SCOTLAND: FUNDING FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY PROJECTS

Five environmental projects are to receive over £100,000 for initiatives promoting sustainable development in Scotland.

Environment Minister Ross Finnie today announced the latest projects to be awarded funding from the Executive's Sustainable Action Grants scheme.

Mr Finnie said:

"Our Partnership Agreement makes the Executive's commitment to the environment clear - We want a Scotland that delivers sustainable development; that puts environmental concerns at the heart of public policy and secures environmental justice for all of Scotland's communities.

"I am pleased to be able to offer over £100,000 to projects covering a wide range of important environmental issues. The scope of these projects ranges from reducing waste, embedding sustainability in business, improving resource use in construction and investigating the ecological footprint idea as a way of measuring our use of resources.

"These new projects we are supporting will help us to embed sustainable development across many aspects of Scottish life, in business, in education, in public authorities and in peoples' lives."

The projects offered grant are:

• Business Environment Partnership - £40,000 - to continue a project to promote sustainable development to small and medium enterprises. This will include working up a Business Guide and publicising it, and working with another 10 companies, more widely across Scotland.
• Business Council for Sustainable Development - £22,500 - to assist BCSD to expand its operations in Scotland to support the sustainable development agenda, in particular in the business sector.
• Papillon Promotions - £4,990 - following the conference held to encourage the use of reusable nappies, to allow additional work including a newsletter, a nappy information line and development of the idea of a Scottish Nappy Network, leading up to a proposed further conference in March 2004.
• Public Sector Sustainable Construction Forum - £2,000 - to allow further work promoting best practice in the use of sustainable materials, reduction in waste and increase in recycling, contributing to energy efficiency and improvement of the environment. A website is currently being constructed to enable members to access information on initiatives.
• WWF Scotland - £31,000 - the addition of an Ecological Footprint education project and software package to the WWF Local Authority Ecological Footprint project. This will complement the Eco schools programme and other sustainable development education initiatives. A software tool will be created for Scottish local authorities to measure ecological footprint and use the analysis to inform decisions on planning, purchasing, transport, waste, energy, food, etc.

The allocation of £100,490 made today for 2003-04 is part of the £6 million three-year Research and Sustainable Action budget for the Environment and Rural Affairs Department announced in the Budget last year.

Sustainable Action Grants support national and regional projects promoting sustainable development. They put emphasis on the Executive's sustainable development priorities of resource use, energy and travel, and on environmental justice.

Funding has been offered to bodies who can use it within this financial year - extending existing work to secure more valuable outputs.