Optimising the Potential of Scotland's Natural Assets
Introduction
Assigning economic and societal value to our natural assets to inform policy and planning decisions
Protecting Scotland's natural assets (e.g. land, water, biodiversity etc.) for future generations in the face of competing pressures and threats
Improving Scotland's economic and environmental performance
Ensuring that Scottish based food production contributes positively to the health and wellbeing of Scotland's people
Making a contribution towards reducing the levels of inequality and disadvantage amongst Scotland's people
Stimulating innovation to find novel solutions for uniquely Scottish challenges
Introduction: This theme reflects the need for Scotland to build a sustainable future in which economic and social activity is balanced with protecting and nurturing all of Scotland's valuable assets (its people, its land and its seas). Scotland's land, freshwater and marine resources have the potential to contribute to a range of objectives varying from carbon storage to food production. Developments and planning for capturing this potential through changing the balance of uses of our resources has consequences both foreseen and unforeseen.
The science in this theme will provide the data and 'tools' to enable decision makers to make choices which are better informed about the consequences of their actions. Knowledge and understanding both of the physical elements and structures and of the social and economic behaviours and interactions that exist within economic, social and environmental communities is needed to enable them all to develop in a sustainable way.
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Assigning economic and societal value to our natural assets to inform policy and planning decisions: Valuing Scotland's landscape and other natural assets represent an integral part of our nation's identity. They provide the basis of the livelihoods of our farmers and fishermen, provide the habitat for our biodiversity, underpin some of our most iconic industries, e.g. whisky, and contribute to the ongoing success of tourism. Yet it is often difficult to assign value to such assets with the attendant risk that they may be undervalued or taken for granted.
Science can help by both identifying the potential threats to our unique and irreplaceable assets and by providing advice on the practical measures, e.g. through planning, that will reduce these risks.
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Protecting Scotland's natural assets (e.g. land, water, biodiversity etc.) for future generations in the face of competing pressures and threats: It is important to ensure that our natural assets are not irreversibly compromised by the pressures we place upon them. An improved understanding of the capacity and resilience of land, marine and freshwater to provide services (e.g. support for ecosystems) can increase our confidence that they are sustainable. The identification of options, including efficiency gains, that relieve pressures currently placed on these finite assets, e.g. water usage, waste minimisation, reduction and recycling are particularly important.
Issues surrounding the sustainable use of our natural assets are particularly complex. If policy decisions are to be made with greater awareness and more transparent acknowledgement of the trade offs they represent between competing demands, e.g. agriculture, forestry and recreational access for land use, then information will need to be drawn from a diversity of sources and from a range of scientific disciplines. Opportunities that deliver 'win win' outcomes for multiple sectors are particularly highly prized.
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Improving Scotland's economic and environmental performance: Science is rooted in innovation and it routinely generates new ideas and opportunities for commercial development. It can also make a much broader 'public good' contribution to reducing wasteful consumption, improving the efficiency of production and reducing costly or harmful emissions. Science that delivers commercial opportunities while at the same time delivering these wider economical, environmental and social benefits is highly valued (e.g. in the areas of agricultural production, energy generation, waste reduction and recycling and land use).
Understanding the mechanisms which successfully deliver sustainable growth for Scotland from its rich land, sea and human resources is a key challenge for integrated and applied science.
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Ensuring that Scottish based food production contributes positively to the health and wellbeing of Scotland's people: Science has the ability to generate the hard facts and evidence that can shed light on many of the specific questions embedded within this broad policy issue. At the individual and household level, contributions could include a better understanding of the connections between food, diet and affordability, encouraging healthy eating choices, wellbeing, and reducing food waste.
At the broader level there is potential to inform policy on how food production can be more successful in delivering healthy products, promote wellbeing, meet societal expectations for animal welfare and make further contributions to reducing risks to public health.
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Making a contribution towards reducing the levels of inequality and disadvantage amongst Scotland's people: Reducing the social inequalities between and within urban and rural communities represents a long term challenge for Government, where good physical environment is understood to contribute to reducing health inequalities in Scotland, we need to understand the 'value' of 'good places' and the full societal 'costs' of places of poor environmental quality. Changing societal attitudes and expectations generate a requirement to assess levels of deprivation, assign value to the contribution of greenspace and provide information to inform aspects of infrastructure planning including water, waste and transport.
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Stimulating innovation to find novel solutions for uniquely Scottish challenges: Science and technology have the potential to provide technical solutions that are both socially and environmentally acceptable. For example, Scotland is well placed and committed to meet a greater proportion of its energy requirements from renewable sources. However, bottlenecks and environmental trade offs associated with delivering this objective need to be addressed and overcome.
Waste reduction is also of high priority. Productive uses for waste and by products need to be developed and pursued, e.g. anaerobic digestion of agricultural waste to generate energy for local communities. This is especially the case where it can be done in partnership with the private sector and make a contribution to sustainable economic growth.
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