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Scottish Ecological Design Association

@scotecodesign.bsky.social

SEDA shares knowledge, skills and experience of ecological design and promotes sustainable thinking and behaviour. https://seda.scot

255 Posts1581 Follower 395 Folgt

Gail Halvorsen @gailhalvorsen.bsky.social · 2d ago

Community-owned energy projects return vastly more wealth to local people than their privately-owned counterparts. So why make do with crumbs from the corporate table? – Devon McCole, The Scottish Beacon. Learn more at this free SEDA Land event: seda.scot/championing-...

Scottish Ecological Design Association@scotecodesign.bsky.social · 2d ago

Building Vibrant Local Economies: @cescotland.bsky.social CEO Zoë Holliday will talk about community-owned Garth Wind, North Yell which funds housing and Europe’s largest community-owned industrial estate to illustrate the merits of community ownership of renewable energy assets 📆 4pm 7 Sept online

Building vibrant local economies
Monday, 7th September, 4-6pm
Online – free admission

Building vibrant local economies is the first in the CHAMPIONING THE LOCAL series of SEDA Land Conversations.

This Conversation is aimed at helping community groups realise their ambitions

We will explore alternative business models, including co-operatives, social enterprises and employee-owned businesses, and how they can make LVC’s possible, as well as the best scale at which such issues can be addressed – local, regional or national.

At present, Scotland has plenty of micro examples of Inclusive and Democratic Business Models (IDBMs). We will look at ways of scaling these up, and rolling them out across the country, in areas such as food, renewable energy and retrofit.

One aim is to highlight the interconnectedness of all these issues, and how thinking about them together brings wider benefits, with different sectors learning from each other.

This Conversation will include inspirational models, using these as a springboard for a broader discussion of the subject, addressing obstacles along the way and how to overcome them.

CHAIR: Adam Forrest, co-op development manager at Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS)

SPEAKERS: Neil McInroy, Global lead for Community Wealth Building, The Democracy Collaborative

Dr Emilia Pietka-Nykaza, Senior lecturer, University of the West of Scotland

Chris Martin, CEO, Social Enterprise Scotland

Zoë Holliday, CEO, Community Energy Scotland (CES)

Abi Mordin, Co-director, Propagate

TBC, The Ridge , Dunbar

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 2d ago

Claire Boardman @claireboardman.bsky.social · 2w ago

Reservation links for sessions one and two in this series: 07 September - Session 1: Building Vibrant Local Economies tinyurl.com/ynfynypm 14 September - Session 2: Councils Need To Buy Better tinyurl.com/ya234f4m @goodorgcic.bsky.social

Scottish Ecological Design Association@scotecodesign.bsky.social · 2w ago

The third in our ‘Championing The Local’ series is on 21 Sept. We’ll explore why some decisions about land use are best made at landscape-scale and how Regional Land Use Partnerships and bioregions with natural not political boundaries enable this. 🔗 calum-ross-7y5m.squarespace.com/championing-...

Landscape-scale governance
Mon 21st September 4-6pm
Online – free admission

Landscape-Scale Governance is the third in the CHAMPIONING THE LOCAL series of SEDA Land Conversations.

This conversation will explore when it may be appropriate to scale up the model to regional or national level. Regional Land Use Partnerships (RLUPs) and bioregions are models bordered by natural geographic and landscape boundaries such as mountain ridges and watersheds. Both adopt a natural capital approach to understanding their regional landscapes. This addresses issues in a cross-sectoral way, using a systems approach, rather than simplifying the issues into sectoral silos. This is a challenging ambition, since it means grappling with the complexity, uncertainty and trade-offs inherent in large scale, closely coupled, socio-ecological systems, but policy and land use decisions (such as natural flood protection measures) are often best made at such a scale.

This Conversation will include inspirational models, using these as a springboard for a broader discussion of the subject, addressing obstacles along the way and how to overcome them.

