Afternoon Session 1 – Urban

This session is about new collective models for building and retrofitting homes that are both affordable and sustainable. This session will challenge cultural norms, addressing the issues around urban housing from new social perspectives. We will cover how to develop new co-living models and how existing buildings can be adapted for collective housing. We will focus on cooperative governance and models for living together which go beyond the nuclear-family-centric model. What cultural and social shifts will be needed for these alternative forms of housing to take place? We also will be hearing from marginalised communities.

13:15    Panel discussion and Q&A

Chair – Scott McAulay, founder Anthropocene Projects Panel will include: Joanne McClelland, founder EALA Impacts Emilia Kibble, Edinburgh Student Housing Cop

Afternoon Session 2 – Rural

In this session, we will consider how the Scottish construction industry might be cajoled into building more sustainable and affordable homes to meet anticipated demand in the Highlands & Islands arising from developments such as Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport. We will look at opportunities emerging from innovative housing projects and funding models, including those of SSEN Transmission and Mowi, which could become a model suitable for roll out across rural Scotland. We will also examine whether the private sector might be persuaded to fund a network of sustainable construction hubs where training, tools and workspace is available, across rural Scotland, where local builders can learn how to build affordable homes for the rural workforce using local timber. Will fish farms, distilleries, renewable energy companies, energy infrastructure firms, and other rural enterprises, all of which are currently struggling to find and retain staff owing to the lack of affordable homes, invest or give loans to develop a network of such hubs?

15:00    Panel discussion and Q&A

Chair – Morven Fancey, Head of Universities Skills and Population, Highlands and Islands Enterprise Panel will include: Gavin Miles, Director of Planning and Place, Cairngorm Business Partnership Richard Jennings/Mary Jarvie, Housing Strategy Manager SSEN Transmission

17:00   Close

 Online on Friday, 24th January 2025. 

Join us in January for this online event exploring innovative, affordable and low-carbon solutions to Scotland's rural and urban housing crises. 

This all-day event will include a series of engaging discussions and presentations led by people who are helping to fix the housing crisis. Whether you're a housing advocate, policymaker, a community-led housing activist, or simply interested in learning more about housing in Scotland, this is the conference for you.

"Radical Housing Conference Scotland brings together the thinkers and the doers in housing, providing an opportunity to grow the links needed to deliver more of the sustainable, affordable, home-grown housing that addresses Scotland's housing needs." - Highlands & Islands MSP Ariane Burgess 

We can't just wait for the Scottish Government to resolve this; we have to take action ourselves -- both in terms of design, implementation and finding alternative sources of funding. 

Let's work together to create a more equitable, affordable and sustainable housing future in Scotland!  We have one simple rule, don't come to describe the problem, only come with solutions.

The conference is organised by SEDA Land, part of the Scottish Ecological Design Association, and Agile Homes. Part 2 of Radical Housing Conference Scotland will be an all-day, in person event on 2 May at Birnam Arts in Dunkeld and Part 3 is an evening in-person event held in Edinburgh in June, which will form part of the Architecture Fringe (exact date to be confirmed).

Andy Heald, Forestry & Timber Consultant

Andrew is based in Edinburgh and has over 25 years’ experience in sustainable forestry and plantation management. He is a co-founder and Director of NGPTA1, which has developed and manages large scale forest landscape restoration projects in Ghana, Brazil, Mozambique, and Chile. He has worked for leading international forest product companies and major NGOs such as WWF International and FSC International. Andrew is a professional member of the Institute of Chartered Foresters. In 2020 Andrew became a member of the UK’s Government’s Expert Committee on Forest Science2 and has previously been a member of the UK’s Woodland Carbon Code’s Advisory Board, and the Expert Group on Timber Trade and Statistics.

Joanne McLelland, President, EALA Impacts & Treasurer and, Edinburgh Building Retrofit & Improvement Collective

More information to follow…

Gavin Miles, Director of Planning, Cairngorms National Park Authority

More information to follow…

Craig White, Founder and CEO, Agile Homes

Craig is CEO at Agile Property and Homes. Agile delivers low-carbon, affordable homes to those in housing need. Prior to setting up Agile, Craig founded the Chartered RIBA Architectural Practice, White Design and ModCell Straw Technology, prefabricated, renewable building systems. This combination of design and fabrication lead to one of the first construction products to make large-scale, carbon-negative building a commercial reality. 

Ronnie MacRae,

More information to follow…

Morven Fancey, Head of Housing, Skills & Population at Highlands & Islands Enterprise

Morven investigates the link between housing and economic growth in the Highlands and Islands and why national policies to support both need to be aligned and adjusted to fit with the specific conditions of remote rural and island communities. She works in the Highlands and Islands Population Working Group addressing depopulation. Morven has 30 years’ experience of working in rural economic development in the region. More recently she has focussed on addressing depopulation in rural locations in island and west coast communities where the lack of housing is now recognised as the major barrier to sustaining and growing the population AND the economy.