Evaluation of the Regional Land Use Framework Pilots

Appendix 4: Board and Project Meeting Questions Sept/October 2014.

The following two questions were addressed to board members.

Q1) We would like to understand how you have addressed the issue of 'trade offs' between different land uses using an ecosystems approach. Could you please give us some insight into how the project has managed the issues of prioritisation and trade offs within the development of the framework tool?

Key issues

• How priorities are/were identified and assessed?
• Examples of trade offs between different forms of ecosystem service.
• What factors are taken into account when considering conflicting objectives?

Q2) In the first round of evaluation we identified a number of groups where engagement was reported as being challenging. Can you tell us how the pilot has responded to the challenge of engaging with those groups and organisations and in particular the following?

• The wider community;
• The Scottish Rural Payments and Inspections Division; and
• Stakeholders representing the historic and cultural environment.

These questions were pre-agreed with Scottish Government staff and were designed to help draw out information in relation to stakeholder engagement - this being an issue which had been identified as posing some challenges during stage 1 of the evaluation - and to establish whether the pilots were able to provide any early insight into 'trade offs' between competing land use priorities and to help inform the Land Use Strategy review.

Following the board meetings the project leads were able to make themselves available, for more in depth discussions and in particular to address the following questions:

Q3 ) Could you please update us on any progress of the pilot since we last had contact with you?

Q4) What lessons have you learnt from the process of developing the regional frameworks to date?

Key Issues

• Barriers and solutions.
• Any identified strengths and weaknesses of the pilots approach?
• Other?

Q5) Is there any early evidence that the process of developing the framework has delivered any early benefits. Particularly, in terms of improving land-use decision making within the pilot area?

Key Issues:

• Benefits might accrue as a result of improved access to data or other project outputs and an improved awareness of participants or their organisations of issues that have arisen during the development of the pilots.
• Benefits may also arise simply through improved relations between organisations that have been brought together through the pilot.
• If benefits have arisen has this generated any additional costs?

Project leads subsequently also provided additional commentary via email, and over the telephone.