CHAIR:

Lucy Filby, Head of Land & Forestry Transition, South of Scotland Enterprise

SPEAKERS:

Andrew Williams, Local Programme Manager, Verture

Clare Cooper, Co-Founder & Co-Director, Bioregioning Tayside

Lizzie Williams, Regional Land Use Partnership (RLUP) manager, NW2045

McNabb Laurie, Manager, D&G Woodlands

Henry Leveson-Gower, Founder and CEO, Promoting Economic Pluralism

Anne Thomas, Trustee, Highland People’s Power

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 2w ago

“Scotland made climate change — can it now solve it? How the story of one country is the story of the world,” with @dominicmhinde.bsky.social, author of Drifting North: Finding a Sustainable Future in Scotland’s Past. Sunday, 23 August, at Shilling Brewing Co, 92 West George St, Glasgow G2 1PJ

Buy tickets – "Scotland Made Climate Change - Can it Now Solve it? How the Story of One Country is the Story of the World." – Shilling Brewing Company

"Scotland Made Climate Change - Can it Now Solve it? How the Story of One Country is the Story of the World." – Shilling Brewing Company, Sun 23 Aug 2026 - "Scotland Made Climate Change - Can it Now S...

tickettailor.com

WWF Scotland @wwfscotland.bsky.social · 2w ago

Arthur’s Seat has been hit by another wildfire. 💔 The smoke hanging over Edinburgh is a stark reminder that climate change is already being felt here in Scotland, increasing the risk of more frequent and intense wildfires. It's time to turn the temperature down. 🔥

Fire crews battle blaze on Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh

A huge plume of smoke could be seen from as far away as Fife on Sunday evening.

bbc.co.uk

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 2w ago

Gail Halvorsen @gailhalvorsen.bsky.social · last mo.

In April 2023 Scot Gov published the first Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland. It is committed to integrating social value and wellbeing into public procurement. This event showcases the local authority and other organisations trailblazing local procurement. @socialenterprise.scot

Scottish Ecological Design Association@scotecodesign.bsky.social · last mo.

The second in our ‘Championing The Local’ free events takes place on 14 Sept ‘Councils Need To Buy Better’ will highlight the role local authorities can play in enhancing local economies, by giving communities the confidence to invest in and develop local enterprises. 🔗 seda.scot/championing-...

Championing the Local, part 2

SPEAKERS:

TBC, North Ayrshire Council

Sarah Gowanlock, Partnerships Manager, Soil Association Scotland

Sue Guy, Director, People, Place & Resilience Scotland CIC

Iain MacPherson, director, Reorient Places

Mike Staples,CEO, South of Scotland Community Housing (SOSCH)

Emma Fletcher, founder & chair, Heating Swaffham Prior

Chris Martin, CEO, Social Enterprise Scotland

Councils need to buy better
Monday, 14th September, 4-6pm
Online – free admission

Councils Need to Buy Better is the second in the CHAMPIONING THE LOCAL series of SEDA Land Conversations.

This conversation will highlight the critical role that local authorities play in enhancing local economies.

The Scottish Government is committed to integrating social value and wellbeing into public procurement through not only the Procurement Reform (Scotland) legislation, but also the Scottish National Performance Framework strategy.

In April 2023 the Scottish Government published the first Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland. Local authority procurement – on the long-term contractual basis – can give communities the much needed confidence to invest and kickstart new enterprises.

This could be particularly transformative for Scotland's rural and remote communities which often face unique challenges, including economic fragility, limited employment opportunities, and infrastructural deficits. Local procurement fosters local employment, enhancing skills, and improving local infrastructure. This event aims to ensure that councils, health boards and other public bodies are given the means to enact the bill.

This Conversation will include inspirational models, using these as a springboard for a broader discussion of the subject, addressing obstacles along the way and how to overcome them.

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · last mo.

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The first of our ‘Championing The Local’ free events takes place on 7 Sept. Building Vibrant Local Economies will help community groups realise their ambitions by explaining the range of business models available, showcasing IDBMs in food, renewable energy and retrofit. 🔗 seda.scot/championing-...

Championing the Local, part 1

Building vibrant local economies
Monday, 7th September, 4-6pm
Online – free admission

Building vibrant local economies is the first in the CHAMPIONING THE LOCAL series of SEDA Land Conversations.

This Conversation is aimed at helping community groups realise their ambitions

We will explore alternative business models, including co-operatives, social enterprises and employee-owned businesses, and how they can make LVC’s possible, as well as the best scale at which such issues can be addressed – local, regional or national.

At present, Scotland has plenty of micro examples of Inclusive and Democratic Business Models (IDBMs). We will look at ways of scaling these up, and rolling them out across the country, in areas such as food, renewable energy and retrofit.

