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POLICY AND PRACTICE IMPACT Rural Areas for Young People: Policy Responses from Italy and Scotland On Friday 25 October 2019, EPRC hosted a seminar looking at the challenges faced by rural areas in remaining attractive places for young people. The presentations and discussions started from a stock-take of shrinking rural areas across Europe and then moved on to examples of policy measures from Italy and Scotland. Stefan Kah from EPRC gave an introduction that not only showed an increased attention given to the subject, but also that policy-makers have long been aware of the challenges of keeping young people in rural areas. Andrew Copus from the James Hutton Institute presented ongoing research funded by ESPON. The ESCAPE project explores the challenges of European shrinking rural areas and aims to improve the evidence base for policy interventions. His presentation discussed different types of shrinking and their drivers, raising the question to what extent demography is an agent or rather a consequence in the process. Sabrina Lucatelli, Senior Expert of Public Policy and Vice Chair of the OECD Rural Working Group, presented the Italian Inner Areas Strategy. The Strategy targets 72 selected areas across Italy, covering almost 17% of the territory and 3% of the population. It aims to empower territories and people to restore growth and well-being, using a combination of different EU and domestic funding sources. There is a strong focus on young people, not least through many interventions in the area of education. Francesco Mantino from the Italian Council for Research in Agriculture and Economics presented his research on interlinkages between the Inner Areas Strategies and rural development policies. He showed the close relation between the Inner Areas Strategies and the LEADER instrument, which in many cases goes beyond simple additionality and complementarity. Instead, he identified policy synergies, not least due to differences in thematic orientation of the two policies. Robin Clarke from Highlands and Islands Enterprise presented their research on young people and the Highlands and Islands. The most recent study from 2018 follows on from similar research carried out in 2015 and 2009. He showed that regional attractiveness for young people is based on longer term economic considerations (e.g. quality job opportunities with career progression prospects, low cost of living) and social elements that enhance life in the region, including affordable housing and access to essential services.
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‘Putting Inclusion at the Heart of ‘Closing the Gap’’: South Lanarkshire Research and Development Project Dr Joan Mowat, together with Jonathan Firth and Dr Anna Beck, all School of Education, have been taking forward a new research and development project with two Learning Communities in South Lanarkshire Council – Calderside and Duncanrig. The project focusses on collaborative practitioner with the aim of ‘Putting Inclusion at the Heart of Closing the Gap’. Through delivered inputs and coaching sessions, support is put in place for teams of teachers within each learning community to take forward practitioner enquiry of relevance to their professional context. At the end of the process, participants will disseminate their work at a dissemination event bringing both learning communities together. An application to the School of Education ethics committee has been put forward to evaluate this work and its impact, but also to investigate the utility of collaborative practitioner enquiry as a vehicle for school improvement.
The Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group Here in Scotland, with a national focus firmly on promoting and protecting children’s rights, and on improving the care system, physical restraint in residential child care has featured in discussions about the care of children and young people. From questions raised about the place physical restraint has as a sometimes necessary, and containing response to children’s pain-based behaviour; to calls to abolish the use of restraint, as we have seen during the course of the Scottish Parliament’s scrutiny of new proposed legislation to end the physical punishment of children, this important issue is being debated and considered at all levels. At this year’s Scottish Institute of Residential Child Care (SIRCC) Conference, a powerful plenary presentation by Dr Laura Steckley, Senior Lecturer at the School of Social Work & Social Policy, brought together new academic research with the views of people with lived experience of being physically restrained, and the perspectives of practitioners involved in restraining children. The session questioned how to reduce, and where possible eliminate, physical restraint in residential child care establishments, and where restraint does occur, how this can be experienced as an act of care rather than brutality.
Policy and practice impact
