Botanics strengthens links with Nepal

Agreement strengthens 200 year relationship

A new era has dawned in collaborations between the UK and Nepal with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) and the Government of Nepal’s Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Department of Plant Resources (DPR).

The agreement flags up a significant commitment to long-term capacity building in plant research, conservation and education in the South Asian biodiversity hot-spot.

While RBGE has connections in Nepal dating back to the early 1800’s, this is regarded as a distinctively fresh form of partnership. The deal was sealed when Mr Yam Bahadur Thapa, Director General of Nepal’s Department of Plant Resources, flew to Edinburgh to meet RBGE Regius Keeper Simon Milne MBE.

Looking forward to a number of imminent new initiatives including plans for a Biodiversity Education Garden to be built at Nepal’s National Botanic Garden, the two agreed the way was open for yet closer working ties.

Simon Milne said: “The connections between the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Nepal date back some 200 years and our working relationship is going from strength to strength. This accord underscores a common commitment to build on the strength of our past affiliation towards even more productive collaboration.

“We can look forward to new opportunities in developing appreciation, education, knowledge and conservation of the plant kingdom and protecting the natural capital that sustains us.”

Mr Thapa said: “King Mahendra was so impressed by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh when he visited in 1960 that he inaugurated Nepal’s first and only National Botanic Garden two years later. RBGE horticultural staff are out in Nepal at the moment giving much-needed training to my staff and we are looking forward to developing our partnership in the future.”

Dr Mark Watson, Head of Major Floras at RBGE and Editor-in-Chief of the international Flora of Nepal research programme explained the significance of the MOU: “Although it is a small country, Nepal has an enormous range of habitats and is home to some 7000 species of vascular plants, making it a globally-important biodiversity hot-spot.

“However, conservation and sustainable use of plant biodiversity is hampered by the lack of primary inventory information and means to identify and characterise species. This is exacerbated by a lack of trained people to undertake plant biodiversity inventory and documentation. Poor facilities, lack of equipment and limited funding also need to be addressed.

“The process is underway. RBGE has led several in-country workshops and hands-on training events. MSc and PhD training of Nepalese botanists at the University of Edinburgh and RBGE is proving a success and many more ambitious plans are in the pipeline.”

Click here for more information on RBGE’s Flora of Nepal research programme.

Here’s to the next 200 years!

Sectarianism: Ministers welcome ‘most comprehensive study ever’

Scottish Ministers have welcomed the publication of a series of reports into sectarianism and the impacts of marches and parades in Scotland.

The work, as recommended by the independent Advisory Group on Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland, explored attitudes and experiences of sectarianism and the community impact of processions on Scottish society.

The research was discussed at a Glasgow conference yesterday which looked at how research is helping to shape our understanding of the nature and impact of sectarianism in modern Scotland.

The mix of quantitative and qualitative research was undertaken by independent researchers from Newcastle University, the University of Stirling, the University of Oxford and ScotCen Social Research.

Some of the findings within the Scottish Social Attitudes survey 2014 and the Community Experiences of Sectarianism reports include:

Scotland is becoming more secular, with the percentage of Scots who do not identify with any religion increasing from 40% in 1999 to 54% in 2013
The majority (88%) of those surveyed believe sectarianism is a problem in Scotland but most (69%) believe it is only a problem in certain areas
Football is the most commonly mentioned factor people believe contributes to sectarianism in Scotland (88%)
Those surveyed didn’t believe sectarianism happened everywhere, but did happen at specific places and times including football matches and Loyalist and Irish Republican processions.
Gender was believed to play a big part in people’s experiences of sectarianism. Men were much more likely to be the instigators, with both sexes identified as being victims.
Those surveyed believed families, schools and football clubs were best placed to tackle sectarianism.

In addition, the study into the Community Impact of Public Processions found that:

Public processions have a significant meaning for those taking part but there is often a gap between the purpose and meaning around Loyalist and Irish Republican marches for participants, and how they were viewed by the wider public. Communities often associated them with community and social problems and sectarianism.
These types of marches were viewed negatively by people surveyed in the locations they were held, compared to other types of processions, including community and political.
Despite concerns around ‘spikes’ in antisocial or criminal behaviour following these types of procession, police data did not show evidence of this.
Processions organised by the Scottish Defence League and emerging Loyalist organisations, often taking the form of ‘static’ demonstrations, created problems and significant disruption for local authorities and Police Scotland and upset to local communities.

Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs Paul Wheelhouse said: “The publication of this work is a significant step forward in helping us build the most comprehensive understanding of the nature and impact of sectarianism in Scotland that we have ever had. It will undoubtedly play a huge part in influencing collective thinking and shaping how we tackle sectarianism going forward.

“This research also shows us that there is a gap between the perception of sectarianism and the reality of people’s experiences, and this is something I know the Advisory Group will be considering in the coming weeks and months.

“Sectarianism has no place in Scotland in the 21st century and we are fully committed to help rid Scotland of the prejudices of the past and tackling this problem which has blighted many communities.

“Religiously aggravated offending is falling and is now at its lowest level in a decade, last year alone there was a 15% decrease, but we will always seek to do all we can to stamp out this problem. That’s why the Scottish government has invested £9 million over three years to tackle this issue, including supporting 44 community-based projects in their efforts to tackle sectarianism in Scotland.

“The final report of the Advisory Group is due later this year and this will include advice on the future development of our agenda on tackling sectarianism. The Advisory Group will ensure that the findings from today’s publications are incorporated into their report to ensure that the advice they are giving is based on the best and most up-to-date information available.

“This government fully respects the right to hold marches and parades but also recognises that this right needs to be balanced against the right of communities to go about their business undisturbed. We will be looking closely at the University of Stirling’s findings to consider how we can best achieve that balance.”

Chair of the independent Advisory Group on Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland, Dr Duncan Morrow, added: “From the outset the Advisory Group has been clear that we need strong and robust evidence as a basis for our work on tackling sectarianism. I am delighted that the Advisory Group has been able to commission these excellent pieces of research with the support of the Scottish Government. There is no doubt that they are a significant addition to the existing evidence base and we will be using the findings to shape or final report to the Scottish Government later in the year.

“The research is clear. There is absolutely no doubt about the fact that sectarianism impacts negatively on people’s lives and that it is not confined to particular communities.

“The evidence highlights some of the complexities of the problem and that there is no single cause and no single solution. A culture of finger pointing, blaming and outright denial has provided comfort to many excusing the familiar behaviour that acts as a life support to anachronistic sectarian attitudes, but such a culture fails to address either the problem or provide a solution. That is why we believe that local solutions are central to tackling this issue, but also recognise that organisations and institutions must play a full role. This research points to the fact that there is a real thirst for change and that public opinion is overwhelmingly in favour of extinguishing the final embers of sectarianism.”

To read the research reports click on the links below:

Scottish Social Attitudes survey 2014: Public attitudes to sectarianism in Scotland

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/02/5330

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/02/6038

Community Impact of Public Processions

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/02/3769

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/02/9505

Community Experiences of Sectarianism: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/02/9920

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/02/6496

talking about regeneration

Muirhouse residents invited to take part in regeneration focus group

Ashley McDonald is a final year Geography student at the University of Edinburgh. As part of her final year study, she is undertaking research on the regeneration taking place in Muirhouse and she’d like to hear from YOU!

If you live in Muirhouse or Pennywell and you’d be interested in taking part in a small focus group to discuss your opinions on the regeneration and the area’s future, email Ashley for further details at: amcdonald1168@gmail.com

Ashley has booked Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre next Tuesday -(25th November) from 6.30pm – 8.30pm.

Edinburgh is the UK’s safest city

Edinburgh tops YouGov safest city poll

A new survey has revealed that Edinburgh is seen as the safest city in Britain. The YouGov research asked participants how safe they feel ten British cities are – and Edinburgh came out well on top.

When asked about the capital, 68% of participants – 1724 from across the UK took part in the survey – said it is ‘totally safe’ while only 14% believe Edinburgh is ‘totally unsafe’.

The other cities surveyed were Glasgow, London, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol.

Glasgow came eighth in the poll, with 44% of people saying it is safe and 38% saying it is unsafe – although Scots who took part in the survey put both Scottish cities higher: 86% said Edinburgh is safe and Glasgow polled 68% – but Bradford was seen as the least safe city in the UK.

Bradford is perhaps best remembered to outsiders for the race riots of 2001 which lasted three days and led to hundreds of arrests (above). It is the only city mentioned in the poll where more people (42%) say it is unsafe than safe (35%). Britain’s second most dangerous city according to the public is Birmingham: people are divided 41-41% on its safety.

Edinburgh’s senior police officer Chief Superintendent Mark Williams welcomed the findings and said he is ‘delighted but not surprised’ by the poll.