One aim is to highlight the interconnectedness of all these issues, and how thinking about them together brings wider benefits, with different sectors learning from each other.

This Conversation will include inspirational models, using these as a springboard for a broader discussion of the subject, addressing obstacles along the way and how to overcome them.

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Is Scotland sufficiently ambitious when it comes to housing? This was Herald editor @salmondsalmond.bsky.social's question to Scottish National Investment Bank investment director Nicola Douglas. “We should be [more] open to looking at other models across the UK and Europe,” was Douglas’s answer.

Sustainable communities created through housing-led regeneration in Scotland

Investors, developers and public sector leaders said trust, patience and partnership are essential to unlock Scotland’s housing-led regeneration…

heraldscotland.com

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 2mo ago

We are holding a series of three conversations on Community Wealth Building, with the focus on local value chains, on 7, 14, and 21 Sept 2026. The series is intended to help communities realise their ambitions and persuade local authorities of the part they can play in enhancing local economies.

Poster for 'Championing the Local,' a series of three SEDA Land events in September 2026, promoting local value chains. This will include exploring local value chains in the food, housing and energy sectors.

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 2mo ago

RIAS urges ScotGov to rethink its infrastructure strategy. CEO Tamsie Thomson said: “Grenfell made clear that weak oversight, fragmented responsibility and cost-driven decision-making create systemic danger. It’s gravely worrying when building safety isn’t given strategic weight in public policy.“

Architects call for infrastructure strategy changes over safety and procurement risks

The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) has written to the Scottish Government to call for a fundamental rethink of Scotland’s Draft Infrastructure Strategy, warning it does not...

scottishhousingnews.com

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 3mo ago

“Like a woodwind solo drifting through a mountain valley these houses play a continuous melody marked by theme and variation in cedar, stone and timber beam,” says Trevor Roddy of homes by Blue Sky Architecture, the Vancouver-based practice led by Bo Helliwell and Kim Smith. LAST CHANCE TO BOOK!

Blue Sky Architecture - our approach to an Ecological Architecture

Bo Helliwell’s eco-architectural practice with Kim Smith dates back to the 1970s.The talk describes their ecological architectural approach.

eventbrite.co.uk

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Former WD & HO Wills cigarette factory to be “sensitively repurposed” as 129 homes under proposals from Turnberry Property Devts and EMA Architects. At its height, the Art Deco landmark, built 1946-53, employed 3500 and produced 260m cigarettes a week. www.scottishhousingnews.com/articles/pla...

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 3mo ago

At last night’s Better Outdoors SEDA Land event, held in Augustine United Church, Edinburgh, one audience member said outdoor learning is a “a no-brainer”. She’s right. At the event, practitioners, academics and policymakers explored how to ensure it is rolled out more widely across Scotland.

Davina Bowers, head of The Forest Nursery and The Forest Junior School, Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh

Rob Heasman, teacher at Beeslack Annex, Beeslack High School, Midlothian

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 3mo ago

In a UK first, Stirling is pioneering a combined heat and power (CHP) system that utilizes cleaned wastewater to deliver heat to public buildings and businesses. A partnership between Scottish Water Horizons, Stirling Council, and Trane, the project is expected to save 380 tonnes of carbon a year.

Scottish City Takes Bold Action to Meet Net-Zero Emissions Target

To achieve a bold goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2045, one Scottish city is using inventive wastewater cleaning solutions to heat public buildings.

tranetechnologies.com

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Join us for a celebration of the life and legacy of SEDA co-founder, architect, activist and educator Jim Johnson on Saturday, 16 May from 1pm. The event is being held in Briggait, an a-listed complex of studios in the Merchant City which owes its survival and flowering to Jim and his colleagues.

Flier for SEDA event at Briggait, Glasgow to celebrate the life and legacy of SEDA co-founder, architect, activist and educator Jim Johnson who died on January 19 aged 91. He was one of the first architects to realise and act upon the climate crisis. He helped instigate the community-based housing movement, co-founding ASSIST Architects; was involved in conservation and urban regeneration of Edinburgh Old Town and co-founded the Scottish Ecological Design Association.

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Why the Isle of Eigg hatched a plan to grow its own trees. The island’s nursery — currently running a “putting down roots” crowdfunder — is growing tens of thousands of native trees to create a sustainable supply of wood for fuel and to support natural habitats www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/eiggtreenu...

