Scottish Environment LINK Parliamentary Reception 2018

L-R James Burgon (BES-SPG committee) Sarah Raymond (BES member) Kate Forbes MSP, Mark Ruskell MSP, Amy Padfield (BES Education Manager) Maggie Keegan

The BES were invited by Scottish Environment LINK to be part of their event ‘Generation Earth: Celebrating Young Environmental Campaigners’ at the Scottish Parliament. We used the opportunity to highlight the support the BES gives to its young members and we were delighted that Sarah Raymond, who is in her third year studying Biology at Nottingham University, was able to join us on the night to meet MSPs and tell them about her involvement with the BES.

As well as discussing how the BES has helped her, she also got tips from Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) on how best to engage with them when talking about scientific issues. The main advice from Kate Forbes MSP was that politicians are busy people who have to juggle lots of issues so, when meeting with them, it is best to keep it short (15 minutes maximum!) and get to the point quickly – she thought this should give you enough time to convey your key messages and any recommendations that you may have.

The BES’s Policy Officer in Scotland also used the opportunity to talk to the MSPs who attended, including five members of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee, to explain how the BES and the Scottish Policy Group get involved in policy making through providing the latest scientific evidence to help inform decisions.

The BES’s Education Manager was also on hand to explain to MSPs the types of support that the BES offers to its young members – including careers conferences, teaching resources and summer schools to name a few. She explained to Finlay Carson MSP, as an example, the sorts of opportunities and support that would become available to his daughter (who is studying an environmental course at university) if she joined the BES!

If you would like to know more about the support available to young people through the BES or our policy work in Scotland, get in touch with Amy Padfield or Maggie Keegan.