Do you think Edinburgh is a safe city? Let us know!

Governments ‘must do more’ to address poverty’

Largest UK poverty study calls on governments to tackle rising deprivation

The percentage of households who fall below society’s minimum standard of living has increased from 14 per cent to 33 per cent over the last 30 years, despite the size of the economy doubling. This is one of the stark findings from the largest study of poverty and deprivation ever conducted in the UK.

Other key figures reveal that almost 18 million people cannot afford adequate housing conditions; 12 million people are too poor to engage in common social activities; one in three people cannot afford to heat their homes adequately in the winter and four million children and adults aren’t properly fed by today’s standards.

The Poverty and Social Exclusion in the United Kingdom (PSE) project, led by the University of Bristol and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council [ESRC], has shown that full-time work is not always sufficient to escape from poverty and calls on the Scottish and UK governments to take action.

The report’s findings will be discussed at a conference in Edinburgh.

Researchers from the University of Bristol, Heriot-Watt University, the Open University, Queen’s University Belfast, University of Glasgow, University of Oxford, University of Birmingham, University of York, the National Centre for Social Research and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency found that:
• About 5.5 million adults go without essential clothing.
• Around 2.5 million children live in homes that are damp.
• Around 1.5 million children live in households that cannot afford to heat their home.
• One in four adults have incomes below what they consider is needed to avoid poverty.
• One in every six (17 per cent) adults in paid work are poor.
• More than one in five adults have had to borrow in the last year to pay for day to day needs.

The PSE standard of living survey results show that more than one in every five (22 per cent) children and adults were poor at the end of 2012. They had both a low income and were also ‘multiply deprived’ – suffering from three or more deprivations such as lack of food, heating and clothing due to a lack of money.

More than one in four adults (28 per cent) have skimped on their own food in the past year so that others in the household may eat. Despite this over half a million children live in families who cannot afford to feed them properly.

In 93% of households where children suffer from food deprivation, at least one adult skimped on their own food ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ to ensure others have enough to eat. Women were more likely to cut back than men – 44 per cent of women had cut back on four or more items (such as food, buying clothes and social visits) in the last 12 months compared to 34 per cent of men.

Professor Jonathan Bradshaw, from the University of York, said: “The research has shown that in many households parents sacrifice their own welfare – going without adequate food, clothing or a social life – in order to try to protect their children from poverty and deprivation.”

Wages are low and working conditions are bad in many parts of the UK. One in every six (17 per cent) adults in paid work are poor – they suffer from both a low income and cannot afford basic necessities.

For a large number of people, even full-time work is not sufficient to escape from poverty. Almost half of the working poor work 40 hours a week or more. One third of adults currently in employment (35 per cent) are in ‘exclusionary work’ – in poverty, in low quality work and/or have experienced prolonged periods of unemployment in the last five years.

Nick Bailey, from the University of Glasgow, said: “The UK government continues to ignore the working poor; they do not have adequate policies to address this growing problem.”

Although more people today see a range of public services as ‘essential’ than in 1999, including libraries, sports centres, museums, galleries, dentists and opticians, the use of many services has declined since 1999 primarily due to reduced availability, cost or inadequacy.

Professor Glen Bramley, from Herriot-Watt University, said: “It is worrying that in the 21st century more than 40 per cent of households who want to use meals on wheels, evening classes, museums, youth clubs, citizens’ advice or special transport cannot do so due to unavailability, unaffordability or inadequacy.”

The findings will be discussed at an Edinburgh conference which has been jointly organised by the PSE team and the Scottish government.

Edinburgh to act against impact of welfare reforms

Plans to mitigate the impact of national welfare reform measures on the capital have been announced by the City of Edinburgh Council. The plans, which will see an additional investment of £350,000 in advice and support services, will be discussed by the Corporate Policy and Strategy Committee on Tuesday (16 April).

The introduction of policies such as the Housing Benefit Under-occupancy Restrictions (or ‘bedroom tax’), which are expected to affect 3,800 Council tenants, and around 2,500 Housing Association tenants, combined with national reductions in benefits will have a significant impact on some Edinburgh residents and the city’s economy as a whole.

The Council has taken steps to minimise these repercussions where possible and is considering further actions to offer support. Residents affected by the under-occupancy restrictions have been contacted to provide advice about options such as moving to a smaller home, taking in lodgers or budgeting on a lower income.

