first of the Land Links series, Chief Executive of the Scottish Land Commission, Hamish Trench, and Policy & Practice Lead, James MacKessack-Leitch, discuss how changing behaviours and policy are influencing how land is owned and used in Scotland.