Inverness Town House, High Street, Inverness IV1 1JJ (click here for map)
Friday 23 September
10.30am - 2pm including lunch

We are looking forward to welcoming you all in person to our 24th AGM at the Town House, Inverness, on Friday 23 September.

The event has been kindly sponsored by Triodos Bank, a great ally in rural community-led housing.

See the speaker programme and feel free to register below. The event is open to all, particularly community organisations and development trusts who are interested in community ownership and/or community-led development, to lay out the current and future context in Scotland, and to support practical next steps.

We will be launching our new multimedia resource, RouteMap to Community Led Housing, which will be freely available to communities. The RouteMap has been kindly funded by the Nationwide Foundation.
 
Communities across Scotland may be looking to buy land or assets for community-led development, to work towards sound, long-term repopulation – while facing increasing challenges.
 
Community ownership can be a huge benefit, though there is often a stumbling block for ‘what happens next’ as communities may lack the capacity for how to usefully transform their new assets.
 
Community-led development can be the most effective approach towards sustainable repopulation, but it can seem a huge undertaking with many trials and tribulations along the way. 
 
The event will focus on how communities get started or progress their plans and ideas for community-led development, what you need to know, and will facilitate peer-to-peer learning where possible. 


Programme

​10.00am Doors open
 
10.30am Keynote speakers:
 
Shona Robison MSP - Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing & Local Governance
Calum Macleod - Community Land Scotland
Megan MacInnes - Applecross Community Company
Hugh Ross - Staffin Community Trust
 
11.30am Coffee break
 
11.50am Launch of RouteMap to Community Led Housing: short films and Q&A/panel discussion with the speakers above plus Alan Miller of Triodos Bank 
 
12.30pm Lunch
 
1.30pm AGM business – open to all, but only CHT members may vote. Membership is free and open to development trusts and community organisations supportive of our work in community-led housing; join as a member here.

2pm Formal end; attendees may stay to network



As the event includes lunch, please let us know any dietary requirements below.

Please note: The AGM is now fully booked, but we expect a few people to be unable to make it. We are therefore operating a waiting list; add your name below to be notified if a place becomes available. 

On 23 September 2021, we welcomed around 60 people to our virtual AGM and event on "20 years of 20-Minute Neighbourhoods in Scotland: circular economies in rural areas."

We explored the environmental and socio-economic benefits of the 20-Minute Neighbourhood concept, and what that looks like in practice, in rural Scotland. We shared a few of our developments, to help inspire other communities, looking particularly at developing rural circular economies. 

The video recording of the event is above. 

Speakers (in order of appearance):

Stefanie O'Gorman, Director of Sustainable Economics, Ramboll UK
An introduction to 20-Minute Neighbourhoods

Ronnie Macrae, CEO of Communities Housing Trust
CHT's approach to 20-Minute Neighbourhoods & examples in action

Janet Miles, managing director of Gairloch & Loch Ewe Action Forum (GALE)
GALE Centre case study, Gairloch

Hamish Trench, Chief Executive of the Scottish Land Commission 
Scotland context: role of land and land reform in supporting 20-Minute Neighbourhoods

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For more detail of CHT projects showing the 20-Minute Neighbourhood concept in action, see our Community-Led Case Studies, and Community Projects.

Thursday 23 September 2021, 11am (online, virtual)

This year for our AGM we're delving into the environmental and socio-economic benefits of the 20-Minute Neighbourhood concept, and what that looks like in practice, in rural Scotland. We'll be sharing a few of our developments, to help inspire other communities, looking particularly at developing rural circular economies. 

We are extremely pleased to welcome our guest speakers:

• Stefanie O'Gorman, Director of Sustainable Economics, Ramboll UK
• Janet Miles, managing director of Gairloch & Loch Ewe Action Forum (GALE)
• Hamish Trench, Chief Executive of the Scottish Land Commission 

​The AGM is free and open to all, including non members. Community groups and development trusts are especially welcome. Please register to attend with the form below. 

20 Years of 20-Minute Neighbourhoods in Scotland: 
Circular economies in rural areas
​
11am         AGM
11.15am   20-Minute Neighbourhood introduction: Stefanie O'Gorman, Ramboll UK
11.25am   CHT approach and examples to 20-Minute Neighbourhoods
11.35am   Gairloch case study: Janet Miles, MD of Gairloch & Loch Ewe Action Forum (GALE)
11.45am   Keynote: Hamish Trench, Scottish Land Commission 
11.55am   Discussion: Q&A with audience (20-30mins)
​12.15pm-ish   Event end

We will be holding this years AGM in the Town House, Inverness. The event, sponsored by Triodos Bank, will begin at 9.45am on Friday the 16th of September and will run until about 2.30pm. This years event focuses on community led initiatives, and will feature a number of presentations from the likes of HIE, Ekopia, Laggan Community Trading Company and others. We will also have exhibits from Triodos, Carbon Dynamic, HIE and Woodland Crofts. See the full programme below.

All welcome, please contact [email protected] or 01463 233549 to let us know you're coming.