Shaping and influencing policy – February 2022

Over the recent months, we have continued our efforts to help set a positive policy agenda for the green recovery, both through working collaboratively with close partners and our engagement with key local and national policy developments. 

Strategic engagement and working collaboratively  

In November we celebrated 25 years of the Green Flag Award, with two parks in Scotland listed in the Top 10 UK Green Flag Awards. We also welcomed two new Community Clean Up Hubs, and a number of Anchor Groups along the River Tay to Upstream Battle®. 

In December 2021 we published the Scottish Litter Survey in association with the Diffley Partnership. This was the first comprehensive baseline assessment of public perceptions and attitudes towards litter and littering behaviour in Scotland, and was published ahead of the public consultation on a new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy which opened on 13 December.  

January 2022 has been a busy month; we announced a partnership with North Lanarkshire Council, supported by McDonald’s and Costa Coffee the campaign will see our branded signs focussed in known hotspots for roadside littering and around takeaways. We also signed a partnership agreement with Keep New Zealand Beautiful which will see us share expertise and competence across a range of activity areas.   

We were successful in securing £1.5m in funding from the National Lottery Community Fund for an exciting community-led programme. Highland Community Waste Partnership is a collaborative three-year programme of grassroots activities looking at solutions to consumption and waste across the Highlands.  

Developing and engaging with policy 

We continue to engage with a range of significant policy areas, in December we submitted a response to the Local Food for Everyone – a discussion consultation, and in January the Role of Local Government and its cross-sectoral partners in financing and delivering a net zero Scotland.  

We are currently actively involved with the new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy public consultation which is open until 31 March 2022; hosting events both in collaboration with Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland, and our own events. 

Demonstrating expertise and credibility 

We continue in our role as Vice Chair of the SDG Network Steering Group, helping to build support for the SDGs in Scotland. Royal Yacht Britannia and Fingal Hotel were awarded silver level National Award for Environmental Excellence®, demonstrating organisational environmental performance. 

Ahead of the ongoing public consultation, we worked in partnership with Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland to develop and inform the new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy.  

We maintain our delivery of Climate Emergency Training reaching a range of audiences including youth work and young people and are delighted to host Scotland’s Climate Festival. Themes of events so far have included Scotland’s climate future, women in farming and a screening of ‘Scotland: Our Climate Journey’. Upcoming February events include the wellbeing economy and a community support forum.