Scottish Government Secondment leading the Carbon Neutral Islands project comes to an end
On the 28th of March 2024 Prof. Francesco Sindico’s secondment with the Scottish Government has come to an end. He worked with the Government from September 2021 in the Islands Team where he led the Carbon Neutral Islands project, a PfG (programme for government commitment) that supports six islands in Scotland (Yell, Hoy, Raasay, Barra, Islay and Great Cumbrae) to become carbon neutral by 2040 (see: https://cni.scot/).
In the almost three years in post, Prof Sindico has worked closely with colleagues in Government, as well as with key CNI project partners, including the Community Development Officers (CDOs) on the six island and their local anchor organisations. He has also worked closely with the key delivery partner, Community Energy Scotland, and other organisations who have had a role in the CNI project: Ricardo, Aquatera, Scottish Islands Federation, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Heriot Watt, Sniffer and others. Together, the CNI project developed a bottom up community led approach to climate action focusing on carbon audits and the development of community climate change action plans. The CNI project is now moving into an exciting phase, which will focus on investment strategies and sharing good practices developed so far.
Another facet of Prof. Sindico’s work over the past three years has been his involvement with Scottish Government’s international partners, which included developing links between Scottish islands and Malta and Vanuatu, as well as ties with Finland, Ireland and Croatia. Beyond the CNI project and his internationalisation work, he also had the chance to work closely with Shetland Islands Council and people in Shetland taking on the role of the interface and point of contact between the Government and the Council.
Prof. Sindico is keen to bring back his Government experience to his role in the University and to his students in particular.
