Championing the Local, part 3

SPEAKERS: (full bios below)

• 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

• Gary Jack, founder & trustee, Highland People’s Power 

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

Championing the Local 

An online series of SEDA Land Conversations (free to attend)

Mon 7th, 14th & 21st of September 2026

There is an emerging consensus about what needs to be done to revive rural Scotland. This series of events will look at how this might be achieved in practice.

The theme will be the role local value chains can play and how these might be facilitated. A place-based model enables rural communities to reap more of the benefits from the land around them including health and wellbeing benefits as well as environmental ones from shorter supply chains.

The passing of the Community Wealth Building Act by the Scottish Government is likely to fuel the growth of local value chains. This world-first piece of legislation commits the Scottish Government to “enable more local communities and people to own, have a stake in, access and benefit from the wealth [Scotland’s] economy generates”, making it mandatory for public bodies to prioritise the reinvestment of locally-generated wealth back into local communities. This event aims to ensure that councils, health boards and other public bodies are given the means to enact the bill.

Artists Contributions

Kirsty Law, singer and songwriter

Kirsty is a Scots folksinger, songmaker and storyteller. Having learnt directly from tradition bearers such as Sheila Stewart she now works in theatre, with artists, dancers, poets, storytellers, sound artists as she explores themes such as social commentary, landscape, hope and snow. 

Stuart Paterson, poet

Stuart is an award-winning poet and performer in his native Scots & English. An author of many collections, his poems have been commissioned by BBC2, BBC Radio 4, BBC Ulster, the Scottish Parliament and HMP Barlinnie. In 2017-18 he was BBC Scotland Poet in Residence. In 2020 he was voted ‘Scots Language Writer of the Year’.

Andrew Williams

Local Programme Manager, Verture

Andrew is the Local Programme Manager at Verture, the UK’s only charity solely dedicated to climate resilience. Verture work to support a fairer, more climate-ready future for all by bringing together communities, public bodies, businesses and policymakers to address the root causes of climate vulnerability and turn ambition into practical action. Their work focuses on collaboration, place-based approaches and lived experience, combining local knowledge with scientific evidence and policy insight. Andrew is a sustainability professional with experience working in marketing, communications, and project management around environmental and social justice issues, with a particular interest in how community climate action can allow under-represented groups to have their voices heard.

Lizzie Williams

Regional Land Use Partnership (RLUP) manager, NW2045 

Lizzie manages the NW2045 Regional Land Use Partnership. She has lived in Coigach since 2009, working on a variety of land and community regeneration initiatives, including hands-on management of nature restoration projects and facilitating cross-sectoral collaboration across the area. Lizzie has supported the NW2045 since 2021, providing communication and coordination skills to sustain the positive intentions of the partners. Raising a young family and supporting unwell parents in a remote community has given Lizzie first hand experience of the issues facing the area. 

McNabb Laurie

Manager, D&G Woodlands

McNabb completed a BSc in Environmental Management at Lancaster University before spending 10 years working across the UK in the not-for-profit and corporate sectors. He grew up near Palnackie and in 2013 returned to the region, working initially at Loch Arthur Cafe and with the council, culminating in a role with the Galloway Glens Scheme between 2018-2023. This role involved a broad range of disciplines, from natural environment and heritage through to community engagement. In 2023 McNabb established Dumfries & Galloway Woodlands, leads the organisational development, and aspects of work including the adding of community and wider value to woodland creation schemes in the region. He is a founding trustee of Upper Urr Environment Trust, and secretary of the local community council

Clare Cooper

Co-Founder & Co-Director, Bioregioning Tayside

Clare is Co-Founder and Co-Director of Bioregioning Tayside, where she leads the development of the Framework for Action for the Tay Bioregion (2025–2045) and is helping pioneer new approaches to place-based governance, landscape restoration and regenerative finance. An independent creative producer by background, Clare has held a number of leadership roles bringing together communities, public bodies, land managers and investors to build resilient, regenerative futures, including with Alyth Community Council, Alyth Development Trust and the Rural Perth & Kinross LEADER Local Action Group.

Henry Leveson-Gower

Founder and CEO, Promoting Economic Pluralism

Henry is an ecological economist and policy analyst with 30 years experience working in the public sector, locally, nationally and internationally. He has particular expertise in agricultural and environmental policy and regulation as well as green finance, local currencies and environmental markets. He has always sought to take a pluralist approach to economics since first coming into contact with standard economics in the early 90s following a degree in Philosophy. He set up Promoting Economic Pluralism and The Mint Magazine in 2016, where he is CEO and editor respectively. Henry has also been a Research Fellow at the Centre for Evaluation of Complexity Across the Nexus, is a Fellow of the RSA and a qualified chartered accountant.

Gary Jack

founder & trustee, Highland People’s Power 

Gary lives and works with his wife on their croft in Wester Ross, growing produce organically and generating a large part of their energy needs through renewables. Having been involved in various roles in community projects in the Scottish Borders, now that he has settled in the Highlands has become involved in many local community projects as well as being the Treasurer and committee member of the local village hall. Gary was a Chartered Quantity Surveyor/Project Manager in the construction industry for over 35 years, initially in the private sector, then social housing provision. For the last 15 years, he project managed the installation of  renewables in domestic properties, as well as carrying out Energy Performance Certificates. Gary and his wife are both avid nature lovers which was one of the reasons for moving to the Highlands.

CHAIR – Lucy Filby

Head of Land & Forestry Transition, South of Scotland Enterprise

Lucy has over 20 yrs experience of building partnership projects to improve environmental outcomes in farming and wider food and drink value chains. Lucy worked at SEPA before joining SOSE in 2022. Lucy believes passionately that the health of our environment cannot be protected or improved without also tackling poverty and inequality. An aspiring regenerative practitioner, she loves working in the spaces between current reality and future vision. She is an advocate for business to be a force for good, growing prosperity and resilience together, within planetary limits.