Event Reports

The inaugural Caffi Ecology event was hosted by the Welsh Policy Group in March 2023 and brought experts from across the research, consultancy, policy and practitioner communities together to discuss Net Benefits for Biodiversity.

This report summarises the talks and discussion at the event.

This ‘Pie and a Pint‘ (PAAP) was hosted by the BES-SPG and CIEEM explored some key questions on National Parks in Scotland.

This discussion summary is from the event held in October 2022.

2021 has been dubbed the ‘super’ year for nature, but what does this mean for science policy in Scotland? 

This virtual two-part ‘Pie and a Pint‘ (PAAP) series hosted by the BES-SPG and CIEEM will aims to explore what ‘COP’ is, the effect it has on the science policy interface in Scotland and how it will be implemented in practice. 

This event report is for part one which as held in September 2021.

The Scottish Policy Group (SPG) and the Scottish Research and Policy Exchange (SPRE) held an online policy training event on the 22nd of September with the aim of Demystifying Policy and this is a summary of the event. Find out more in the event report.

In September 2020, Boris Johnson announced a commitment to protect 30% of land in the UK by 2030. After the success of our last online PAAP, this online event will focused on the challenges and opportunities associated with this policy in Scotland. The main question we want to debate is: What would successful protection of 30% look like for conservation?

The Scottish Policy Group (SPG) and Edinburgh Conservation Science (ECoS) held a joint Pie and a Pint (PAAP) event on Meeting the Challenge of 30% of Scotland as Protected Areas.

The event was be held on Zoom on the 21st of April.

This live online workshop held by the Scottish Policy Group (SPG) formed part of the Festival of Ecology which is the British Ecological Society’s (BES) annual meeting. This report provides a brief summary of the event. The workshop aimed to provide a starting point for scientists who want to engage further with the policy making process. It also aimed to provide a space to network, share experiences and ask questions.

The session was opened and chaired by Sarah McKain, a BES Policy Officer who coordinates the work of the SPG. The workshop was co-hosted and facilitated by members of the SPG Committee. We had 90+ people in attendance which makes it the largest event in the history of the SPG!

This is a summary of a discussion held at the British Ecological Society’s Scottish Policy Group (BES-SPG) Pie and a Pint meeting in Aberdeen on the 19 March 2019. The event was open to all BES members and those interested in offshore renewables, mitigating climate change and marine conservation. About 45 people attended from a wide range of organisations.

The event was opened with five talks. After which, the participants split into break-out groups to discuss these questions:

• Should mitigating climate change be the most important policy driver?
• Are we dealing with trade-offs effectively?
• Are decisions being made at the right scale?

A summary report from the Brexit Policy Social event, held on 18 December 2018 at the BES Annual Meeting in Birmingham.

The evening was split into four policy topics: 1) the Common Agricultural Policy, 2) the 25-Year Environment Plan, 3) the Environment Bill and 4) the future of environmental policy in devolved nations. Delegates were asked to write their views on post-it notes and place them on the relevant flipchart. The responses highlighted a wide-range of views, often conflicting, illustrating the immense challenge of delivering effective policies for such complex issues. This is a summary of the member feedback from the session, which the Policy Team will use to inform Brexit-related work in the future.