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Wildlife Crime:
Working together to improve enforcement and reduce offending
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| A one day conference, Tuesday 10 June 2008 |
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| Edinburgh, venue TBC |
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Chair:
Rob Edwards, Environment Editor,
Sunday Herald |
Keynote Speakers:
Michael Russell MSP, Minister for Environment, The Scottish Government
Alan Stewart, Wildlife & Environmental Crime Officer, Tayside Police |
Stuart Brooks, Head of Conservation, Scottish Wildlife Trust
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| Mark Oddy, Buccleuch Group, Scottish Estates Business Group |
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"Wildlife crime is an issue which is becoming increasingly significant in this country. We are all victims of wildlife crime in that it threatens to diminish the rich natural heritage for which Scotland is rightly world-famous and which is of great importance to our economy. The time is now right to take a look at how crimes against wildlife are dealt with and what we can do to stop them.”
Michael Russell MSP, Minister for Environment, The Scottish Government, speaking at the Scottish Parliamentary debate on wildlife crime, 4 October 2007.
This conference will provide an opportunity for representatives from a diverse range of organisations affected by wildlife crime to come together and examine developments and issues within the sector. The event will bring together delegates from the police, animal charities, wildlife rescue centres and inspection services as well as landowners, farmers, managers and representatives from the tourism and game industries and environmental and conservation organisations. It will provide a platform for intelligent debate on wildlife crime and an opportunity for all parties to put their views across.
What is being done in Scotland to reduce wildlife crime? What can we learn from others and vice-versa? What is the relationship between wildlife crime and other offences? Why is it important to remove the perception that it is a lesser crime? What are landowners responsibilities in reducing wildlife crime? What protection should be given to our nation’s wildlife? What should the media and the public do to help reduce wildlife crime?
These questions will be explored at the conference by speakers as they present on a number of themes and invite questions from attendees. Delegates will also hear about the steps being taken to address the issues, including the work undertaken in the thematic inspection, what its recommendations will mean and the impact of the recent Scottish Government announcement on snaring.
If you want to learn more about developments in tackling wildlife crime, to hear the recommendations for improving its detection, investigation and prosecution and have an opportunity to debate the key issues, you can’t afford to miss this conference.
If you have any questions, please email
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, or call us on 0131 272 2133.
We look forward to seeing you at this important and timely event. |
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Scotland’s population health challenges: smoking, alcohol, obesity and inequality
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A one day conference, Thursday 12 June 2008
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Glasgow (venue tbc)
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| Keynote Speakers: |
| Professor Richard Wilkinson, Professor of Social Epidemiology, University of Nottingham |
| Dr Brian K. Gibbs, Director, Program to Eliminate Health Disparities, Harvard School of Public Health |
| Dr Laurence Gruer, Director of Public Health Science, NHS Health Scotland |
| Ken Corsar, Chair, NHS Lanarkshire |
Professor Sally Macintyre, Director, MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow
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“Reducing inequalities in health is critical to achieving our aim of making Scotland a better, healthier place for everyone, no matter where they live. While the health of the country as a whole is improving, we cannot hide from the fact that some inequalities are widening. That requires concerted action across government now.”
Shona Robison MSP, Minister for Public Health
This timely conference addresses one of the most pressing issues facing Scottish politicians, policy-makers and practitioners: Is it possible to create comprehensive public health policy which both raises the health status of the population as a whole and dramatically increases the chances of a healthy life for those who need it most?
Ill health in Scotland is often attributed, to varying degrees, to a combination of our national drinking and smoking culture and poor diet. But is that the whole story? Unhealthy lifestyles are not restricted to any one group within Scottish society, but their worst effects are undoubtedly suffered by the people who also experience the highest levels of poverty. Scots’ chances of enjoying good health vary hugely depending on where they live, with people in the poorest communities having the lowest expectation of a healthy life. Can the detrimental health effects of alcohol, tobacco, obesity and other lifestyle factors be considered in isolation, or is it impossible to separate them from the health, social and economic inequalities that surround them?
