Book now for rural summit

With just six weeks to go until the 2021 Rural Housing Summit gets under way, attendees are being encouraged to book their place at the free, innovative online event.

The week-long Rural Housing Summit, which takes place from Sunday, February 21 to Saturday, February 27, will bring together experts and community organisations from across the UK, Ireland and beyond to look at the issues facing the sector.

The summit usually takes place in the Birnam Institute in Perthshire but this year is being held online due to restrictions imposed as part of efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

The main five days of the summit will explore the themes of community-led housing, quality homes, affordable homes for all, resourcing for rural housing, and the future of rural places, through a mix of webinars, panel discussions, workshops and one-to-one sessions.

Keynote speakers at the event, which is being held online for the first time this year, include Robert Lewis-Lettington, chief of the Urban Legislation Unit at UN-Habitat, Dr Annie McKee from the James Hutton Institute and convenor of summit organisers Rural Housing Scotland, and Corianne Payton Scally from the Urban Institute.

As well as hearing from the keynote speakers, delegates at the summit will also be able to attend a range of events covering everything from practical‘How to Build a Community-Led Housing Project’ workshops and‘Ask an Expert’sessions to panel discussions on homes for health and wellbeing and webinars exploring the issue of land for housing.

Rural Housing Scotland, which campaigns to secure more affordable housing in rural Scotland and supports community action on rural housing issues, including helping develop community-led housing initiatives, is organising the event.

Derek Logie, chief executive of Rural Housing Scotland, is keen to encourage as many people as possible to book their place at the summit and create their own bespoke conference experience.

He said:“Having to rethink our annual conference in light of the pandemic has presented us with opportunities to engage with a wider range of speakers, contributors and audiences for 2021.

“We’re looking forward to showcasing a wide range of approaches taken by governments, housing associations, businesses, communities and organisations like ours to tackle rural housing need in their areas, in order to learn from each other and take more effective action.

“The summit format allows attendees to create their own schedule of events, tailored to their specific interests, and thanks to our partnership with UN-Habitat and sponsorship from Ecology Building Society all the sessions are free to attend. We are also very grateful for the support Savills and The Wee House Company have provided.”

The summit will also coincide with the Rural Housing EXPO which will give attendees the opportunity to learn more about companies supporting the sector – from finance providers and architects to builders and suppliers – via one-to-one networking sessions.

For more information on the summit, including the full programme and details of how to book, see the website at www. RuralHousingSummit.org.