The Scottish Government recognise the benefits of being active outdoors for both physical and mental health. We fund and support a variety of partners to deliver the vision, set out in our Environment National Outcome, that all members of Scotland's communities can engage with and benefit from nature and green space. Scotland’s National Nature Reserves (NNRs) already provide opportunities for volunteering and outdoor learning and include student placements.

The Year of Young People Themed Year in 2018 provided us with an unique opportunity to show the world how valued and proud Scotland is of all that our young people do – and all they can achieve in the future. In the past year, we have worked with partners to encourage awareness and opportunities for young people to be active outdoors and help provide young people with a wide range of opportunities to engage positively with Scotland’s nature and outdoors.

The next Themed Year, Year of Coasts and Waters in 2020, will sustain and build upon the momentum of the preceding Themed Years to spotlight, celebrate and promote opportunities to experience and enjoy Scotland’s unrivalled Coasts and Waters, encouraging responsible engagement and participation from the people of Scotland and our visitors.

In addition to the opportunities offered to young people via the delivery of the National Outcome, there are a number of specific actions underway to facilitate young people's continued involvement with Scotland’s nature and outdoors. These include:

• The Scottish Government is working to promote and enhance outdoor learning to ensure it is fully embedded within Early Learning and Childcare provision as part of the expansion to 1,140 hours by 2020, including within the recently published " Funding follows the child and the national standard for early learning and childcare providers: principles and practice" and "Out to play". These provide step-by-step guidance and practical advice for early learning and childcare settings and practitioners on how to access outdoor spaces to create safe, nurturing and inspiring outdoor learning experiences;
• During 2018 the Scottish Government and Inspiring Scotland published Scotland’s Outdoor Play and Learning Coalition National Position Statement, which now has over 85 signatories including many national public bodies, who have committed to working together to embed playing and learning outdoors as an everyday activity and to celebrate it as a fundamental part of growing up in Scotland;
• In September 2018, our Programme for Government committed the Scottish Government to provide £600,000 of funding over the next two years through the Outdoor Learning in Nature Fund for up to 16 projects in nurseries, schools and community groups across Scotland. All the projects involve working with schools and nurseries to help children from our most deprived areas spend time in nature;
• In 2018 Scottish Natural Heritage announced the £100,000 Future Routes Challenge Fund to support young people in taking a new role in making space for nature in our cities, helping to develop urban nature parks, and developing their own nature projects;
• During Year of Young People 2018, ReRoute (SNH’s Young People’s Advisory Group) developed a set of recommendations to make SNH more effective at engaging and including young people’s opinions and voices and ensure that young people are at the heart of decision making and influencing policy across the environmental sector. In October 2018 SNH recruited a new group of young people who have been working at implementing the ReRoute recommendations working with SNH staff. This includes work on developing kit libraries, developing an urban junior ranger programme and designing and administering a £20,000 Future Routes Fund for young people on behalf of SNH;
• SNH are also using co- design and co- production skills with young people in their work on the National Walking and Cycling Network (NWCN), to develop thinking around ways of engaging more young people to use the NWCN and with the National Access Forum to find out the best ways of engaging young people and informing them of their access rights and responsibilities;
• Scottish Natural Heritage "Learning in Local Greenspace" project works with schools in disadvantaged areas to support them to access and use local greenspaces within walking distance;
• Scottish Natural Heritage manages the ‘Our Natural Health Service’ programme, which aims to encourage more people to experience the health and mental wellbeing benefits provided by Scotland’s unique natural environment. The programme has engaged extensively with young people to co-design approaches to encourage this age group to spend time outdoors including the launch of the Freshspace campaign in October 2018, working with Young Scot to highlight and address the issues that stop young women (14-18) spending time outdoors;
• Scottish Government work in partnership with Youth Link to provide support and funding for the #iwill and #iwill4nature campaign which support young people’s voices being heard and is aimed at securing a sustainable future via linking into existing and planned activities, workstreams and local and national priorities;
• In September 2018 over 50 young people from across Europe were involved in the launch of the EUROPARC Youth Manifesto with ongoing engagement by both our National Parks to deliver the Manifesto;
• Scottish Government supported work with Young Scot and Scottish Ramblers during the summer of 2018 to promote messaging around getting active and staying healthy outdoors using a social media awareness campaign;
• Scottish Government are joint funding Scottish Ramblers Young Adult Development Project (Out there Award) to build the capacity of Ramblers Scotland Young Walkers groups by introducing, skilling up, and supporting targeted groups of young people who are new to walking; and
• Scottish Government support for "Paths for All", which includes:
• o "Path Skillz", a 5-day training course which aims to equip young people, aged 16-25, with the knowledge and practical skills they need to successfully plan, manage and deliver a community path project; and
• o "Youth Tracks" training pilot, which is a course designed to give youth workers and and youth leaders the skills needed to emppower young people to explore, map and promote open spaces that they think other young people should visit.

The Scottish Government is currently holding The Big Climate Conversation across Scotland. This is a nationwide discussion with the public, businesses and the public sector about what more can be done to tackle climate change.

As part of our public engagement, the initial phase of six public workshops are currently live. Our subsequent phase of events was announced on 29 July and includes the following event which will be held in South Scotland:

- Dumfries (open public event)

In addition to the above event, we are also planning a closed focus group event in South Scotland. We will also support communities to hold their own conversations. Details about this can be found on the Scottish Government website ( link ).

The Scottish Government has been engaging with stakeholders across Scotland, including South Scotland, as part of the development of the second Climate Change Adaptation Programme. Adaptation focused climate conversations were held between January and March 2019 in Dumfries, Newton Stewart and Gattonside near Melrose.

The Scottish 4G Infill Programme is currently progressing 45 potential mast sites. A map of these is available at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-4g-infill-programme-map/ .

The Programme is also exploring options to bring forward additional candidate sites in a range of locations. However, sites can only progress to build when we secure commitment from a mobile operators to use the mast for seven years.

The Scottish Government expects to consult on the draft Sectoral Marine Plan for offshore wind and associated Sustainability Appraisal later this year. The consultation will last for 12 weeks and will include a number of consultation events across Scotland. The details of the locations and timings of these events will be made available in advance to help maximise participation.

The Scottish Land Commission is key to the Scottish Government’s long-term programme of land reform.

Scottish Government officials meet with Land Commission staff regularly on a range of policy issues and to provide sponsorship support. The Scottish Government works closely with the Land Commission to ensure delivery of its Strategic Plan, which reflects Scottish Government priorities for land reform, as set out in the Programmes for Government (2017 – 2018 and 2018 – 2019).

Since September 2018 the Land Commission has published two major reports which made a number of recommendations to Scottish Ministers. In November 2018 it published a review of community ownership mechanisms, including Community Right to Buy legislation. We are now working with the Land Commission to implement the recommendations, and have established a multi-agency group to provide strategic oversight of this process. Officials are also working closely with the Land Commission and other stakeholders to develop detailed options to progress its recommendations on scale and concentration of land ownership in rural Scotland, which were published in March 2019. These recommendations were supported by the Scottish Parliament in a motion agreed by the Scottish Parliament following a land reform debate on 21 March.

The Land Commission has developed a protocol to support the Scottish Government’s Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement and Guidance on Engaging Communities in Decisions Relating to Land, and is promoting this throughout Scotland. The Scottish Government has endorsed this work, as well as the Land Commission’s work in advising land owners on how to follow the principles set out in the Statement.

The Scottish Government provides ongoing sponsorship support to the Land Commission. This includes supporting it to be an accountable, high-performing organisation with effective governance structures that delivers its objectives in line with Ministerial priorities. For 2018-19 the grant-in-aid provided to the Commission was £1.4 million and for 2019-20 this increased to £1.5 million.

The Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform meets formally with the Land Commission twice a year.

As of 31 July this year, the Scottish 4G Infill Programme has invested £1,126,101.

The Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee made several recommendations to the Scottish Government in their 2018 report on Biodiversity and Biodiversity Reporting Duties. The Scottish Government has committed to taking forward these recommendations and, in a letter to the Committee on 26 February 2019, the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform outlined the steps we are taking in response. The letter is available at:

https://www.parliament.scot/S5_Public_Audit/General%20Documents/20190226_Letter_from_Cabinet_Secretary.pdf

Scottish Government officials are continuing to work with Scottish Natural Heritage to implement recommended changes to the reporting duty guidance, with the aim of making the process easier for public bodies and improving compliance. We plan to have these changes published by the end of 2019.

The current Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme was published in May 2014. Scottish Ministers have reported on progress in May each year and we commissioned independent assessments of the Programme from the Adaptation Committee of the Committee on Climate Change in 2016 and 2019. In developing the new outcomes-based Programme we have conducted digital engagement sessions, stakeholder workshops, climate conversations, and a full public consultation. Scottish Ministers' Programme for Government 2018 committed to publish the new Adaptation Programme in 2019.

Scottish Water currently has 10 refill points across Scotland with plans to deliver up to 70. Further information on the rollout of refill points is available at https://www.yourwateryourlife.co.uk/ . Other refill points are available in public spaces, such as railway stations, but the Scottish Government does not hold a record of these locations.

Scottish Government was the first in the UK to propose introducing legislation on single-use plastic-stemmed cotton buds in 2018. We are delighted that the UK Government has followed our lead and that the EU Single-Use Plastic Directive published this summer also includes action on these products. Our Regulations are expected to be laid in Parliament following recess, and come into force 40 days later.

The Marine Conservation Society has consistently reported plastic-stem cotton buds amongst the top 10 items found in Beachwatch surveys of litter of Scottish beaches. While the impact of this legislation will take time to materialise due to residual plastic-stemmed cotton buds remaining both in homes and in the ocean, the proposal has encouraged businesses to switch products and we are pleased that now all major retailers sell plastic free alternatives.