Why the Isle of Eigg hatched a plan to grow its own trees

Islanders have planted thousands of the trees on Hebridean isle - and sent thousands more to other places.

bbc.co.uk

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The primary energy fallacy is the false assumption that energy sources must be compared on the strength of their raw, primary energy input rather than their energy output. @janrosenow.bsky.social

Have we been duped by the primary energy fallacy?

Whenever I post something on renewable energy on social media it never takes long for negative comments to arrive in my feed. One type of…

medium.com

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Edinburgh World Heritage coming under fire over its support for plans to convert four A-listed late Georgian townhouses on Atholl Crescent into a 544-bed “capsule” hostel. Until January 2022, the building housed the head office of law firm Brodies LLP.

World heritage body challenged over support for West End 'super hostel'

Edinburgh World Heritage is being urged to reconsider its support for a controversial proposal to turn four Georgian townhouses in a prestigious West End crescent into part of a 544-bed “super hostel”...

edinburghnews.scotsman.com

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 4mo ago

“The Glenbranter extension highlights how Scotland’s timber industry — from growing forests, to milling, to designing building materials — can safeguard rural jobs for local people and enhance sustainability,” says Forestry and Land Scotland's operations manager Mark Ormsby.

Cowal grown timber used for Forestry and Land Scotland extension | Project Scotland

SITKA spruce grown for commercial timber production on the Cowal peninsula has come full circle, returning as the material for Forestry and Land Scotland’s ...

projectscot.com

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 5mo ago

“We can walk on the land, but we cannot shape what happens to it.” @landworkersuk.bsky.social’s campaigns coordinator Tara Wright on the inadequacies of Scottish land reform.

Grassroots hope in face of watered-down Scottish Land Reform Act

Tara Wight, Scotland Policy and Campaigns Coordinator for the Land Worker’s Alliance, shares her perspective on the Scottish Land Reform Act.

thegreatoutdoorsmag.com

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 5mo ago

On International Women’s Day, SEDA Land thanks all the inspirational women who have helped us in the past year. Here are a few of them. Clockwise from top left: Bea Nichol, Megan MacInnes, Flora Fraser, Magdalena Blazusiak, Lucy Filby, Savannah Fishel, Sophie Cooke, Lorna Dawson, and Gloria Lo

Women of SEDA Land, clockwise from top left - Bea Nichol, Megan MacInnes, Flora Fraser, Magdalena Blazusiak, Lucy Filby, Savannah Fishel, Sophie Cooke, Professor Dame Lorna Dawson, and Gloria Lo.

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 5mo ago

North Queensferry Community Trust wins appeal against the Scottish Government over the latter’s claim that plans for a community-buyout of historic coaching inn the Albert Hotel are unworkable and unaffordable. Dunfermline Sheriff Court ruled that ScotGov’s stance was “not based on reason or logic”.

Villagers win legal battle in bid to buy the Albert

“We are delighted with this decision which so comprehensively demolishes the reasons given by the ministers for refusing the application.”

dunfermlinepress.com

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Through community shares and collective ownership, Scots are now in a much better position to raise money and run locally-important shops and services themselves. @paulinedtas.bsky.social, chief executive of Development Trusts Association Scotland (@dtascotland.bsky.social), in @scotsman.com

The democratic financial revolution that's saving community facilities across Scotland

Through community shares and collective ownership, people can raise money and run locally important shops and services themselves

scotsman.com

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 5mo ago

💼 Looking for an exciting volunteering opportunity? ♻️ The Green Drinks team are looking for a new member! 💬 If you're interested, please contact us at info@seda.scot #volunteer #scotland #seda

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 5mo ago

This webinar examines design choices shaped by a young family’s priorities, including accessibility, material safety, and long-term adaptability. The session will present findings from 14 months of indoor environmental monitoring and analysis. 🕒️ - 10th March, 6-7:30pm 🔗 - seda.scot/webinar-acce...

Scottish Ecological Design Association @scotecodesign.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Kyle and Lochalsh Community Trust has acquired part of a commercial forest beside Loch Duich with a view to building an eco-village offering affordable housing, woodland crofts and business units. It hopes the development will attract young families to the area and help keep the local school open.

West Highland community moving forward with eco-village plans

A community trust has bought land for affordable homes and woodland crofts at Loch Duich.

bbc.co.uk