Invitation to the final OCTES Regional Workshop

The final workshop in the OCTES Regional Workshop Series will take place in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, on 20^thFebruary 2013.

OCTES is a multidisciplinary project looking at the impact of energy pricing for the domestic consumer in rural and remote communities, funded by EU Northern Periphery programme, 2011-2013.

Throughout the duration of the project, OCTES has has hosted a series of regional workshops in the OCTES partner regions, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland and Scotland, which have attracted a wide range of stakeholders and guest speakers.

The final workshop will take place at An Lanntair, Stornoway, on 20th February 2013. It will review the findings of the project and look at local community energy policy and innovations in community renewable energy. To compliment, there will be community speakers to voice the consumer experience of the OCTES project and an insight into the OCTES advisory service from Energy Savings Trust.

Guest speakers include Scottish Government, Energy Savings Trust, Community Energy Scotland, and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Click here to view the agenda for the event.

To book a place for this free event, please contact amy.clarke@irri.org.uk.

Resource for Life races into its second year!

Friends of Resource for Life,

Thanks to your generosity and support, Resource for Life is now running as a programme in Edinburgh.  This is our first report to let you know what we are doing and how your money has been and is being spent, exactly one year after its launch in 2012.

Thanks to kind donations to the Runner Bean Team, and funding from The Robertson Trust and Nairn’s, many children attending Castleview Primary School and Granton Primary School benefited from the first year of Resource for Life, learning the life skills necessary to help them access the resources they need for their lives from their local environments. The children have learnt how to grow their own food using low cost urban gardening techniques, how to recycle and reuse household materials to create useful items, how to use local water resources efficiently, how to harness local energy, and how to save energy in the home.

Following a successful first year of the programme, further funding from The Robertson Trust, Bank of Scotland Foundation, our own John Moorhouse, Nairn’s (thanks to Mark Laing), and The Scottish Community Foundation (thanks to the Nairn’s charity walking team) has allowed the Resource for Life programme to be delivered for a second year. The programme has expanded into three schools, reaching out to even more children than last year. In addition to Castleview Primary School and Granton Primary School, Resource for Life is also now working with Murrayburn Primary School.

The second year of Resource for Life launched two weeks ago, as our Resource for Life Leaders worked with this year’s classes to create a colourful Resource for Life display board, using recycled materials and their imaginations. Over the next few months, the classes will learn how to make the most of local resources, including learning how to grow salad in a newspaper, make natural, low-cost cleaning products, get crafty with recycled tights, make a DIY watering can, and harness local energy.

Last but certainly not least, we would like to thank British Land and their continued support for the Retail in Education SQA, which is now being delivered as part of the Resource for Life programme.  This involves students from Castlebrae High School to whom retail tenants in Fort Kinnaird offer weekly placements in a variety of stores.  The students continue to enjoy and learn from their on-site experience, helping them to achieve an SQA Intermediate 2 qualification in Retail.  Both students and the retailers consistently give excellent feedback about the programme.

Thanks again for your support and generosity. We look forward to sharing the resourceful learning of the pupils and continued success with you over the coming months.

The Resource for Life Team