PROPOSED National Islands Plan

On 3 October 2019, the PROPOSED National Islands Plan was laid before the Scottish Parliament and on 8 October the Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands, Mr Paul Wheelhouse, presented the PROPOSED National Islands Plan to Parliament. The Plan lays out 13 strategic objectives and 104 commitments that touch upon many crucial sectors that have been identified by island communities throughout the consultation. Transport and tackling depopulation are particularly important areas, but the Plan recognises that island communities do not work and live in silos and that all issues need a holistic and integrated policy approach. The Plan, to which Strathclyde Law School based Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG) has provided technical advice, presents itself as a fair, integrated, green and inclusive Plan. Noticeably, the Plan makes a strong reference to the recent human rights developments in Scotland, to which the Law School is also heavily involved.

The Law School and EILEAN (Islands, Law and Sustainability)

The Law School hosts SCELG’s EILEAN (Islands, Law and Sustainability) initiative, which has been very active lately. On 9 October SCELG organised a special session at the Virtual Islands Summit organised by Island Innovation with the support of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. On 11 October Nicola Crook presented the work that SCELG has undertaken with the Scottish Government Islands Team in a breakout session at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland. Francesco Sindico and Nicola Crook have recently published a short piece in the Edinburgh Law Review, titled “Placing the community at the heart of island governance: The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018”. Finally, Francesco Sindico will be presenting on 7 November at the SRUC (Scotland Rural Centre) Island Webinar Series.