YLAG members attend their first Rural Youth Action Network event

At the end of February, members of the Orkney Youth Local Action Group (YLAG) joined with around 60 other young people from across Scotland for the first Rural Youth Action Network (RYAN) residential in Inverness.

Over the course of the weekend, they:

• Engaged with MSPs and Scottish Government policy advisers to discuss their concerns for rural and island communities.
• Shared the work they had been doing to improve their local communities through youth-led action with one another.
• Took part in study trips to explore sustainable practises across a number of sectors.

YLAGs and other youth organisations from as far south as the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway, and as far north as Shetland gathered together at the residential to look at 2 main areas - learning about sustainable practises, and identifying the areas on which RYAN as a network would focus as the individual groups attempt to bring positive and lasting change to their communities.

The emphasis on supporting sustainable and local business was evident across the whole weekend, with the event being held at the Royal Highland Hotel, which is the last remaining independently-owned station hotel in Scotland. Thursday night dinner was similarly community-minded. Pizza from the Black Isle Brewery which grows and uses local ingredients was on the menu.

On Saturday morning, the gathering split into smaller groups to explore sustainable work in the surrounding area. Some of the Orkney group went to visit an organic croft in Knockfarrel near Dingwall. They had a very interesting morning learning about how the farmers are working to make their land and business as efficient and sustainable as possible. After a tour of just a small section of the 40-acre croft, the samples of the home grown apple juice and fruit muffins were much appreciated.

The other members of the Orkney group took part in a zine-making workshop, learning how to fold and design their own zines. These pocket-sized booklets can be personalised to convey a message or act as an introduction or tribute to a person or place, are made entirely of recycled paper and decorated with scraps of fabric and paper. The session was led by a member of the Highland Zine Bothy who, in their own words, helped the workshop participants to "be as sustainable as possible whilst creating something new".

To support with the focus on bringing about change, on Friday morning the young people were given a crash course in Scottish policy-making from Hannah Downey, a civil servant working in rural affairs. Whilst this was an information-intensive session, it led to some excellent discussion afterwards. From this, a number of "projects" were identified for RYAN to continue working on, including:

• community benefits from energy developments and second homes
• support for young carers
• practical education for rural industries
• engagement with the Scottish Parliament

Saturday afternoon was an opportunity to further hone arguments for these projects, and then meet with members of the Scottish Parliament to explain their concerns and seek assurances that these would be taken by the MSPs to committee. The 3 MSPs who attended were:

• Mairi Gougeon MSP - Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands
• Rhoda Grant MSP
• Emma Roddick MSP

The MSPs were attentive to the young peoples' arguments, and the young people acquitted themselves well as they presented their arguments.

Finally, the YLAGs had a mini-conference on Sunday morning to share news of what is happening across the country, and to give local authorities who currently do not have a YLAG the opportunity to learn more. The 3 representatives for Orkney YLAG gave a brief presentation on the projects they have been involved with over the last year, including:

• engaging with the Orkney Islands Council on updating outdoor areas
• a cost-of-living-busting stationery project
• learning important skills in First Aid as a group

The weekend was a super opportunity for the young people to form new friendships and learn from others, and it was encouraging to see the passion they had for improving life for all ages. Many connections were made and over the coming months we should see the fruit of these discussions and conversations, with the Network growing in size and influence.

The YLAG would like to express their gratitude to Leviathan International for their speedy delivery of the very smart YLAG hoodies, just in time for the weekend away.