Community Group: Climavore CIC

Researchers: Hayley Wolcott, marine biologist (Independent researcher and coordinator of Our Seas Scotland)

Location: Isle of Skye and Raasay

Developing an ‘intertidal toolkit’ and community-researcher framework around developing ‘ in intertidal zones’ along the coastline

Shona Cameron, Community lead at CLIMAVORE, said: 

I was impressed by how they [the research partners] led the conversations both in terms of sitting around having lunch in Raasay with a broad spectrum of the community to sitting down with councillors or community trusts. So they were able to adapt very well to how to position the conversations.

Photography: Colin Hattersley Photography. 

Phase 1 community-led research project

CLIMAVORE is a community interest company in the Isle of Skye with a focus on climate, food and the environment. In Phase 1 of the programme, they worked with independent researcher and marine biologist Hayley Wolcott to engage with local communities about the impact that climate change is having on their coastlines and to explore the development of sea  farms in intertidal zones of the shoreline, expanding an existing project to Raasay and Uig.

Working with the researcher allowed them to deliver two hands-on citizen science workshops, taking community members to the shoreline to discuss how they could monitor the impact of on the coastal environment, passing on knowledge, skills and expertise to the community members.

In particular, they discussed seaweeds and water quality, questioning how intertidal growing may work to alleviate polluted waters. They also held parallel workshops across the island’s five primary schools, and worked with biology students in the island’s secondary school, recognising the importance of intergenerational education.

Phase 2 Capacity Building Project

CLIMAVORE used the capacity-building grant to re-engage with the community and start work on an ‘intertidal toolkit’ to enable and encourage other communities to take part in similar community-led research work in this area. In addition to this, they were able to use the capacity building grant to develop a broader framework for future engagement between CLIMAVORE, the research institute Abundance – which aims to support an environment where new technologies can grow – and local communities, exploring alternative economic models for the islands.

Research Impacts

CLIMAVORE has found that introducing a variety of skills and experiences through their work with the researchers has allowed them to engage with local communities more effectively across a range of interests.

Moreover, the learning from the community-research project, and the capacity building activities, have supported CLIMAVORE to further explore how the intertidal polyculture model – a sustainable agricultural practice that involves growing multiple species of plants or animals together in the same place and at the same time – can feed into national policy conversations on land reform, ecological regeneration, and community wealth building.

Photography: Jordan Young