Two Edinburgh environmentalists are set to undertake a trip of a lifetime after securing a highly sought after Young Persons Travel Grant from the Central Scotland Green Network Trust (CSGNT).
With 2018 the Year of Young People, CSGNT launched the grant, with support from travel comparison website Skyscanner which provides funding for young people to visit anywhere in the world in order to learn more about green infrastructure projects. The idea is for these young people to pass on what they learn to others back home.
Stefan Maurice, a community links project officer for Sustrans Scotland and Laura Goble, a community green space officer at RSPB, were both selected to each receive £1,000 of funding from CSGNT to use towards their respective trips. Stefan’s journey will take him to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hamburg and Nijmegen where he will research successful sustainable urban design projects that were led by youth engagement. Meanwhile, Laura will head to Helsinki and study various urban gardens like Pasila Railway Garden and Kalasatama Bag Garden, which she hopes to recreate in Edinburgh.
Environment Secretary, Roseanna Cunningham, offering her congratulations to the recipients of this brand new travel grant said “It’s particularly fitting that in this, the Year of the Young People, the winners will have the opportunity to learn more about innovative green projects that are operating around the world and bring this knowledge and expertise back to Scotland. This type of fresh thinking is important if we are to become a cleaner and greener Scotland.”
Keith Geddes, Chair of CSGNT believes that the proposals perfectly matched the organisation’s goal of encouraging engagement amongst young people in key environmental issues from climate change to active travel.
He said: “CSGNT is committed to giving young people the opportunity to travel far and wide to conduct research that can be used to improve the future here in Scotland. Laura’s proposal to study a variety of urban gardens before creating her own in Edinburgh is a prime example of the practical activities that we look to promote.
“She will be managing a green infrastructure project that will benefit the city in numerous ways and illustrating to other young people the importance of becoming involved in local environmental projects.”
Keith, continued: “Stefan’s tour of four unique cities will offer us a wealth of information on different projects from around Europe. His research into green cycle routes will be of special interest to us as we look to champion cycling and active travel in the future.
“Visiting a number of different cities will also show Stefan the variety of ways that young people are being actively engaged and the kinds of projects that interest them.”
Kirsty Ireland, public affairs and corporate communications manager at Skyscanner, added: “Skyscanner are proud to have supported the Young Persons Travel Grant, and were especially impressed by the high calibre of the entries; we offer our congratulations to all the winners. The projects which will be funded by the Grant represent innovative thinking to address what is a key issue of our time and we look forward to watching how these important projects develop.”
Further information about CSGN is available here
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