Europe calling for Scotland’s nature workers

Scotland’s natural heritage and forestry workers are being urged to secure their place with one of Europe’s most innovative exchange programmes.

Nature Exchange 2008 is inviting workers of all levels to experience Scotland’s flagship pan-European programme for the natural heritage sector.

The increasingly popular EU-funded programme has fast become a driving force in helping Scotland’s nature, forestry and wildlife agencies gain essential skills, information and contacts from Europe.

This year’s programme offers the opportunity for hands-on experience in countries such as Bulgaria, Finland and Slovenia, benefiting anyone wishing to progress their career in Scotland’s ever evolving natural heritage, forestry and eco-tourism sectors.

Each trip will see a group of eight workers, from woodland officers to heritage managers across Scotland, travel together to a selected European destination to enjoy the hospitality of a host agency.

This format boosts links within Scotland, allowing workers from agencies such as Scottish Natural Heritage, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Forestry Commission to work together in situ and gain a deeper understanding of their respective work.

The project also enables participants to work with European partners to form strategies for meeting EU natural habitat directives in a streamlined, effective way.

In addition, the programme helps workers achieve Continuous Professional Development (CPD) targets, including 20 hours of recognised hands-on skills development.

Nature Exchange, which is funded by Europe’s Leonardo Da Vinci Programme, was created in 2002 with the objective of promoting pan-European links in the natural heritage sector.