Lead Partners
The Scottish Crofting Federation is the only member-led organisation dedicated to promoting crofting and it is largest association of small-scale food producers in the UK.
Soil Association Scotland promotes planet-friendly farming and healthy food through education, campaigns and community programmes.
The steering group
The project is supported by a steering group with representatives from key organisations and agencies in the five local authorities in the crofting counties – Argyll and the Islands, Highland, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland. They bring a wealth of expertise and commitment to the project in areas such as policy, crofting, education, Gaelic and the Northern dialects, cultural and environmental heritage and sustainable development. The steering group meets three times a year.
Other project Partners
Our project partners are Argyll & Bute Council, Cairngorm National Park Authority, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Highland Council, Orkney Islands Council and Shetland Islands Council.
Working with other organisations
Crofting Connections works in schools in the context of the new Curriculum for Excellence. To this end, the project is in dialogue with Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) to ensure that the programme of work helps to deliver the learning experiences and outcomes of the Curriculum for Excellence.
Linking the curriculum
The curriculum needs to include space for learning beyond subject boundaries, so that learners can make connections between different areas of learning.
Through interdisciplinary activities of this kind, young people can develop their
organisational skills, creativity, teamwork and the ability to apply their learning in new and challenging contexts.
Local crofters and the Scottish Crofting Federation are key to setting the context of the project in each crofting community.
Crofting Connections works with local organisations such as museums and heritage centres, environmental and horticulture groups. This helps to create strong local support for the project and will help to secure its legacy in each crofting community.
We also work with national organisations including the Macaulay Institute, the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments (RCAHMS), Eco Schools, Royal Highland Educational Trust and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), one of our funders, to consolidate the interdisciplinary learning in schools and to deepen the connections within the project and in the wider context in Scotland.
There are lots of different colours of wool there’s moorit, black, white, katmoget, and gulmoget. Shetland wool is very soft so you get soft jumpers but most Shetland wool comes from Australia and it’s a denser fleece. You can do lots of different things with wool like knit a jumper, scarves, make rugs, blankets, knit hats and felt.
Read full article: Shetland WoolDalwhinnie Primary, May 2010
The children here at Dalwhinnie Primary School had a very special experience in May when they went to the Highland Folk Park in Newtonmore to help with planting potatoes. The children had previously planted 5 varieties of potatoes that had come as part of the crofting Connections project at school. These they had planted in bags alongside the variety that they received as part of the RHET Grow and Count project.
Read full article: Dalwhinnie Primary, May 2010
