News
SSN Holds First National Network Meeting of 2012
Published 07 February 2012 in SSN
On 24 January, the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) held its first national members' meeting of the year. Around 40 sustainable development officers and other local government colleagues attended the event in Edinburgh, which profiled a range of case studies on the topic of engaging and supporting schools on sustainable development and climate change. Presentations from the day are now available on the SSN website.
The SSN meeting also provided an opportunity for network members to hear from Scottish Government and COSLA officials on national sustainability and climate change developments.
Additionally, there were presentations profiling two new national projects: SEWeb (Scotland's Environment Web), the online gateway to information and data on Scotland's environment, and ClimateXChange, a collaborative project between 16 Scottish academic institutions to support the Scottish Government in relation to its activities on climate change mitigation, adaptation and the transition to a low carbon economy.
The special session on engaging and supporting schools on sustainable development and climate change was chaired by Ian Menzies, Education Scotland's Development Officer – Developing Global Citizens. With the Scottish Government's Public Engagement Strategy, the Curriculum for Excellence, and the substantial energy spend and emissions arising from local authorities' schools buildings all providing strong drivers for engaging with schools on this agenda, SSN members presented on a range of projects currently being taken forward in Scottish councils to address this issue.
Case studies included:
- East Dunbartonshire Council, on using fairtrade to support schools in sustainability
- SSN and Highland Council, on using the Schools Global Footprint resource to train and engage teachers, energy and waste officers
- Scottish Borders Council, on creating a dedicated staff resource to take forward
carbon reduction work in schools and communities - Fife Council, profiling findings from Fife’s Carbon Audit of the Education Service, and projects currently underway through the Education Service to improve energy efficiency in schools.
Access SSN January meeting resources