Our approach to community empowerment
Community empowerment offers new ways to do more for Scotland’s nature. We’re here to help communities take up these opportunities.
Community empowerment offers new ways to do more for Scotland’s nature. We’re here to help communities take up these opportunities.
Scotland’s nature and landscapes help to support economic growth, improve our health and well-being, and provide us with a strong sense of identity. They also play a vital role in how Scotland adapts to climate change.
Getting the most from nature and landscapes – and improving the health and resilience of these natural assets – is central to an ecosystem approach. Empowering communities to look after nature and landscapes, and be involved in decisions around them, only strengthens this approach.
Helping more communities – communities of place or communities of interest – to care for local nature assets is a top priority for the Scottish Government and NatureScot.
The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 strengthens the powers that communities have to act and get involved.
We support more communities to get actively involved in environmental issues and in helping to shape decisions that affect the environment.
To help support communities, we: