17/10/2012
The Scottish Parliament’s chamber and committee rooms will bear witness to the many different voices of Scotland on Saturday October 27 when the Parliament’s fourth Communities Conference takes place.
The conference is targeted at grass-roots organisations, small voluntary groups, civic associations and local action groups who may not have previous experience of taking their campaigns to Parliament. It provides delegates with the opportunity to see the Parliament first hand and gain insight into taking their concerns to different audiences.
Delegates will attend workshops covering Parliament committees, the role of an MSP, petitions, cross-party groups, use of social networks and the media. They will hear from a number of MSPs who are taking part and will also learn about the options for events and exhibitions within the Parliament that target both MSPs and the public.
The conference is part of the Parliament’s on-going commitment to engaging with all parts of Scotland’s people. As well as welcoming people to Holyrood, the Parliament also goes out to communities and on 5 November, the Parliament will visit Hawick for school visits, a Finance Committee meeting and a series of engagements with community groups. Last year, around 12,000 pupils visited Holyrood and staff from the Parliament visited 300 schools.
The Chamber plenary will be webcast live on the Scottish Parliament’s website at 10.30am. Twitter followers can track the conference news by using #CoCo4
Background
MSPs taking part in the conference include:
Sandra White (Glasgow Kelvin)
Jenny Marra (North East Scotland)
Colin Beattie (Midlothian North and Musselburgh)
Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland)
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife)