From the Director

It’s been a busy few weeks for the SCF since we came back to work in the New Year, as you’ll see from some of the items below. One thing that links them all is dialogue: whether you look at our Ramsay Garden seminars, our recent event on the work of the parliament, or consider our research on wellbeing and car cultures, you’ll see a genuine, deliberative dialogue with stakeholders and the public at the heart of all of it. I believe that the SCF is uniquely well-placed and experienced to facilitate some difficult conversations about Scotland’s future, ranging from a sustainable economic future to the vexed question of Scotland’s constitutional status, and I hope we can do just that – keep watching this space for news of our plans for the rest of 2008…

Andrew Harris

News

SCF Friends Network

SCF’s new Friends Network launched in the New Year and has already proved very popular. For an annual subscription of £99, Friends are entitled to a range of benefits, notably our established Ramsay Garden seminar series. For more information or to become a Friend of SCF please e-mail Gillian Duncan.

Rethinking Representation 2 & 3

On 19 February SCF hosted a successful seminar in the Scottish Parliament, discussing the recommendations from Rethinking Representation 2 - MSPs’ experiences of the second term of the Scottish Parliament. Speakers included Patrick Harvie MSP, journalist and broadcaster Keith Aitken and SCF Policy & Research Manager Sarah Kyambi.

The discussions will now inform Phase 3 of our study, Minority Report , by assessing what’s changed since the May 2007 election, and by examining where parliamentary reform fits into the third term agenda.

For more information please e-mail Sarah Kyambi.

SCF in the news

SCF Policy and Research Manager Sarah Kyambi has appeared in the media on a couple of occasions this month; contributing an article to the Sunday Herald’s recent feature on constitutional reform, and speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Sunday Live broadcast on issues surrounding migration and asylum in Scotland. For more information on both these pieces visit our web site.

New Interns

In February SCF welcomed three new interns onto our research team. Maha El-Sheikh, Gabby Crane and Jeremy Lowe will be working with the SCF for a period of six weeks initially. For more information on our new interns, and for details of how to contact them please visit our web site.

New Year Reception

SCF’s annual New Year Reception in the Garden Lobby of the Scottish Parliament was a great success. Hosted by the Speaker of the Scottish Parliament Alex Fergusson MSP, the Reception was an opportunity for SCF’s supporters and stakeholders to meet and network with key policy makers, politicians and members of the media in a relaxed environment. To find out more about upcoming SCF events visit our web site.

Upcoming Events

Ramsay Garden

The current programme of Ramsay Garden seminars is continuing with considerable success. In February Graeme Pearson of the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency spoke on ‘ Serious Organised Crime – Popular Representations Versus Unpopular Realities ’, and on Wednesday 12 March at 12:45 we will be delighted to welcome Professor Brenda Gourley, Vice Chancellor of The Open University, who will speak on ‘Higher Education in the UK and the future of open and distance learning’. Attendance is by invitation: for more information please contact Gillian Duncan.

Annual Lecture

SCF are delighted to announce that Hamish McRae , Business & Economics commentator on The Independent newspaper will deliver our Annual Lecture for 2008. Hamish will speak on Scotland’s Place in an Ever More Global World Economy. The event will take place in the Playfair Library (University of Edinburgh, Old College) on Tuesday 27 May 2008, and will be followed by an informal reception.

This year we are delighted that our Lecture is being included in the programme of events for Scotland’s new Global Financial Services Week ( www.globalfinancialservicesweek.com).  The aim of the week, commencing Monday 26 May 2008, is to showcase the strength and depth of the industry in Scotland to stakeholders in Scotland, the rest of the UK and the international markets; and to provide a forum for top level discussion about the future for this most internationalised of industries.  If you think your organization might be interested in being involved with the SCF Lecture this year, please contact Andrew Harris or Linda Boyes.

Upcoming Research

Car Cultures

The research for our forthcoming publication on the driving forces behind Scottish ‘car culture’ is well underway, in conjunction with the Transport Research Institute at Napier University. The project is being supported by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, and we are keen to engage further partners for a project which aims to get right to the heart of the transport policy debate in Scotland.

If your organisation would like to find out more about Car Cultures then please e-mail Matt Jarratt.

Wellbeing Roundtables

Building on the findings of our “Working the System” report, we are holding a series of roundtable discussions on health and wellbeing with invited groups of participants across Scotland.  The aim of the discussions is to see if a pause for reflection will uncover any new thinking on some familiar wellbeing issues.  We have held two very successful events in Aberdeen and Dundee, but are keen to hold more.  The discussions are organised in co-operation with local partners, and address the population health and wellbeing issues that are most relevant in each area.  A report of the key points from all of the discussions will be published at the end of the series.

If you would like to receive more information on these events, or would be interested in hosting one in your area, please contact Andrew Harris.

Your Feedback

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