Event Reports

This is a summary of a discussion held at British Ecological Society’s Scottish Policy Group (BES-SPG) Pie and a Pint meeting in Edinburgh on the 9th October 2017.

The event was open to all BES-SPG members and those interested in agricultural policy.  About 25 people attended from wide range of organisations.

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

1. What agri-environment schemes have been successful in Scotland so far? What evidence is there for the positive or negative effects of different agri-environment schemes?
2. How can agri-environment schemes be best coordinated at the catchment or landscape scale and by whom?
3. Thinking beyond agri-environment schemes: what other initiatives should we be looking at or trying to incorporate in a future land management policy and who should pay for them?

This report contains the notes from the joint BES Scottish Policy Group and ESCom Scotland Pie and a Pint night,  held on the 9 May 2017 in Edinburgh. The event brought together academics, policymakers and other interested in the environment to discuss the question: ‘Are the provision and management of greenspace in Scotland on track to contribute to the delivery of our Biodiversity 2020 priority aims?’

There were five topical break out groups to discuss biodiversity, multi-functionality, green economy, regulatory ecosystem services and cultural services & health benefits in relation to the above question. The event opened with five minute flash talks from five speakers who had been selected to represent a diverse set of issues and expertise related to urban green infrastructure. This report summarises the event, the presentations and discussions held.

This is the workshop report from the BES Climate Change Ecology Special Interested Group lead workshop ‘Ecology for the National Adaptation Programme for Climate Change’. It combines the highlights from the presentations and the breakout groups. The presentations have also been uploaded in separate document.

The main part of the workshop was given over to short (5 minute) talks and break out groups. The short talks covered either new scientific research or case studies of climate change adaptation to help capture some of the key developments that have taken place since the last National Adaptation Programme was published. Unlike climate change impacts research, adaptation is a necessarily practical discipline and the lessons learnt from experience are at least as important as those from academic research. The breakout groups were typically composed of a mixture of experts in the specific fields and participants with more generalist knowledge and expertise.

These are the presentations from the BES Climate Change Ecology Special Interested Group lead workshop ‘Ecology for the National Adaptation Programme for Climate Change’. The main part of the workshop was given over to short (5 minute) talks and break out groups. The short talks covered either new scientific research or case studies of climate change adaptation to help capture some of the key developments that have taken place since the last National Adaptation Programme was published. Unlike climate change impacts research, adaptation is a necessarily practical discipline and the lessons learnt from experience are at least as important as those from academic research.

The presentations PDF can be viewed along side the main workshop report which combines the highlights from the presentations and the breakout groups. The presentations have also been uploaded in separate document.

This workshop, jointly organised by the British Ecological Society and Newcastle University, aimed to capture the diverse range of views regarding the future of the uplands. The key policy and research priorities will be identified from the workshop and will help to guide future work by British Ecological Society (BES) in this important area. Here is a brief summary of the day including the presentations.

Our workshop identified priorities, challenges and opportunities to shape our engagement with Brexit during 2017, and to inform the work of our Brexit Policy Working Group.

Workshop report by Rick Parfett, Policy Intern.

Our workshop on ‘Understanding the science-policy interface in Scotland’ included presentations from:

• Tom Edwards, Scottish Wildlife Trust
• Sarah Boyack, former MSP and Minister
• Debbie Bassett, Scottish Natural Heritage
• Rea Cris, RSPB

Read Rick Parfett’s blog post from the workshop

This report summarises the discussion held at the BES Scottish Policy Group Pie and a Pint, on the 26th October 2016 in Inverness.

The event was open to all BES-SPG members and policy relevant people. About 40 people attended from wide range of organisations.
The event was opened by three short 10 minute talks from the following people presenting their own perspectives on rewilding:

• Adam Smith of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust,
• Rob Brooker read a statement from Fenning Welstead from Alladale Estate as Fenning was unable to attend due illness
• David Balharry of Rewilding Britain

The group then split into four, with each group taking it in turns to address the four questions. The report summaries the key messages from each of the four groups.