About Us

Scotland’s Landscape Alliance (SLA) was established in April 2019 and is currently engaging over 60 organisations and individuals in its work.

Who are we?

Scotland’s Landscape Alliance (SLA) is a grouping of over 60 organisations with a common interest in raising awareness of the importance of Scotland’s landscapes to climate resilience and biodiversity, our economic performance and public health and wellbeing. In doing this, we want to gain public and political support for the better care of Scotland’s landscape and places to maximise future benefits.

Our Vision

Our vision is a Scotland where the benefits of landscape are recognised and strengthened to support delivery of Scotland’s National Outcomes, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the principles of the European Landscape Convention.

Our Recommendations

Following the outcomes of the ‘Landscape for Scotland Debate’ and the publication of the LIS vision ‘Landscape for Scotlandour’ Scotland’s Landscape Alliance published recommendations in our high level statement Landscape and Place for Success(Read here) derived from the outputs of three time limited working groups with the aim of enhancing the role of landscapes in delivering a wide range of economic, social and environmental benefits and to:

• Increase Scotland’s resilience to climate change and associated environmental challenges (Read here)
• Improve the health and wellbeing of people in Scotland and reduce health inequalities (Read here)
• Support integrated land uses and deliver inclusive growth in Scotland’s economy (Read here)

Desired Outcomes

Our ambition is to achieve a set of 10 outcomes over the next 5 years across each of the three themes through concerted ‘whole system’ approaches

Our Aims

• Increase understanding and heighten awareness amongst politicians and the public of the value of and challenges facing Scotland’s landscape.
• Ensure Scotland’s leadership and commitment to international best practice is upheld safeguarding the importance of landscape for the quality of life and the quality of place for all of Scotland’s people.
• Promulgate the need for an updated regulatory and policy framework at national level and across every area of public policy that is joined-up in its approach to ensure landscape delivers multi-functional benefits to people and the environment.
• Win better resourcing and training to support design within land use planning and to ensure the proper design, management and maintenance of landscape, including urban parks and greenspace.
• Ensure communities have a say and greater role in landscape and how land is managed and used.

Our Approach

Scotland’s Landscape Alliance will:

• Act as an advisory group on landscape matters to the Scottish Government and its Agencies, gathering evidence and providing expert opinion.
• Deliver an evidence-based communications and engagement strategy to gain political and public support for better care of Scotland’s landscape.
• Support the planning, design and management of place through the use of the Place Principle, and the Place Standard.
• Collaborate and share knowledge to enhance the role of landscape in delivering a wide range of economic, social, cultural and environmental benefits.
• Offer expertise and skills to support positive action on landscape and place.
• Encourage our member organisations to use their land and resources to support sustainable economic growth, improve the health and wellbeing of visitors, workers and local communities, and help to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
• Showcase best practice by our members to further our aims.

• An updated regulatory and policy framework that is joined-up in its approach, ensuring that the potential of landscape and place to deliver multi-functional benefits to people and our ecosystems, across every area of public policy, is realised;
• Increased understanding and heightened awareness with politicians and the public of the values and challenges facing Scotland’s landscapes;
• A reinvigorated and connected landscape community able to offer expertise and skills to support positive action on landscape matters.