Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 18 September 2012
18 Sep 2012 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Keep Scotland Beautiful
As a long-time community and environmental activist, eco-schools co-ordinator and now shadow minister for the environment and climate change, I, too, thank Graham Dey for securing this debate, for focusing our minds on Keep Scotland Beautiful’s 2012 national spring clean campaign and for setting our sights on the 2013 campaign. The debate is vital in highlighting the major and urgent contribution that is required from communities across Scotland to improve our environment.
I also pay tribute to Keep Scotland Beautiful’s work. Almost 60 years ago, the National Federation of Women’s Institutes set out to keep Britain tidy by trying to stop littering, and to encourage pride in local environments. Since then, that work has continued in various forms and the organisation’s remarkable achievement of getting 120,000 participants—and perhaps thousands more unofficial participants—involved in its recent campaign shows that it is as strong as ever.
When I first came to Scotland 20 years ago, I, a farmer’s wife and a couple of others had a vision of turning a dump in our village—Douglas Water in Clydesdale—into a community nature reserve. Some members of the community council laughed when we first raised the possibility of cleaning up an area that had been undermined by years of dumping and neglect. However, years later, after volunteers had cleaned it up, divers had taken cars out of the burn and so on, people once again had pride in their local area. That—and the fact that we received financial support and advice from a range of organisations—shows that we need a behavioural change to allow communities to take ownership of their areas. If that happens, people can once again take pride in their neighbourhoods. That very point is made clear in the briefing from the Carnegie UK Trust, which has just produced a report that I would highlight, called “Pride in Place: Tackling Environmental Incivilities”.
The specific initiatives that are organised by Keep Scotland Beautiful, such as the annual spring clean, help to build links between schools, their communities and local businesses. A primary 6 pupil in the community where I worked as a primary teacher wrote to a local hotel and asked whether the school could clear the burn between the hotel and the school. The owner got involved and was delighted not only to have the burn cleared, but to work alongside the local schoolchildren and to build community links.
KSB also administers the eco-schools programme, for which I was responsible when I was an eco-schools co-ordinator. According to the KSB website, more than 3,000 schools have now signed up as eco-schools. The programme engages children and young people and enables them to learn about key issues, including the environment, sustainability, local citizenship and, of course, litter. Pupils take ownership of the problem of littering, and assessments for the coveted green flag award emphasise clean playgrounds and playing fields. As a result, many schools now operate a rota of litter pickers, which not only gets pupils physically involved in keeping the school tidy, but teaches them skills such as organisation and taking responsibility, and makes them feel that they are owners of their communities. Even more significant, recycling and reuse become common parlance, and through a cultural shift litter can almost become a thing of the past.
The significance of developing children’s and young people’s understanding of a sustainable future—from local to global—is fundamental to the future of our planet, yet the work by Keep Scotland Beautiful is often overlooked. The work also flows through to parents and others, when children go home and tell them what has been going on.
Unfortunately, as Graeme Dey and George Adam highlighted, there are still those who think that litter does not matter and who take no personal responsibility for the state of their community. The 2013 national spring clean will be an opportunity for all of us to help to change that by involving our communities in making their neighbourhoods better and clearing up a little more litter along the way. I thank Graeme Dey.
17:17
I also pay tribute to Keep Scotland Beautiful’s work. Almost 60 years ago, the National Federation of Women’s Institutes set out to keep Britain tidy by trying to stop littering, and to encourage pride in local environments. Since then, that work has continued in various forms and the organisation’s remarkable achievement of getting 120,000 participants—and perhaps thousands more unofficial participants—involved in its recent campaign shows that it is as strong as ever.
When I first came to Scotland 20 years ago, I, a farmer’s wife and a couple of others had a vision of turning a dump in our village—Douglas Water in Clydesdale—into a community nature reserve. Some members of the community council laughed when we first raised the possibility of cleaning up an area that had been undermined by years of dumping and neglect. However, years later, after volunteers had cleaned it up, divers had taken cars out of the burn and so on, people once again had pride in their local area. That—and the fact that we received financial support and advice from a range of organisations—shows that we need a behavioural change to allow communities to take ownership of their areas. If that happens, people can once again take pride in their neighbourhoods. That very point is made clear in the briefing from the Carnegie UK Trust, which has just produced a report that I would highlight, called “Pride in Place: Tackling Environmental Incivilities”.
The specific initiatives that are organised by Keep Scotland Beautiful, such as the annual spring clean, help to build links between schools, their communities and local businesses. A primary 6 pupil in the community where I worked as a primary teacher wrote to a local hotel and asked whether the school could clear the burn between the hotel and the school. The owner got involved and was delighted not only to have the burn cleared, but to work alongside the local schoolchildren and to build community links.
KSB also administers the eco-schools programme, for which I was responsible when I was an eco-schools co-ordinator. According to the KSB website, more than 3,000 schools have now signed up as eco-schools. The programme engages children and young people and enables them to learn about key issues, including the environment, sustainability, local citizenship and, of course, litter. Pupils take ownership of the problem of littering, and assessments for the coveted green flag award emphasise clean playgrounds and playing fields. As a result, many schools now operate a rota of litter pickers, which not only gets pupils physically involved in keeping the school tidy, but teaches them skills such as organisation and taking responsibility, and makes them feel that they are owners of their communities. Even more significant, recycling and reuse become common parlance, and through a cultural shift litter can almost become a thing of the past.
The significance of developing children’s and young people’s understanding of a sustainable future—from local to global—is fundamental to the future of our planet, yet the work by Keep Scotland Beautiful is often overlooked. The work also flows through to parents and others, when children go home and tell them what has been going on.
Unfortunately, as Graeme Dey and George Adam highlighted, there are still those who think that litter does not matter and who take no personal responsibility for the state of their community. The 2013 national spring clean will be an opportunity for all of us to help to change that by involving our communities in making their neighbourhoods better and clearing up a little more litter along the way. I thank Graeme Dey.
17:17
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott)
Con
The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-03683, in the name of Graeme Dey, on Keep Scotland Beautiful. The debate will be concl...
Graeme Dey (Angus South) (SNP)
SNP
I thank Scottish National Party colleagues, Alex Fergusson, Alison Johnstone and Labour members whose support for the motion has allowed an extremely importa...
George Adam (Paisley) (SNP)
SNP
I thank Graeme Dey for bringing the debate to the chamber. He may be surprised to hear that I will speak about the situation in Paisley.A fresh attitude to t...
Claudia Beamish (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
As a long-time community and environmental activist, eco-schools co-ordinator and now shadow minister for the environment and climate change, I, too, thank G...
Chic Brodie (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I, too, welcome Graeme Dey’s motion. He spoke of a cleaner, greener, more sustainable Scotland, and we all support that. I would like to focus on the clean p...
Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I, too, congratulate Graeme Dey on securing this important debate. I also commend all my constituents throughout the Highlands and Islands who participated i...
The Minister for Environment and Climate Change (Paul Wheelhouse)
SNP
I thank my colleague Graeme Dey for securing this members’ business debate. It is clear that we all agree that Keep Scotland Beautiful is to be congratulated...