The Scottish Government has said that breaking cycles of economic and health inequalities is one of its leading priorities. This conference will address the complex relationship between lifestyles, life circumstances, social status and health, examine the ways in which they manifest themselves in Scotland today and take a closer look at strategies and action for change. Delegates will have the opportunity to debate the issues with expert panellists, and we are delighted to welcome both the leading public health thinker Professor Richard Wilkinson, author of the hugely influential The Impact of Inequality: How to Make Sick Societies Healthier, and Dr Brian Gibbs from Harvard School of Public Health, who will talk about the inspiring collaborative work that his Program to Eliminate of Health Disparities is undertaking with deprived communities in Massachusetts.
If you have any questions please email
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or call us on 0131 272 2133.
We look forward to seeing you at this important event. |
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Taking Stock: Scotland’s Planning System in 2008
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A one day conference, Monday 16 June 2008
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| Venue: Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh
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| Chaired by: |
Keith Aitken, Journalist and Broadcaster
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Kenote Speakers:
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| Duncan McNeil MSP, Convener, Local Government & Communities Committee |
| Cllr Martin Ford, former Chair of Infrastructure Services Committee, Aberdeenshire Council |
| Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow |
Petra Biberbach, Executive Director, Planning Aid for Scotland
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| Prof Alan Prior, School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh |
Vincent Waters, National Secretary, Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC)
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Scotland’s planning system is currently undergoing a major transformation as a result of the Planning Act, as well as the recent debacles over Donald Trump’s Aberdeenshire golf development, the Aviemore Highland Resort and other high profile media cases.
What is the current state of Scotland’s planning system? How is planning impacting Scotland’s Communities? How is the planning system affected by delays, reform and culture change? And what is the significance of its emerging role in tackling environmental challenges?
This conference will address the major current issues in the system, such as the widely publicised delays in the process, the retention of planners, the implementation of the Planning Act, the various government consultations, whether decisions should be national or local and the implementation of NPF2.
The huge debate around planning is ongoing and at this timely event you will have the opportunity to directly question the experts, the leading figures in the industry and learn from new and interesting speakers.
Holyrood has a long track record in organising planning events, including the previous Small Country, Big Plans event last September; Assessing your Performance in June last year; and The Planning Act conference in March last year. This is a further must-attend event in the series for all those involved in Scotland’s planning system now and in the future.
To download the full brochure please click on the image above, you may
need to install a PDF reader to view the brochure. To download Adobe
Acrobat Reader please click here.
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Learning a trade: Scotland’s apprentices
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One day conference: Wednesday 18 June 2008
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Venue: Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh
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| Chair: |
| Michael Crow, Journalist and Broadcaster, STV |
| Keynote Speakers: |
| John Park MSP, Author of the Apprenticeships (Scotland) Bill |
| Willy Roe, Chair, Skills Development Scotland |
| Dr Peter Hughes OBE, Chief Executive. Scottish Engineering |
Jim Sillars, former MP for Govan and Trade Union activist
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This timely conference is stimulated by the Scottish Government’s Skills Strategy which Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop has stated will provide Scotland with ‘a system for developing skills that meets everybody's needs and aspirations and equips individuals with skills that are flexible enough to meet the needs of today and respond to the demands of tomorrow’ (Sept 2007).
In recent years an ‘obsession with qualifications’ has led to a disparity between what Scottish employers need and what education and skills training youngsters can access. The recently proposed Apprenticeships (Scotland) Bill details MSP John Park’s answers to this skills gap and how greater opportunities in new apprenticeships should be provided for youngsters aged 16-18, in response to a high demand for places.
This vital conference will facilitate expert discussion around how best to fill the skills gap amongst Scotland’s future workforce. The event will also consider how the success or failure of high-profile and strategically important regeneration initiatives, including the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, rely on addressing this skills mismatch; generally through properly thought-out skills development programmes, and specifically through strategic expansion of apprenticeships.
The conference will further involve high-calibre discussion on how effectively delivering modern apprenticeships relies on good partnerships across the public sector. In particular these partnerships will involve central government, local authorities, school, colleges and experts from the sectors involved in this expansion, and the apprenticeship targets therein. .
If you want to learn more about Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland, the key role they should play in improving Scotland’s economic performance, as well as understand how they will impact on your own organisation, then you can’t afford to miss this event.
You can take advantage of our early bird discount by booking your place now(available until 16th May).
If you have any questions, please email
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or call us on 0131 272 2133
We look forward to seeing you at this important and timely event.
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