by lumberjack | May 8, 2020
The SCF believes that a community mapping approach to populating the register of crofts would be far more effective and acceptable than the individual ‘trigger point’ concept proposed by Scottish Government. The community gather together and helped by trained facilitators and mediators they generate the maps of their community assets together by walking through the community, comparing existing maps, drawing boundaries on maps and so on. This is a well-practiced development methodology that has proven benefits:
It gets the community together in an exercise that strengthens the community and builds social capital; the community takes ownership of the mapping and the subsequent agreed maps; disputes will still arise but can be more easily resolved at the time using trained mediators in the exercise; the community creates a collective map and/or a series of individual maps that could be submitted to the register together; the mapping itself can be cheaper as there is less dependence on judicial expertise; maps are created and registered in a matter of months. Depending on how well resourced this is, the whole crofting area could be mapped in a few years rather than generations.
What do we hope to achieve?
This project aims to enable communities to take pre-emptive steps to agree their rights and boundaries before they are required to map them for the Land Register. It will also enable communities to assess their assets, both household and community, that will enable them to better plan future developments within their community.
We are pleased to say that the Scottish Government and Registers of Scotland (RoS) are now co-funding a post to facilitate and encourage group registrations to the Crofting Register.
Please see our Rules of Procedure below:
mapping-procedure.pdf
by lumberjack | May 8, 2020
Fundamental to SCF is our belief in the crofting system and in crofting underpinning the future of the rural policy in the crofting counties. We are working to increase the contribution made by crofting to our communities by providing a range of valuable support services by crofters.
The Crofting Resources Programme (CRP), which is funded by the Scottish Rural Development Programme, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, aims to build capacity within the crofting community through collaborative activity. The CRP develops co-operation and assists networks of producers to utilise existing best practice. Crofter-led producer groups have considerable capacity to contribute to the aims of the Scottish Government Food Policy.
The programme assists crofting communities to make best use of the resources available to them in order to sustain the cultural heritage of crofting, its people and practices, and the rich environment and cultural landscape derived from extensive crofting land use.
For more information please see the Crofting Resources Programme (CRP) web page.
SCF would like to thank the the following organisations for supporting this programme.
This project is now completed.
by lumberjack | May 8, 2020
Crofting Connections ~ Ceanglaichean Croitearachd
Pupils harvesting potatoesLearning about crofting past, present and future, and helping schools to deliver the Curriculum for Excellence. Crofting Connections is a programme of activities and events that will inspire over 1,000 young people aged 5-16 living in remote rural communities throughout the Highlands & Islands about crofting past, present and future.
They will learn traditional skills from crofters, create their own climate-friendly food-growing projects, and help safeguard the history, culture and heritage associated with their crofting communities.
For more information please see the Crofting Connections webpage
Crofting Connections would like to thank the following organisations for funding this project.
by Vanessa Lopez | Jul 30, 2020
In the main, funded by Highland LEADER, SCF held a two-day event in Rothes that celebrated the spirit and resilience of crofting, sharing good practice from across the Highlands and Islands with Moray. The event also launched two new awards – Young Crofter of the Year...
by lumberjack | May 8, 2020
Participants are invited to select from the following units, and then to attend training days on specific elements of that unit. The units, and some example training days that may be available are:
- Crofting Livestock (sheep shearing; lambing; foot trimming and worm control)
- Croft Land Management (fencing; pest control; soil analysis; equipment use)
- Crofting Conservation and Environment (muirburn; improving grassland; managing wetland)
- Crofter Forestry (coppicing; structural support for trees; deer management)
- Crofter Horticulture (use of polytunnels; crop disorders; soft fruit growing)
- Crofter Heritage Skills (local dry-stone walling styles;lime mortarting; thatching)
For 2013-15 there are practical training days for all units planend across the Crofting Counties.
Training will be arranged and delivered through local, approved trainers, and will be available across the Highlands and Islands. The exact location and topic of the training days will depend on the demand for each course, so we welcome training requests.
A regular email update can be provided to everyone interested in the programme, and information on upcoming courses will also be available on the training page of the website.
SCF would like to thank the following organisations funding the skills development scheme.
Participants are invited to select from the following units, and then to attend training days on specific elements of that unit. The units, and some example training days that may be available are: