Welcome
to the SUP spring newsletter - we are into April with the usual
seasonal mix of lambs, daffodils and snow, but spring is certainly
in the air!
In this edition we aim to bring you news of some of the happenings
in the Southern Uplands. If you have news, views or
events that you would like us to add to the website or to the e-newsletter
please get in touch.
Southern Uplands Partnership
project report
At present
we have a full project load, though a number of our activities are
coming to the end of their lifespan. The long
awaited confirmation of the Scottish Rural Development Programme
and the next phase of Leader mean that we can take forward new ideas
to the planning stage and these will be featured in future editions
of the newsletter. To check on progress with current project
click
here.
To read the recent announcement about Leader funding in South Lanarkshire
click
here.
Biosphere
report on YouTube
 It's
a first! SUP will have footage on YouTube.
We were lucky that a record of the learning journey to the Cevenne
Biosphere in France was made by Derek Hextall at Kirkconnel Parish
Heritage Society. By putting the footage on YouTube
anyone with broadband should be able to access the film quite
easily. Derek is just completing the editing process,
but the link will be added to the Home page of the SUP site as
soon as we have it. Meantime South and East Ayrshire
Councils and Dumfries & Galloway Council have put up funding
for an economic appraisal of the Biosphere, so things are moving
forward. The report on the community consultation
work undertaken by SUP last year is also on our web site, visit
the publications
page to view this.
All matters
'eco' are in the news and there is lots going on in the Southern
Uplands. SUP is talking with landowners about
possible sites for our proposed Eco Office, we look forward to
all the work that went into the prospectus and design study becoming
a functioning resource! Meantime Biggar aims
to be more self sufficient as the twin threats of Climate Change
and increasing oil prices approach. To find out about
progress in Biggar click on www.carbon-neutral-biggar.com
Biggar is also getting involved in the 'transition' movement.
A Transition town is a community working together
to look at Peak Oil and Climate Change. The
idea is becoming more widely known, as Radio 4 listeners will
know it even features in as An Archers storyline!
To find out more visit www.transitiontowns.org
Green
Hideaway
 If
you are thinking more along the lines of an eco holiday, a new
venture near Kirkcudbright might suit. A newly built
eco, oak framed timber pole holiday house is available to let.
Holidays here are aimed at natural, peaceful living, eco-friendly,
enjoying nature in the gardens as much as possible. The place
is described as 'a little alternative, but very comfortable'. Hosts
Martin Gould and Sharon O'Rourke explain that the building
and contents have been designed to minimise carbon emissions
and to be as natural a build as possible. All timber in the
building and decks comes from local and/or sustainable sources.
The living roof is clad in green sedum to lessen environmental
impact on the landscape. The thick insulation is natural Thermafleece,
sheep's wool. Interior paints and varnish are safe and natural
green products. The windows have heat reflective glass.
To reduce energy use, all light bulbs are low energy and electrical
appliances have been kept to a minimum. Water is heated using
a solar panel and a bio-mass wood pellet stove is the main source
of heat. Separate bins are provided to recycle paper, glass
and cans and there is a compost heap for organic matter.
All local crafts people, tradesmen and materials were used in
the build. To find out more visit www.gallowaystonecraft.co.uk/waterhouse
Free carbon
footprinting for D&G businesses
Owners of small and medium-sized businesses in Dumfries &
Galloway interested in reducing their energy bills, improving
efficiency, accessing the latest technology or just finding
out about their carbon foorpint can now sign up for the Carbon
Opportunites Project run by the Crichton Carbon Centre in
Dumfries. The Crichton team can produce a free
comprehensive carbon audit, but act now as availability is
limited. For full information visit www.carboncentre.org
or call Jess Cameron/Laura Packham on 01387 702041.
Meantime, if you would like to calculate
your own carbon footprint, visit
Do you
make Scottish wooden kitchen utensils?
You may have read about Elizabeth
Roberts spruce products in our pre-Christmas e-mailing, and
be interested to know that Elizabeth is opening a spruce themed
shop in Moffat in May! Zacharry's (www.zacharrys.co.uk)
will sell Elizabeth's food and drink, but she would also like
to offer some Scottish wooden kitchen utensils.