Health, Wellbeing and Housing Convener, Councillor Ricky Henderson, (pictured below)said: “The new changes to the national welfare system will have a significant impact on the city and particularly those receiving benefits. It is also expected that the introduction of the under-occupancy changes will lead to increasing rent arrears, which may have an adverse impact on the Council’s ability to deliver services and capital investment in its homes.

“We have taken steps to bolster Council and voluntary sector advice services to make sure that residents are aware of these changes and the help that is available to them. It is vital that we support our most vulnerable citizens and do what we can to minimise these repercussions where possible.”

The committee will be asked to approve an investment of £350,000 to provide additional advice services. Of this sum, £100,000 will be provided to Citizens Advice Edinburgh, £22,000 to the Community Ability Network, £15,000 to The Action Group, £15,000 to FAIR and £7,000 to COSS. Some of the extra funds will also be invested in the Council’s own Advice Shop service and Contact Centre.

An additional £67,000 has already been agreed for the Welfare Rights and Health Project, CHAI Advice Service and Granton Information Centre.

Recent Scottish Local Government Forum Against Poverty figures suggest that changes to the national welfare system will lead to a loss of income of £223 million by 2015/2016 for people in Edinburgh. These changes mainly affect individuals and families living on low wages, those seeking work and disabled people who are unable to work. This will result in a greater need for advice about benefits, debt and budgeting, as well as an increased demand on social work, housing and homelessness services.

The administration of Crisis Grants and Community Care Grants is now the responsibility of the Council, after being transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions on 1 April. Crisis Grants are available as emergency payments where there is an immediate threat to health or safety and are now paid out from Council Neighbourhood and City Centre Offices with an out of hours service also available. A new team has been recruited to deal with the assessment and processing of claims, which can be made by phone, online, on paper and in person. Community Care grants will help to enable or continue independent living by providing furniture, carpets and white goods.

Further measures will be discussed by the Health, Wellbeing and Housing Policy Development and Review Sub Committee on Tuesday 23 April 2013.

The city council’s announcement comes as new independent research by Sheffield Hallam University has shown that welfare cuts will take more than £1.6bn a year out of the Scottish economy and hit the poorest parts hardest – the equivalent to about £480 a year for every adult of working age. The biggest losses are from reforms to incapacity benefits at about £500m a year.

The report states: “The financial losses arising from the reforms will hit the most deprived parts of Scotland hardest. Glasgow in particular, but also a number of other older industrial areas, will feel the impact most. The loss of benefit income, which is often large, will have knock-on consequences for local spending and thus for local employment, which will in turn add a further twist to the downward spiral.”

The report added: “A key effect of welfare reform will therefore be to widen the gaps in prosperity between the best and worst local economies across Scotland.” Researchers note that the scale of financial loss in Scotland would have been greater if the Scottish government had chosen to pass on the cut to council tax benefit.

The report was commissioned by the Holyrood’s welfare reform committee, and while it’s findings are unlikely to come as a major surprise, committee convener Labour MSP Michael McMahon said: “Our committee wanted a detailed picture of what would happen on the ground when these reforms were fully implemented. It is obvious to all that the impact is dramatic – and more so in the areas that can least afford it.”

A Scottish government spokesman said: “Sheffield Hallam have used the same publicly available data as the Scottish government analysis and reach broadly the same conclusions on the scale of the cuts. It is completely unacceptable that hard-working people and vulnerable groups will bear the brunt of the UK government’s welfare cuts.”

The UK government insists that changes must be considered alongside other measures like the increase of the tax threshold, that changes to the welfare system were necessary and that reforms will benefit the Scottish economy in the long-term.

Calling young people in Pilton – more interviewees needed!

Are you aged 16 – 20 and live in Pilton? If so, would you be willing to share your experiences of growing up in the area?

You may recall the appeal we ran for interviewees to help with research last month? Well, that appeal was a success, but more interviewees are now needed. Eric Carlin is carrying out research for a PhD and wants to talk to local young people – all interviews will take place locally, are totally confidential and a small fee will be paid.

Eric said: “You very kindly helped me some time ago when I was starting my fieldwork with young people in Pilton and I’ve now had some really good interviews with twenty young people. I thought that would be enough but I now think I need another six or so.”

If you’d like to take part in the research, you con contact Eric by email at ecarli01@mail.bbk.ac.uk or call 0750 508 1784.

See the attached flyer for more information:

Pilton flyers for youth interview recruitment, February 2013