Wider policy landscape

New park must support the wider policy landscape in Scotland – including transport, active travel, climate change and health objectives.
Include reference to the National Walking Strategy.
The wider policy context includes:
• The National Walking Strategy
• The Scottish Government’s Active Scotland Outcomes Framework
• Physical Activity Strategy
• National Physical Activity Implementation Plan
• Cycling Action Plan for Scotland
• A Long-Term Vision for Active Travel in Scotland 2030

Why the contribution is important

Should highlight the importance of climate change, the health agenda, social prescribing, behaviour change, and preventative spend.

The pandemic has shown the importance of the outdoors in people’s lives, and it will be increasingly important to manage the national park in a way that reflects this as we emerge from the crisis.

by IMcC on May 25, 2022 at 03:27PM

Current Rating

Average rating: 4.4
Based on: 9 votes

Comments

  • Posted by JeremyHW May 25, 2022 at 19:59

    There is an interesting effect when swapping the words around. IMcC talks of a wider policy landscape instead of a wider landscape policy. In other words a greater range of national policies can be, at least in part, met by national parks, I do not know if this was what was intended in the wording, but it does trigger other debates, Instead of trying to simply increase the scope of what national parks are traditionally expected to offer and approaching new national parks as just more of that with the added environmental qualities of mitigating climate change impact, we also start considering how they can also benefit us, people, with health including mental health.

  • Posted by savannankvm May 30, 2022 at 12:52

    While this is definitely important, I do feel that there needs to be some care here. It is appealing to make parts of National Parks more accessible to people spending time in them, e.g walking/cycling. Having said that, it is also important to bear in mind that making areas more accessible can come with certain biodiversity, habitat and climate-related costs. A balance needs to be struck that would work very well for people and well enough for the natural environment in the Parks.
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