Elizabeth says she is 'open to all and any other suggestions
appropriate to our main theme, which is 'green', eco, botanical,
local etc'. If you can help please contact Elizabeth
direct at Zacharry¹s Ltd, Tel & Fax: 01864 505277.
Other members looking to source local suppliers via the SUP
newsletter are welcome to get in touch with us.
Scottish
Sustainable Development Forum Spring Plenary
The Rural Economy and Tourism - Contributors
to a sustainable Scotland’ proceedings and workshop
outputs, including a prioritised list of actions resulting
from the workshop discussions, are available from www.ssdforum.org.uk
on the News/Events page. SUPs Project Manger,
Pip Tabor, who sits on the SSDF steering group says "this
event attracted an excellent range of participants and some
lively discussion took place. It has highlighted the need
for future actions on a number of fronts"..
The
Electoral Reform Society
The Electrol Reform Society is a non partisan
organisation which has long campaigned for Single Transferable
Vote (STV) for all UK elections. The STV system was used
for the first time in any major, public UK election in the
Scottish local government elections in May 2007. STV
is a proportional system which allows voters to rank their
candidates in order of preference. If the
first choice of candidate is already elected or eliminated
through lack of support, your vote goes to your second choice
and so on, meaning your vote is unlikely to be wasted. Over
the coming months, the Electoral Reform Society Scotland will
be testing the extent to which this is true. Community
Engagement Officer, Kate Robinson, will be asking groups and
activists across Scotland whether the changes at the council
level have made any difference to the lives of ordinary people.
If you have views on this, the Society would like to hear
from you. You can reach Kate on 0141 227 3973 or by email
on kate.robinson@electoral-reform.org.uk
Conference
- Communities in Transition, Sustainability and Structural
change.
New
Lanark, 29 - 30 May, 2008.
This
conference aims to address three main areas: People
- the importance of roles and relationships between citizens,
and public, private and voluntary sectors both within and
between communities. Partnerships - optimising collaborations,
networks and structures set up to address the challenges
of change working across sectors and engaging widely. Projects
- initiatives both large and small to mitigate socio-economic
change as part of wider technical, environmental and policy
programmes. For full information please contact Rick Wylie,
Westlakes Research Institute. Tel. 01946 514000 E-mail
reception@westlakes.ac.uk
Asset
Mapping at the Edge
 The
Communities on the Edge Project is currently undertaking
'asset mapping exercises' in the three communities of Douglas,
Langholm and Yetholm. Project Coordinator
John Gold explains, 'Asset mapping exercises are positive
and enjoyable approaches to learning about your community.
They help you think positively about the place in which
you live and work, and challenge you to recognise how other
people see and experience the same community.'
To find out more about this technique click
here.
Communities
on the Edge coordinator John Gold is now a regular Rural
Gateway contributor, click
here to read his latest piece.
Looking
for a meeting venue?
If you are looking for a great central
meeting space for your group in Edinburgh we would recommend
The Melting Pot in Rose Street. This
facility is headed up by Clair Carpenter who worked
on the original scoping exercise for the SUPs Eco Office
project. The location is very handy
and you will be able to see how this exciting social
enterprise is developing. To find out more
visit www.TheMeltingPotEdinburgh.org.uk
More locally, the new Catstrand Centre
in New Galloway is keen to attract new organisations
to use the recently opened conference facility (up to
80, theatre style) and meeting rooms.
For information visit www.catstrand.com
SUP
Away Day
 The
SUP team are spread across the Southern Uplands and team
get-togethers are few. However, March saw
everyone converge on Moffat for a day of project reviews,
Leader updates and brainstorming. As an opening
'icebreaker' Roger Hemming arranged for everyone to write
down an interesting fact about themselves for the others
to guess.
See if you can guess:
Who gave the kiss of life to a squirrel?
Who hand reared a cheetah?
Who went to Sir Simon Rattles 40th
birthday party?
Who was Young Entrepreneur of the Year
at School?
Who was silver British Champion in Taekwondo?
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Copyright 2006 - Southern Upland Partnership
