Shaping and influencing policy - May 2021

Strategic engagement and working collaboratively

In March, in partnership with the Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland, we hosted the Scottish Litter Summit to reinvigorate a collaborative approach to tackling the nation’s looming litter emergency and unacceptable levels of dog fouling and graffiti. The event brought together a cross sector of organisations with a shared commitment and appetite to address the complex interlinking problems that have resulted in Scotland seeing increasing litter levels in recent years.

In addition to this, we supported the responsible tourism campaign launched by VisitScotland in March. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the importance of exploring the outdoors responsibly with the focus on asking people to leave no trace of their visit and protect Scotland’s beautiful countryside.

Developing and engaging with policy

In recent months we have engaged with a wide range of significant policy areas, submitting a number of responses to significant consultations. In February we responded to the National Planning Framework: Position Statement, in March we responded to both the Climate Change – Net Zero Nation: draft public engagement strategy and the Clyde Mission Call for Ideas and in April we responded to the Heat in Buildings Strategy and the Draft Environmental Protection Regulations 2021: discussion paper.

Demonstrating expertise and credibility

In March we hosted our first online LEAMS webinar, one of several planned webinars taking place instead of our usual annual LEAMS seminar. The webinar focussed on how we can use data to drive improvements in littering and other adverse environmental impacts to make our neighbourhoods better places to live and work.

Also in March, the Chief Executive Officers from eight Scottish housing associations completed our Climate Emergency Training. The training, which is tailored specifically to the housing association’s business needs, explores the key role of the housing sector in helping Scotland achieve its ambition for net zero carbon emissions by 2045.